River Plate vs San Jose – Copa Libertadores preview: Pre-tournament favourites on the brink of group stage elimination

River Plate face San Jose in El Monumental on Wednesday night, knowing that their future in the Copa Libertadores is out of their hands.

Time: 3:45pm PDT / 6:45pm EDT / 12:45am BST
Date: Wednesday 15th April 2015
Where: Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina

River Plate go into the game in third place in Group 6 having failed to win any of their five games so far. They have just four points, though their situation could be a lot worse if it wasn’t for their dramatic late comeback to tie 2-2 with runaway group leaders Tigres UANL in their last match.

It means they still stand a chance of progression, but must rely on Tigres taking at least a point from Juan Aurich in the group’s other game. This is easier said than done; firstly the pitch in Peru is an awful synthetic one which is horrible to play on. Secondly, with their own progression secured and with the biggest game of their domestic calendar on the horizon, Tigres have taken just 16 players on the mammoth trip to Peru, with all but three of them coming from the youth team.

A win for San Jose could yet see them progress, though they were widely regarded as the worst team in the group and a win in Argentina would be nothing short of a miracle.

River were one of the pre-tournament favourites, but their competition could be over in less than 5 hours time.

SEE MORE
(Video) Tigres UANL 2-2 River Plate Copa Libertadores highlights – Visitors salvage draw with two late goals
Copa Libertadores preview: Tigres UANL vs River Plate – Argentines on the brink of elimination
River Plate win the Supercopa Euroamericana after 1-0 win over Sevilla