River Plate vs Talleres de Cordoba

Estadio Monumental forms the backdrop for a mouth-watering Copa Libertadores last-16 tie between familiar foes River Plate and Talleres de Cordoba.

Marcelo Gallardo’s return to the helm after a disappointing episode in Saudi Arabia has failed to shake up a struggling River Plate side, with the Argentine giants drawing three of their four competitive games since their famous manager came back. But the only exception to this run was a hard-earned 1-0 first-leg triumph against Talleres last week. River Plate followed that success with another dismal 1-1 league draw at Gimnasia LP at the weekend, living up to their tag as ‘entertainment killers.’ Indeed, River’s five competitive matches in the build-up to this clash have featured under 2.5 goals, averaging only 1.2 per game. Another low-scoring contest could be in store, given that the last four meetings between these two clubs at the Monumental have produced an identical 1-0 scoreline (W1, L3).

In the meantime, Talleres de Cordoba are still in this tie despite mustering just one shot on target in the first leg at home. The visitors bounced back from that disappointing performance with a spirited 2-1 home triumph against Independiente Rivadavia over the weekend, halting an abysmal six-match winless streak in the process (D4, L2). However, turning this tie on its head will require Talleres to post their first competitive victory on hostile turf since beating Central Cordoba at the start of June, which ominously remains their only away win across their last six travels (D3, L2). As aforementioned, three 1-0 triumphs on their four most recent visits to River Plate could inspire confidence within the traveling camp. But it’s worth noting they take this trip amidst a three-game winless H2H run (D1, L2).