Boca Juniors vs River Plate Predictions

Wednesday’s Copa Libertadores semi final, second leg action sees Boca Juniors doing battle with arch enemy River Plate at La Bombonera. The visitors arrive looking to protect the 2-0 lead they established in the first leg.

It’s fair to say that Wednesday night is an absolutely huge one for Boca. They cannot afford yet another humiliation at the hands of River, after losing the Libertadores final to them last year, but 2-0 down, they find themselves on the brink of exactly that. Gustavo Alfaro’s men simply didn’t turn up for the first leg and were completely outclassed by their rivals, leaving themselves with a huge task on home soil.

Now without a win in 7 matches against the visitors, Boca seem to be suffering from a real mental block in this derby and that has to be of real concern. Equally worrying is the side’s poor recent home form, which has now seen them win just 1 of their last 4 matches in front of their own fans, leaving the prospects of a comeback looking slim, to say the very least.

Meanwhile, Marcelo Gallardo’s River juggernaut doesn’t look like being stopped any time soon and the visitors come into this second leg fully assured of their ability to book a place in the final. Los Millonarios have already won 2 Libertadores titles under Gallardo and now on the cusp of another, this River team is writing itself into club folklore.

River cannot afford to come into the match thinking it’s job done and it will be a very difficult atmosphere for them to play in, but they do look capable of withstanding whatever the hosts throw at them. Indeed, they are unbeaten in 7 away games and 12 Libertadores away fixtures; figures that demonstrate the resolve they consistently show.

Ultimately, whilst you can never quite rule anything out in a Superclasico, Boca do look pretty much dead and buried. They’re not playing well at the moment, can never seem to get the better of River and find themselves with a mountain to climb against a River outfit that nearly always handles the pressure of a big match.

All things considered, we feel that backing a draw when treating this second leg as a standalone fixture is the best way to play. River will likely play in a conservative manner and look to hold their advantages and unbeaten in 4 trips to La Bombonera and having drawn 7 of their last 9 Libertadores away games, we feel they’ll be able to do exactly that, with a 0-0 stalemate on the cards.