And so the stage is set for Argentina’s biggest football clubs to clash heads once again as a mouth-watering Semi Final in the Copa Sudamericana now awaits. Boca Juniors impressively swept aside Cerro Porteño in Asunción to complete a 5-1 aggregate scoreline and book their place and then focus switched to the Monumental. River Plate, once again, came from behind to defeat Estudiantes and confirmed their Semi Final place.

Boca leading from the first leg in La Bombonera needed just 10 minutes to snatch the crucial away goal in a sweaty Asunción when Jonathan Calleri tapped in a simple opener and although Daniel Güiza’s equaliser made it nervy for a while, Boca made Cerro pay on the break.

With the hosts pushing for a way back in, Andres Chávez added two and Emmanuel Gigliotti ran clear to give Boca a comfortable away win. The scoreline itself is somewhat of a surprise but the performances of Cerro over the two legs were abject.

Cerro Porteño  1 – 4  Boca Juniors (Agg 1 – 5)

River needed to follow suit and as we are now accustomed under Marcelo Gallardo, they did not disappoint.

Teo Gutiérrez gave River the lead after just a minute but Estudiantes responded well knowing they needed to score twice and tested Marcelo Barovero several times before Diego Vera eventually headed them level.

Estudiantes levelled the tie shortly after the break when Guido Carrillo smashed in a penalty but River roared back and headers from Rodrigo Mora and Ramiro Funes Mori just minutes apart ended Estudiantes resistance.

River are now 30 matches unbeaten and continue on their quest to claim both the Primera and the Copa Sudamericana.

River Plate  3- 2  Estudiantes  (Agg 5-3)