Arturo Vidal did a lot of talking during the quarterfinal tie between his Colo Colo and River Plate in the Copa Libertadores. On paper, the series was a tight affair, with a 1-1 draw in Chile and a 1-0 win by River Plate in Argentina.
Arturo Vidal spent the week hyping up the match, stating he would score his nicest goal for Colo Colo on Tuesday evening, and making a point to taunt River fans by taking a picture with a Boca Juniors kit before the second leg of their quarterfinal series.
Vidal received a harsh welcome at River Plate’s Estadio Más Monumental, being jeered during warm-ups, where the former Inter Milan midfielder made gestures to the crowd. Then his night got progressively worse.
Arturo Vidal’s post-game comments after the River Plate match
During the match, despite Colo Colo having over 60% of the possession, it was Arturo Vidal himself who defended a play poorly and kept River Plate’s striker Facundo Colidio onside for the game’s only goal.
Later, while trying to pressure River Plate’s goalkeeper Franco Armani, Vidal was planted on the ground as the World Cup winner dribbled past the at-times animated Vidal.
Despite a few encounters with other players and being at fault for his team’s loss, Vidal left the stadium making gestures to the crowd and then stating a conspiracy theory that Conmebol is favoring River Plate.
“They said we were going to fall behind. Did you see how we pushed them back? The goalkeeper, who is a world champion, started wasting time from the very first minute. We made them look bad. At times, we were much better than them. We leave with our heads held high.
“They set up this final here for them. The coach had never made changes for a derby, but he did the other day because he was afraid of us. We showed better football than they did.”
River Plate will now play the semifinal of the Copa Libertadores against a Brazilian side to be determined.