El Superclasico 2018: Boca Juniors vs River Plate

Last weekend saw perhaps the biggest game on the planet take place as Boca Juniors and River Plate clashed in the legendary La Bombonera stadium in Buenos Aires. The game ended in an impressive 2-0 win for River which lifted them above their arch-rivals in the table. This tactical analysis looks at the trends of the game and how both teams approached the derby.

Teams

Both teams set up in similar defensive formations. Boca Juniors played 4-4-1-1 in defence and had Rossi in goal with Jara, Izquierdoz, Magallan and Mas in defence. The midfield had Nahitan Nandez on the right, Cristian Pavon on the left with Barrios and Almendra in central midfield. Former Manchester City captain Carlos Tevez played as a number 10 behind Dario Benedetto.

River defended in a 4-4-2 and had Armani in goal, Montiel, Maidana, Pinola and Casco in defence while the midfield quartet was Enzo Perez, Ponzio, Palacios and Gonzalo Martinez. The front two was Lucas Pratto and Rafael Santos Borre.

Tactical analysis: How River Plate won the derby

Now lets get into the tactics behind River Plates win. Lets start with a look at Boca Juniors attack.

Boca Juniors attacking approach

Boca set up in a 4-2-3-1 in possession with the two wingers giving full width in their starting positions. Tevez would then look to find space behind Rivers midfield. The back-four was spread out with the full-backs quite high and wide and the two central midfielders looked to help the centre-backs to progress the ball into the front four. It often looked like below.

They did use some interesting rotations in their attacking play though. Mostly this came through the movement of Cristian Pavon. He started on the left wing but would often make movements towards the left-sided half-space. This often meant Tevez would drop into the right-sided half-space. With Nandez wide on the right and the right-back overlapping, while the left-back Mas would push into the space vacated by Pavon, this gave Boca Juniors a 2-2-5-1 shape in attack. The five would be both full-backs down the wings with Pavon, Tevez and Nandez in the positions behind Benedetto. You can see Pavons movement below. Tevez is the yellow circle just out of shot.

Boca Juniors had some prom