After some irregular seasons, River will play for a title again. In a tight match, the Millonario defeated Rosario Central 1-0 at the Monumental and qualified for the final of the 2026 Apertura Tournament.
In the first few minutes, the game would be even, with possession evenly distributed and no dangerous chances. The first major incident, which would also be controversial, would occur at 8 minutes, with a harsh foul by Franco Ibarra on Sebastián Driussi that would take him out of the match. The peculiar thing about the play is that referee Nicolás Ramírez would not consider the action a foul and would show a yellow card for a subsequent foul against Matías Viña. Instead of the Millonario's number 9, Joaquín Freitas would come on.
The duel would not present any noteworthy plays until minute 27, when Gastón Ávila would elbow Lucas Martínez Quarta in the area and, after a VAR review, the referee would award a penalty and only a yellow card. The one tasked with taking the penalty would be Gonzalo Montiel, whose shot would be saved by Jeremías Ledesma.
Although both teams would have isolated chances, especially the home team, these would have little effectiveness, and the score would remain 0 at the end of the first half. In the second half, Eduardo Coudet's team would suffer another loss: Aníbal Moreno would have to leave due to injury, being replaced by the young Lucas Silva.
