The Covid-19 hit River Plate in the worst of times. Few hours before their clash against lifelong rivals Boca Juniors, a terrifying amount of positive results ruled out many important players for the Superclásico in the Copa de la Liga Profesional quarterfinals. Just when they were thinking about bouncing back in the Copa Libertadores, further positive cases may forbid them to face Independiente Santa Fe with a full lineup.
All of a sudden, 15 players were forced off the Argentine League Cup match leaving Marcelo Gallardo short of options for such a crucial game. Not only their key goalkeeper, Franco Armani, was among that list, but all of his backups too. The reserve substitute keeper Leo Díaz stepped up and pulled off an outstanding first-team debut against all odds, but right now he isn't allowed by Conmebol to play on Wednesday.
When things didn't seem to be possibly worse, not only River wouldn't be able to play with an outright keeper but they might not even show up in Colombia with eleven players on the field. Five more players tested positive after the game with Boca: Leonardo Ponzio, Gonzalo Montiel, Lucas Beltrán, Alex Vigo, and Flabian Londoño.
River Plate under a challenging situation
How is it possible that River Plate may end up facing Santa Fe with no goalkeeper or even with less than eleven men? Both things have to do with three factors. First and obvious, the Covid-19 had an impact on several players in a couple of days, leaving the team shorthanded.
That unexpected blow hit the goalkeeper position, where El Millonario didn't lack in depth, but all their three professional goalies (Franco Armani, Germán Lux, and Enrique Bologna) and the reserve starter (Franco Petroli) tested positive. Leo Díaz, who hadn't even made his debut at the reserve before putting on the gloves against Boca, would be available for Gallardo, but he isn't in the Libertadores shortlist and his appearance on Wednesday depends on Conmebol's decision of enabling him to play or not.
And that's when it's remembered Gallardo's controversial call of naming only 32 players for the tournament instead of 50, which was the maximum allowed by the South American soccer governing body. Conmebol decided to give teams the option of submitting such amount of names to prevent situations like the one River is living in now.
With 20 players ruled out by Covid, River are in serious trouble before facing Santa Fe. Moreover, Enzo Pérez might not be at full fitness and Felipe Peña Biafore's brother tested positive. Without these two, El Millonario would only have nine available players for Wednesday's match.
Jonatan Maidana, Héctor Martínez, Fabrizio Angileri, Milton Casco, Jorge Carrascal, Agustín Fontana, José Paradela, Julián Alvarez, and Tomás Lecanda would be the only ones allowed to face Santa Fe. The tournament's rules state that a team can show up with at least seven players, if not they lose the points. Will we see the awkward scenes of River playing a big Libertadores night with only nine men on the field?
