2015 Copa Libertadores finals
The 2015 Copa Libertadores finals were the final matches of the 2015 Copa Libertadores, South America's primary club football competition. The two-legged event was contested between Tigres UANL of Mexico and River Plate of Argentina. The first leg was played at the Estadio Universitario, San Nicolás de los Garza, on 29 July 2015 and the second leg was played on 5 August 2015 at the Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires. River Plate, who had won the competition two times, were appearing in their fifth final. Tigres were appearing in their first Copa Libertadores final.
Each club needed to progress through the group stage and knockout rounds to reach the final, playing 12 matches in total. Both finalists landed in the same group. Tigres topped the group and faced Universitario de Sucre, Emelec and Internacional before reaching the final. River Plate finished second and subsequently beat rivals Boca Juniors, Cruzeiro and Club Guaraní to progress to the final.
A crowd of 40,000 observed the first leg at the Estadio Universitario, which resulted in a goalless draw. Watched by a crowd of 62,000 at the Estadio Monumental, River Plate took an early lead late in the first half when Lucas Alario scored. Carlos Sánchez extended their lead through a penalty in the second half, and Ramiro Funes Mori added one further four minutes later from a corner kick. Following a 3–0 scoreline, River Plate secured their third Copa Libertadores.
Background
The match was River Plate's fifth final and their first appearance since the 1996 Copa Libertadores finals, which they had won 2–1 on aggregate against América de Cali of Colombia. They had previously lifted the thropy on two occasions in 1986 and 1996, and had also lost two times in 1966 and 1976. Tigres were appearing in their first Copa Libertadores final, the third Mexican team to reach one.Both teams played their last matches before the first leg on 25 July. River Plate earned a 3–1 victory against Colón de Santa Fe midway through their domestic campaign in the Argentine Primera División. Tigres in turn had just started their run in the Torneo Apertura, having played only one game which ended in a 1–0 loss against Toluca.
Route to the finals
The competition proper started with the second stage, contested as eight double round-robin groups of four teams, with the top two qualifying for the knockout stages. The knockout stage ties were decided based on home and away matches, and teams were seeded according to their performance in the group stage to determine which team would play the second leg at their home ground.Tigres qualified for the Copa Libertadores by finishing in second place of the 2014 Apertura league table, being the best ranked team not qualified for the 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League. River Plate entered the competition after winning the 2014 Torneo Final, while also being the reigning Copa Sudamericana champions. Therefore, both teams started their campaign in the second stage, and were drawn together in Group 6 alongside Juan Aurich of Peru and San José of Bolivia.
Tigres UANL
Tigres won the opening match of the group 3–0 against Juan Aurich at their home ground of Estadio Universitario. They drew their next game against River Plate 1–1, but proceeded to win their two fixtures against San José. Following a 1–0 scoreline at the Estadio Jesús Bermúdez and a resounding 4–0 victory at their home stadium, Tigres stood in first position of Group 6 with ten points. They would later qualify for the knockout stages after a 2–2 draw against River Plate. Having already won their group, Tigres lined up mostly substitutes for their last matchday, earning a 5–4 victory at the Estadio Elías Aguirre. Totalizing 14 points, they were the second-best placed team on the seedings.Their opponent in the Round of 16 would be Bolivian club Universitario de Sucre. The first leg at the Estadio Olímpico Patria finished 2–1 to Tigres. The return leg at their home ground ended in a 1–1 draw. They faced Emelec of Ecuador in the quarter-finals. Tigres suffered a 1–0 defeat in their visit to the Estadio George Capwell, but pulled off the comeback after a 2–0 win at the Estadio Universitario. Thus, they were to play Internacional of Brasil in the semi-finals. They lost the opening leg 2–1 at the Estádio Beira-Rio, but managed another comeback to progress to the finals.
River Plate
River Plate's first match of the group was a 2–0 loss against San José. They then drew 1–1 in each of their next three fixtures, yielding only three of the 12 points in play. On their fifth matchday, two goals in the span of four minutes courtesy of Teófilo Gutiérrez and Rodrigo Mora allowed them to salvage a draw, after facing a 2–0 deficit that had left them on the brink of elimination. In order to qualify for the final stages, River Plate needed a victory against San José, and had to count on Tigres not losing to Juan Aurich. Following their 3–0 win at the Estadio Monumental, and a Tigres victory in Peru, they progressed through. Earning only seven points, they advanced as the lowest-ranked second-place team.Their first knockout stage match would be against rivals Boca Juniors, the best-placed team on the seedings. The opening leg went in River Plate's favour 1–0. The first half at Boca Juniors' stadium ended in a scoreless draw, but the remaining 45 minutes were never played as River Plate's squad was attacked with pepper spray in the tunnel preceding their entrance into the pitch. The match was consequently abandoned and the away side progressed into the quarter-finals, where they were to face Brazilian team Cruzeiro. In spite of a loss in the opening game, River Plate qualified for the semi-finals as they achieved a 3–0 comeback at the Mineirão. Club Guaraní of Paraguay were to be their last opponent before the finals. Following a 2–0 win at their home ground and a 1–1 draw at the Estadio Defensores del Chaco, River Plate reached their fifth Copa Libertadores final.
First leg
Summary
The first leg was held at the Estadio Universitario, the home ground of Tigres UANL. The visitors came out determined to take control of the first leg, not holding back on defense. They held firm for the first fifteen minutes and even had a chance to open the scoring through Gabriel Mercado from a set piece. Nonetheless, Tigres dominated the opening 20 minutes of the game. The home side, as throughout their Copa Libertadores run, looked to attack down the flanks with Jürgen Damm and Damián Álvarez. Frenchman André-Pierre Gignac waited as a focal point, while Uruguayan midfielder Egidio Arévalo Ríos made surprise runs. They found advantages down the right in their duels with Leonel Vangioni. On one such run, Arévalo Ríos' cross deflected off the River Plate left-back, rattling the crossbar. Tigres immediately replicated this play. A cross from Damm fell in the centre of the penalty area, after which striker Rafael Sóbis, unmarked, headed the ball into Marcelo Barovero. At the 35-minute mark, River Plate had another chance when Jonatan Maidana anticipated the play in defence and passed it over to Carlos Sánchez, who filtered the ball for Lucas Alario to run after. The striker tried to dribble Nahuel Guzmán, unsuccessfully so as the goalkeeper held him off. Tigres' defender Hugo Ayala limped off the field in the 41st minute after sustaining an ankle injury. His replacement was Jose Rivas. Moments later, a foul committed by Mercado on Gignac ruled him out of the second leg due to an accumulation of cards.River Plate's Marcelo Gallardo subbed in Nicolás Bertolo and Gonzalo Martínez for Uruguayan pair Tabaré Viudez and Rodrigo Mora, who were both suffering muscle strains. This implied a rearrangement of the attacking line, as he set in motion a 4–2–3–1 formation, with Alario as the lone striker. Leonardo Ponzio and Matías Kranevitter were now to play a deeper defensive cover. Tigres managed to pin River Plate back, combining well in the midfield with Guido Pizarro at the heart of the attack. However, they lacked the much needed final touch near the edge of the box, which mostly relied on Gignac, as the French striker was neutralized by the centre-back tandem of Maidana and Ramiro Funes Mori. Gallardo was sent off in the 72nd minute for yelling at the fourth official. During the last 15 minutes, Barovero was instrumental in helping his team secure the draw on two occasions. The keeper first flew to his right post to save Juninho's long-range free-kick. On the last clear chance of the match, he held Damm off following a one-on-one situation where the midfielder tried to dribble past him.
Details
Second leg
Summary
At the Estadio Monumental, River Plate once again came out determined to impose their presence. Led by Leonardo Ponzio, they controlled the midfield and orchestrated plays down the right flank through Carlos Sánchez and Camilo Mayada, who made several overlapping runs. The first half was marred by fouls. Referee Darío Ubriaco handed a yellow card to Lucas Alario early on, stemming from a reckless challenge that could have been judged as a staright red. Four Tigres players were also booked in just 25 minutes of play. The clearest chance during that time fell to the visitors, when French striker André-Pierre Gignac set up Rafael Sóbis one-on-one with goalkeeper Marcelo Barovero. His inability to control the ball, however, squandered the opportunity. A later great run by Jürgen Damm was also fruitless after he cut inside and laid the ball off to Gignac, who was unable to muster a shot inside the box. A possible penalty was missed by Ubriaco following a handball by José Rivas while jousting with Alario. With no passing triangles to be carried out by River Plate, it seemed the first half was to end goalless, but the deadlock was broken in the 44th minute. Leonel Vangioni turned around on his marker and ran towards the Tigres defence before crossing for Alario, who headed low to the near post of Nahuel Guzmán.During the second half, the home side ceded possession to the visitors and dropped back on defence. Ramiro Funes Mori was tasked with anticipating the attackers, while Matías Kranevitter was instructed to create a defensive triangle along with the centre-backs, looking for numerical advantage. The strategy was a success, as dominance by Tigres extended no further than into the final third. Damm made another great play down the right, after which he sent a cross for Javier Aquino who headed the ball over the bar. Shortly after, River Plate's Carlos Sánchez was clumsily brought down by Aquino inside the area. He took care of the penalty himself, firing into the roof of the net. In the 77th minute, Matías Biscay switched Fernando Cavenaghi for Leonardo Pisculichi. Just over a minute later, the subbed midfielder found Funes Mori after he sent a center from a corner kick. The defender headed the ball past Guzmán to seal the 3–0 scoreline.