River visits Independiente del Valle this Wednesday, as part of the third matchday of Group B of the 2025 Copa Libertadores. The match will be played at the Estadio Banco de Guayaquil in Quito and will be refereed by Chilean Piero Maza.
River is coming off a 3-0 away victory against Gimnasia de LP. In this match, Driussi scored his first goal since returning to the Núñez team and Mastantuono was unstoppable, with a second exquisite goal. The third goal would come from Aliendro, whose level is also on the rise.
This result was a relief to the pressures the team had been facing due to their poor performances, including the home draw against Barcelona de Guayaquil in the previous matchday.
Hace unos días, River goleó 3-0 a Gimnasia
Meanwhile, Independiente del Valle won next weekend against Manta 2-0. In the local league, they are currently first in Liga Pro, tied with Cuniburo and Barcelona. Meanwhile, internationally, they recovered from the debut loss against the Ídolo, defeating Universitario de Perú 1-0 at home.
For the match against the Millonario, they have a significant absence, their captain Richard Schunke, who has been dealing with a knee injury for four matches.
IDV viene de ganarle 2-0 al Manta
Last encounter between the two
River and Independiente del Valle have played only two matches against each other, both corresponding to the round of 16 of the 2016 Libertadores. The Millonario was the clear favorite in the series, especially considering they were the champions of the previous edition, and the Ecuadorian team was one of the great revelations, being their first time in the knockout stages.
The first match would be played in Quito, where surprisingly, but also expectedly due to the altitude, the home team would win2-0. Despite the initial defeat, River was confident they could turn the story around at the Monumental and was totally dominant in the return match. However, Independiente del Valle would hold on epically, with a heroic performance by Librado Azcona, who saved everything and only allowed a 1-0 (goal by Alario), advancing to the quarterfinals.
IDV eliminó a River en Octavos de Final de la edición 2016
In that same edition, the Ecuadorian team would reach the final, eliminating Pumas (3 [5] - 3 [3]) and Boca (5-3). In that instance, they would lose to Atlético Nacional, but they would earn their famous nickname "Giant Killers" for their victories over the two Argentine giants.
River's poor record at high altitude
It's no surprise to anyone that the Millonario doesn't fare well at high altitude. The last match they played in such conditions, under the management of Martín Demichelis, they lost 3-1 against The Strongest of Bolivia in matchday 1 of the 2023 group stage.
Speaking exclusively of the 2850 meters of Quito, the Núñez team has always lost and never managed to score goals. In addition to the defeat against IDV in 2016, River fell on two occasions against Liga de Quito. The first match they lost 1-0 and it was in the round of 16 of the 2015 Sudamericana, while the second was a convincing 3-0 in the 2020 Libertadores group stage.
River con suplentes perdió 3-0 con Liga de Quito en 2020
River's last victory in a high-altitude match was in the legendary 2018 Libertadores. In the group stage of that edition, the Banda won 1-0 against Independiente Santa Fe in Bogotá (2640 meters), with a goal by Oso Pratto.
Time and TV
River will face Independiente del Valle at the Estadio Banco de Guayaquil in Quito this Wednesday April 21 at 9:30 PM (Argentine time). The match will be broadcast on Disney + via streaming and Fox Sports and Telefe on television.
Possible Lineups
River
Goalkeeper: Franco Armani
Defenders: Fabricio Bustos/Gonzalo Montiel, Lucas Martínez Quarta, Germán Pezzella, and Milton Casco
Midfielders: Matías Kranevitter, Rodrigo Aliendro, Santiago Simón, and Franco Mastantuono
Forwards: Facundo Colidio/Sebastián Driussi and Ian Subiabre
Independiente del Valle
Goalkeeper: Guido Villar
Defenders: Matías Fernández, Luis Zárate, Mateo Carabajal, Layan Loor
Midfielders: Jordy Alcívar, Jhegson Méndez, Jean Pierre Vernaza, Patrick Mercado, Arón Rodríguez
