Boca Juniors manager Guillermo Barros Schelotto intimated that he would not back any appeal to reverse the club’s Copa Libertadores final defeat to great rivals River Plate, insisting that “for me, it’s finished… River win”.
Boca had attempted to get the game awarded to them after the attack on the team bus that initially saw the second leg postponed, before reluctantly agreeing to play the moved match in Madrid. It remains to be seen whether the club hierarchy will again consider going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Schelotto did say he hoped that Conmebol would learn from this so the farcical context of the final is not repeated, after it was twice postponed when River fans smashed a window on the Boca bus two weeks ago, but concluded that “in a sporting sense, that’s it”.
“For me, it’s finished,” Schelotto said. “It would be good if Conmebol … take measures, not in terms of a sanction, but what happened the other day can’t happen again. That’s beyond River and Boca.
“It’s not normal to throw rocks. No, it’s not normal.
“In a sporting sense, that’s it. River won. I have sadness to have not won the cup, that’s all… that’s the only thing that makes me [feel] bad.
“It’s hard to say anything to the people. People who came a long way for this.”
Dario Benedetto put Boca on course for a famous victory in the 44th minute when he applied a cool finish to a lightning counter-attack, but Lucas Pratto converted after a well-worked team move to send the match to extra time, where a spectacular Juan Quintero strike and late Gonzalo Martinez tap-in completed River’s comeback to secure a 5-3 aggregate triumph.
Schelotto put Boca’s defeat down to the red card shown to midfielder Wilmar Barrios in the 92nd minute with the score level at 1-1.
“It was an even game, there was never a team that was better than other. After the red card, they had the ball more. and you noticed the difference.”
