River vs Boca is, of course, one of the most ferocious and exciting derbies in the world. That’s a fact. And when the Copa Libertadores final ended up as being these two, a very mixed bag of feelings unearthed around the globe. Why? Because for all its beauty, were we ever ready for what these two teams were going to unleash on not only Buenos Aires, but the world? I don’t know.
The game stands at 2-2 on aggregate with the teams holding each other at La Bombonera, so this return leg was huge. A game that was meant to be incredible and the fans were meant to give us a show from the stands. But this is Argentine football.
This was dubbed the ‘Final to end all finals’. And it felt that big. It is that big. I’m going to let all the journalists and all the Twitter people give you the true account of what happened in Buenos Aires and both in and out of El Monumental because I wasn’t there. But being in Buenos Aires wasn’t the only place you had to be to feel something from the events last night.
Sat in a mate's house, waiting for the game to come around, I was excited. The fixture is always filled with this vibrancy. It’s colourful, it’s vivid, it’s magnificent. But, when scrolling through Twitter, I saw it had taken a turn. The elation for the game turned into commotion. When the Boca bus turned down Avenida Monroe, a street known as a place River fans usually, you knew this wasn’t going to be taken well by the River fans. And, indeed, it wasn’t.
When I heard the news the game had been postponed, I was straight on Twitter. I needed to see the absolute madness that had the game postponed an hour. And for all the beauty around fan culture, the ugly side had let Argentine football down. A perfect opportunity for Argentine football to show how alluring it is and how dazzling it can be but this became a missed one.
The feelings, when sat at home seeing this happen from afar, were weird. A sense of shock ran through me. The bus was brutally attacked, glass shattering all over with players getting shards in their eyes. The bus driver fainting at the wheel and someone having to grab it. The police tear-gassed the fans to try and combat the assault just for it to make its way onto the bus, heavily affecting the players. But not only was it an attack on the team bus, fights with police occurred and fans actually stormed into the stadium. And I watched this from home. On video. Watching it on a video shared on Twitter shouldn’t give you such intense feelings about a game. But this did. I have not experienced it first hand but my attention was so deep into the core of the game that for, some reason, it felt intense. I cannot give an account for what actually happened within the ground but what I can do is say how mad this game is. It is MENTAL.
I also felt disappointed. Disappointed because this was hyped as such a momentous occasion in, not just South American football, but world football. I wanted to see this game that night. It was set to be a crazy game, as usual. But it was delayed. And delayed again. All while the authorities tossed and turned on whether or not to postpone or play it. Of course, the game should not have gone ahead and I am very glad it didn’t. But seeing CONMEBOL say it has to be played that night because of a deal with broadcasting companies is repulsive. There is a line and River fans crossed it causing a lot of physical and mental distress on the Boca players. I get it, fans are there to unnerve. To create a scary atmosphere for the opposition players. But what happened last night was shocking. I also get that Boca could have had time to regroup and refocus in the couple of hours they had when the game was postponed but if that was me, I would not have wanted to enter the pitch of El Monumental after what just happened.
And then you had the big boys, FIFA, getting involved. Puffing their chests out, showing their ‘power’. Gianni Infantino reportedly came out and said that if Boca does not play this game, which is what they were extremely reluctant to do, they would be disqualified from the Copa Libertadores and River would take the title. And, for me sitting on my phone across the world from what was happening, I was dumbfounded that this was even happening. A blatant piece of evidence that FIFA is still the rotten thing it was when Blatter and co. got brought down. Same stuff. Different people.
However, the unity and respect that the River team showed in standing with Boca in not playing the game was a fascinating and wonderful thing to see. A game where hatred was spewed and blood was shed, to see two rival teams stand together in unison against the system is truly beautiful.
Let’s just hope the game actually happens this time and let’s just hope it is incredible.
