Copa Libertadores finale: River Plate beat Boca Juniors
River Plate notched an outstanding victory in Madrid to seal the Copa Libertadores trophy after beating arch-rivals Boca Juniors in the finale. Juan Quintero's extra-time strike helped River Plate beat Boca Juniors in a 5-3 aggregate score. Quintero scored a stunner in the 109th minute of the second leg. Gonzalo Martinez then wrapped up a 3-1 victory for the side. Here's more.
How did the match shape up?
The match was held at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid. Dario Benedetto had got Boca into the lead shortly before half-time from a superb counter-attack. Lucas Pratto equalized for River in the second half. Quintero scored the decisive lead. And in the end, it was Martinez, who ran the ball into an empty net, which was the last kick of the match.
Historic moment!
Why was the final shifted to Madrid?
The match was moved more than 6,000 miles from Buenos Aires, in Argentina. This happened after Boca's team bus was attacked by River fans. The attack caused injury to players and staff. The second leg of the final was supposed to be held on November 24. The first leg was played on November 11. The match was drawn 2-2.
Only 4,000 fans from each club made the trip
Around 2,500 police officials were on duty at the Bernabeu. Earlier, the decision to move the final to another continent was hugely criticized. Many fans were unable to travel because of the travel expenses. The two clubs were given 5,000 tickets each. But, only 4,000 fans from each club flew to Spain. Another 20,000 tickets, available to Real members, were sold out within hours.
