- After two attempts at rescheduling, the Copa Libertadores final second leg is finally postponed until Sunday at 8pm GMT.
- Boca Juniors bus attacked by River Plate fans as it travelled to El Monumental stadium.
- Boca players injured, captain Pablo Perez sent to hospital for treatment
- The first leg ended 2-2.
Copa Libertadores final: Boca Juniors vs River Plate postponed
01:40: It’s being reported that Boca president Daniel Angelici is talking with the club lawyers at the team hotel about the possibility of requesting a walkover victory
00:55: The second leg reportedly in doubt, with authorities suggesting they will not tolerate the bad behaviour.
Local newspaper Popular said: “Urgent, El Monumental is closed. The police of the city have refused to provide security for tomorrow.”
Meanwhile Ole report the game cannot be played on Sunday as things stand.
00:30: Boca players have arrived back at their hotel. At least the players are now safe.
00:25: Carlos Tevez has hit out at CONMEBOL. According to journalist Peter Coates, Tevez has said that he believes CONMEBOL want River to win.
Coates tweeted: “Meanwhile Carlos Tevez is talking to the press again & not mincing his words.
“He said the game shouldn’t go ahead tomorrow & suggested that CONMEBOL want to give the trophy to River.”
URGENTE | Clausuraron el Monumental. La Policía de la Ciudad se habría negado a brindar un operativo de seguridad para mañana. pic.twitter.com/t2I5nBTXkA
— Popular (@populardiario) November 24, 2018
00:00: The bus has arrived back at the stadium ready to pick Boca players up and take them back to their hotel.
23:45: Reports of fans being robbed of their tickets as they leave the stadium. All tickets for the match will be valid tomorrow.
23:25: Boca players remain in the stadium, they won’t be leaving until the ground has been emptied. They’ll need a replacement bus too after the damage caused to the first one.
23:00: Boca president Daniel Angelici has issued a statement after the postponement: “We didn’t have the right physical or mental conditions for the game to go ahead.
“It was a difficult decision, but the right decision.”
22:50: Three years ago, River and Boca played in the last-16 of the Copa Libertadores.
But that match was abandoned at half-time after Boca fans attacked the River players with pepper spray in the tunnel.
Boca were kicked out of the competition, while River were given a bye into the quarter-finals.
Boca will probably think there’s double standards given how today’s incident has been handled.
22:45: Despite the awful scenes today, tomorrow’s match will not be played behind closed doors.
Fans will be allowed again but surely something will be done to prevent the images witnessed today.
22:40: Alejandro Dominguez, the president of Conmebol, has issued a statement saying both clubs asked for the match not to be played.
He said: “There was a request from both clubs that the game should not be played.
“One because they were not in a condition to play, and the other because they didn’t want to play under those circumstances. A gentlemen’s agreement.”
Boca Juniors’ midfielder Pablo Perez has an eye patch after being injured in the bus attack (Image: GETTY)
22:35: River Plate’s official Twitter account: “We ask all fans to keep their tickets, because they will be valid to enter the game tomorrow.”
22:30: Argentinian football expert Peter Coates tweeted: “So the Copa Libertadores final second leg between River Plate and Boca Juniors is finally OFF – they do it all over again tomorrow at 5pm.
“Now police just need to empty a packed Monumental without any further problems.”
22:25: WOW. Just when it looked like the match would go ahead it has now been postponed and will be played on Sunday with an 8pm GMT kick off. Remarkable.
22:20: Perez, despite being taken to hospital with an eye injury, has been named in Boca’s starting.
22:10: According to ABC journalist Dan Colasimone, tensions remain high outside the ground.
He tweeted: “Rubber bullets being fired outside of the Monumental now as tensions rise between River fans and riot police.”
Riot police stand guard at a barricade outside Monumental Stadium (Image: GETTY)
22:05: The referees are now out on the field and it does seem like the match will go ahead.
22:00: Carlos Tevez is not happy. The veteran Boca striker has blasted the decision to play and claimed they are being forced by officials.
He told Caracol Deportes: “We are not in a position to play the game, they are forcing us to play the game.
“Pablo has a patch in his eye.”
Team-mate Fernando Gago added: “We were very surprised, many players suffered, we struggled to breathe.
“It’s not the best way to prepare a game.
“The presidents of Conmebol and Fifa are who want us to play.”
River Plate fans inside the stadium before the match (Image: REUTERS)
Boca Juniors and River Plate will attempt to play on Sunday (Image: GETTY)
21:50: The South American Football Confederation, CONMEBOL, delayed the match twice before settling on a kick off time of 10:30pm.
21:40: As the Boca bus made its way to River’s El Monumental stadium it was attacked and badly damaged by missiles and other objects.
Boca players suffered cuts from broken glass and felt the effects of tear gas from the police.
Captain Pablo Perez and Gonzalo Lamardo were taken to hospital for treatment with the former having slivers of broken glass in his eyes and the latter a cut on his head.
21:30: Welcome to live coverage of the second leg of the Copa Libertadores final between Boca Juniors vs River Plate.
This match was due to get underway at 8pm GMT but it has been delayed by over two hours after scary scenes in Buenos Aires.
