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Javier Pinola, defender of River Plate, and Dario Benedetto, the striker of Boca Juniors. Marcos Brindicci / Reuters

The endless series of the Copa Libertadores final has a new episode with the announcement by the Confederation of South American Football (Conmebol) that the return match between River Plate and Boca Juniors will finally take place in Madrid, 10,000 km of Buenos Aires, on Sunday, December 9th. A solution that does not satisfy any of the two clubs but which generates a huge craze.

The interminable "finale of the century", as the Argentines called it, became the "fiasco of the century", turns to the sea serpent whose end is still difficult to see. Applied this year for the last time in Copa Libertadores - equivalent to the European or African Champions League - the formula of double final round-trip is an inextricable trap as soon as its protagonists are the two big clubs of Buenos Aires, River Plate and Boca Juniors.

Originally scheduled for Wednesday, November 7 and 28, the two matches had been moved a first time on Saturday, November 10 and 24, at 16:00 (local time), by the Conmebol, with two very convincing arguments: on one side, the interest to compete in order to offer better exposure in Europe, where they would be broadcast in prime time (20 hours) given the time difference. This change of dates was also imposed by the political calendar, November 28 being the eve of the opening of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, making it impossible, for security reasons, to organize a football match.

The first leg went on the 10th of November. A spectacular match in the Bombonera, in front of only Boca Juniors fans, which ended on a score of 2-2 and without incident. A result that kept all the suspense for the second leg. In the long wait of two weeks before the second final, both teams showed restraint, urging their fans to behave well. River Plate, who was hoping to make a difference in his stadium, in front of his fans, opted for a minimal communication, seeking above all to work in serenity. Boca Juniors, aware of not having all the assets in hand after an inconclusive match at home and worried about having to play this decisive match in front of a hostile public, sought on the contrary to reassure his family. Two days before the final return, his supporters even invaded by tens of thousands the Bombonera to attend the last training in a match atmosphere ...

Dario Benedetto against Ignacio Fernandez and Enzo Perez in the first leg of Copa Libertadores 2018. Marcos Brindicci / Reuters

Boca's car attacked

But the tension remained palpable. Supporters on both sides were more than afraid of defeat, a sign of eternal shame. As for the authorities, they feared especially incidents in the city the evening after the match, with the risk of clashes between supporters of both sides. Nobody, on the other hand, seemed to fear what eventually happened, as the security measures, the absence of Boca supporters at the Monumental River stadium, and the security forces' know-how in the face of this kind of shock seemed guarantee that the meeting goes smoothly.

Alas, Saturday, November 24, the bus with the colors of Boca Juniors has undergone an attack in rule to 700 meters of the Monumental stadium. Poor communication between the federal police and the municipal police meant that the bus arrived at this delicate place before the police could remove the River fans, many around the stadium at two o'clock kick off. .

Forced to pass very slowly in the middle of a very strong group of enemy fans, the vehicle was targeted by several individuals, who bombarded it with stones that shattered several windows. In the midst of the confusion, the police fired tear gas to clear the way and allow Boca's players to reach the stadium entrance.

Once in the locker room, several players appeared to be struggling to breathe and had superficial injuries. Two of them, including Captain Pablo Perez, also complained that they had received shards of glass in their eyes and had to go to a nearby clinic for treatment.

Scene of violence in the streets of Buenos Aires on November 24 before the match postponed between River Plate and Boca Juniors. Stringer / Reuters

Delayed at first one hour, then an additional hour, the game finally never took place. Despite pressure from the leaders of the Conmebol, who threatened Boca heavy penalties if he did not accept to play, visitors insisted on the impossibility of playing in these conditions. And they were supported by ... their opponents of the day. Both River president Rodolfo D'Onofrio and coach Marcelo Gallardo expressed their solidarity with the Boca players, who also refused to appear at kick-off when they could have won the match. flat rate. The Conmebol finally yielded, postponing the meeting to the next day after a negotiation and an agreement signed by the three parties.

Boca asks for victory on green carpet

An equally unsuitable solution, the players of Boca persistent in their refusal to play despite the commitments made by their president Daniel Angelici, more and more challenged by the supporters of the club. River continued to support this request, the president of the Conmebol, Alejandro Dominguez, threw in the towel and summoned the presidents of the two clubs in Asuncion, seat of the institution, for the following Tuesday to find a date for this final return.

Meanwhile, Boca's president, despite his written commitments, yielded to the pressure of his supporters and his players and asked the Conmebol Disciplinary Committee to give his team a green match, refusing to contest the second. round of the final. In support of this demand, the precedent of the round of 16 Copa Libertadores in 2015 between the same Boca and River. At the time, River, winner of the first leg at the Monumental (1-0), had gone to the Bombonera in a very tense climate. After a scoreless first half, River's players were attacked in the tunnel leading the locker room to the pitch by a Boca fan who sprayed them with mustard gas. The match was interrupted and River designated winner, to finally win the competition a few weeks later. A denouement very badly lived on the side of Boca ...

In the face of President Angelici's reversal, River cried treason and refuted any comparison between the two events. While the 2015 River attack took place in Boca compound, the November 24 incident took place in the street, several hundred meters from the stadium. Most importantly, the city authorities acknowledged their security mistakes and their responsibility for the incidents that affected the Boca team ...

The Argentine authorities admit errors in the safe management of the match postponed between River Plate and Boca Juniors. Agustin Marcarian / Reuters

River cries at lack of fairness

Discarded by the Disciplinary Committee, Boca still obtained a victory: the Conmebol decided that the match could no longer be held at the Monumental stadium, or even in Argentina, and decided to play it at ... Madrid. Second snub for River, while the second final was to be held only in front of supporters "millionaires", the meeting will finally take place in front of a mixed audience of supporters of both clubs.

It is therefore at the Bernabeu stadium, 10,000 kilometers from the Monumental, that this long awaited match will finally take place, one month after the first race. River persists in its protest, with the notable support of Argentine President Mauricio Macri, former president of Boca, who can not accept a relocation that highlights the inability of Argentina to organize such a match. For his part, Boca also threatens to ask the Court of Arbitration for sport to give him match won in case of defeat on the ground this Sunday ...

Rodolfo D'Onofrio, president of the River Plate club, believes that his team is penalized by the relocation of the match in Madrid. Marcos Brindicci / Reuters

Far from these legal quarrels, the two clubs are preparing for this long exile, and their supporters too. Ticket inquiries are coming in from all over the world, the price of flights between Buenos Aires and Madrid is soaring and both clubs will have trouble satisfying everyone with their quotas of 25,000 seats each. The 7,000 tickets reserved for Socios Real Madrid are gone in a few minutes and the craze even exceeds that of the last Clasico between Real Madrid and Barça. As for the security measures, they will also be higher than the big matches in Madrid.

All under the eyes of very attentive leaders. This South American final to be held in Europe prefigures the dream of many great manitous, who hope to one day hold a final of the Champions League in New York or, as Javier Tebas, the President of the Spanish League, a match from Liga to Miami ... The winner of this second final should go immediately to the United Arab Emirates, where will await a meeting of semifinals of World Cup clubs facing perhaps Esperance of Tunis before, in case of victory, a likely final against ... Real Madrid. As for the loser, he will try to save his honor ... before the CAS.

And what will be the next Superclasico between the two clubs, in the league for example? The wounds left by this long drama may take years to heal. The future of the hottest duel in the world definitely seems a monument in danger.