The River coach made only one substitution until the 84th minute, when Fortín had already equalized the score at the Monumental and the fans sent him off with whistles
River seemed to be heading towards a comfortable victory at the Monumental, but Vélez snatched a two-goal lead away and took a draw that left a bitter taste. The result reignited criticism towards Eduardo Coudet, questioned once again for his lack of reaction when the team began to show signs of fatigue.
The millionaire team had played a complete match at the altitude of Bogotá just four days earlier, against Independiente Santa Fe. That detail weighed heavily in the second half, when Fortín began to push more insistently and found the path to equalization due to a mistake by Thiago Almada.
Only at that moment did Coudet decide to make a change. He sent Rafael Santos Borré onto the field in place of a exhausted Ángel Correa. The change altered the style of play: the team lost power in counterattacks and could no longer regain the initiative it had managed until then.
On the other side, Guillermo Barros Schelotto did react in time. The entry of Chilean Diego Valdés gave Vélez a new breath and ultimately changed the course of the match. Meanwhile, from River's bench, the response took too long to arrive.
Only one change until the equalizer
Until the 84th minute, Coudet had made just one modification. It was right then that Manuel Lanzini scored to make it 2-2. Even after the equalizer, the coach took another five minutes to introduce two additional changes: Sebastián Driussi and Lautaro Pereyra for Lucas Beltrán and Joaquín Freitas.
By that time, the course of the match had already changed and the coach had not found a way to regain control. The feeling that remained in the stands was clear: the midfield was not refreshed nor was there an effort to oxygenate the players who had come from an extra effort in Colombia.
In the press conference, Coudet defended himself with these words: "I think we were playing well, the opponent was not hurting us despite being a great team, and I agree that when you are playing well and they are not hurting you, it is difficult to change." The explanation was not enough to calm the discontent of the fans, who booed him at the end of the match.
This feeling is not new. The most painful memory remains the final against Belgrano in Córdoba. There, River was winning 2-1 in the 85th minute and the coach had made only one change, due to injury. Juan Fernando Quintero did not get to play until Uvita Fernández turned the score around and sealed the fate of that final.
