The 2019–20 season was River Plate's 9th consecutive season in the top division of Argentine football. In addition to the Primera División, the club competed in the Copa Argentina, Copa de la Superliga and Copa Libertadores.
The season covers the period from 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020.
Review Pre-season Zacarías Morán agreed a loan move to Chacarita Juniors on 18 June 2019. Maximiliano Velazco's loan with Defensores de Belgrano, which was set to expire on 30 June, was extended on 20 June. Camilo Mayada headed to Mexico with Atlético San Luis on 22 June. River Plate toured the United States for pre-season, with the first match being played on 27 June against Ventura County Fusion at the Wallis Annenberg Stadium in Los Angeles as they ran out 5–0 winners; with Lucas Beltrán netting twice. On that same day, Héctor Martínez departed on loan to Defensa y Justicia. Their second friendly took place on 28 June, as they scored five again after defeating Guadalajara of Liga MX in game one of the Colossus Cup. 29 June saw Alexander Barboza go to Independiente.
Numerous loans from the previous campaign officially expired on and around 30 June. River met Ventura County Fushion of USL League Two for a secondary match-up on 4 July, with Jorge Carrascal scoring four times in a 7–0 victory. Luciano Lollo was loaned to Banfield on 6 July. On matchday two of the Colossus Cup, River beat another Mexican team in América with goals from Julián Álvarez and Cristian Ferreira.
July Gimnasia y Esgrima (M) were defeated in the Copa Argentina R32 on 16 July, though it took a 4–5 penalty shoot-out win to do so. Carlos Auzqui went off on loan to Lanús on 17 July. On 23 July, River Plate met Brazilian club Cruzeiro in the first leg of a Copa Libertadores round of sixteen encounter, as the two played out a goalless draw at Estadio Monumental. River travelled to Argentinos Juniors in game one of the 2019–20 Primera División, subsequently coming away with a point. On 30 July, after they again drew 0–0 with Cruzeiro in the Copa Libertadores, River Plate advanced to the next round following a penalty shoot-out victory.
August On 1 August, Joaquín Arzura headed out on loan to Huracán. Hours later, River announced their first signing of the new campaign as Paulo Díaz arrived from Al-Ahli of the Saudi Professional League. River built upon their point on the opening day in the Primera División over Argentinos Juniors with a 3–0 win versus Lanús on 4 August on home soil. Alan Marcel Picazzo joined Villa Dálmine on loan on 8 August. River beat All Boys 7–0 and 5–1 in friendlies on 9 August, with Matías Suárez netting a hat-trick in the former while Ignacio Scocco scored a brace in the latter. 10 August saw Santiago Vera leave River Plate, as the midfielder agreed terms on a move to Paraguayan Primera División outfit Olimpia. Colo-Colo revealed the loan signing of Iván Rossi on 13 August.
River, for the first time since 1962, put six goals past reigning champions Racing Club away from home in the league on 17 August. River Plate defeated Cerro Porteño in the first leg of a Copa Libertadores quarter-final on 22 August, winning 2–0 after Ignacio Fernández and Rafael Santos Borré netted spot-kicks. River's first league loss came three days later, as Talleres won at the Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti for the first time in twenty-nine years. On 29 August, River progressed to the Copa Libertadores semi-finals after beating Paraguayan side Cerro Porteño 3–1 on aggregate, having drawn 1–1 in the second leg in Asunción.
September River opened September with a Superclásico at home to Boca Juniors, which ended drawn after no goals were scored. On 22 September, they got their second loss of the season, losing 2–1 at home to Vélez Sarsfield. They ended the month with a 2–0 victory against Gimnasia.
October On the first day of October, River beat rivals Boca in a tense first leg of the Libertadores semi-finals 2–0 with goals from Borre and Fernandez. Ten days later, they beat Primera Nacional club Almagro in the Copa Argentina quarter-final, then followed this up with a 3–3 draw against Arsenal. On 22 October, River lost the second leg of the Libertadores semi-finals against Boca 1–0, but progressed to the final 2–1 on aggregate. River ended the month with a 2–1 victory against Colon.
November On 14 November, River beat Primera Nacional club and fellow Buenos Aires club Estudiantes de Buenos Aires in the Copa Argentina semi-final. A week later they lost the Copa Libertadores final against Flamengo. River were leading 1-0 until the 88th minute of the game through a goal from Santos Borre, but two goals from Gabriel Barbosa in six minutes gave Flamengo their second Copa Libertadores. River ended the month on a positive note, with a 2–3 away victory vs Newell's Old Boys.
December December began with a home loss against rivals San Lorenzo. Five days later, River beat Central Córdoba 3–0 in the Copa Argentina Final, in their last game of 2019.
January River Plate began the new year with a 2–1 victory against rivals Independiente at Estadio Libertadores de América. They followed this victory with another away victory against Godoy Cruz.
Squad Squad No. Nationality Name Position(s) Date of birth (age) Signed from Goalkeepers 1 Franco Armani GK Atlético Nacional 12 Ezequiel Centurión GK Academy 14 Germán Lux GK Deportivo La Coruña 25 Enrique Bologna GK Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) Defenders 2 Robert Rojas RB Guaraní 4 Fabrizio Angileri LB Godoy Cruz (loan) 6 Paulo Díaz CB Al-Ahli 16 Kevin Sibille CB Academy 17 Elías López RB Academy 20 Milton Casco RB Newell's Old Boys 22 Javier Pinola LB Rosario Central 28 Lucas Martínez Quarta CB Academy 29 Gonzalo Montiel CB Academy 36 Nahuel Gallardo LB Academy Midfielders 5 Bruno Zuculini CM Verona 8 Jorge Carrascal AM Karpaty Lviv (loan) 10 Juan Fernando Quintero AM Porto 11 Nicolás De La Cruz AM Liverpool 13 Santiago Sosa CM Academy 15 Exequiel Palacios AM Academy 21 Cristian Ferreira LM Academy 23 Leonardo Ponzio CM Zaragoza 24 Enzo Pérez RM Valencia 26 Ignacio Fernández AM Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) 37 Enzo Fernández CM Academy 39 Hernán López MF Academy Forwards 7 Matías Suárez LW Belgrano 9 Julián Álvarez CF Academy 18 Benjamín Rollheiser FW Academy 19 Rafael Santos Borré CF Atlético Madrid 27 Lucas Pratto CF São Paulo 32 Ignacio Scocco RW Newell's Old Boys 34 Lucas Beltrán CF Academy 35 Federico Girotti CF Academy Out on loan Loaned to 33 Héctor Martínez CB Defensa y Justicia 38 Alan Marcel Picazzo FW Villa Dálmine Tomás Andrade AM Argentinos Juniors Joaquín Arzura CM Huracán Carlos Auzqui AM Lanús Augusto Batalla GK Unión La Calera Marcelo Larrondo CF Unión La Calera Luciano Lollo CB Banfield Zacarías Morán CM Chacarita Juniors Jorge Moreira RM Portland Timbers Matías Moya AM Banfield Luis Olivera LB River Plate Iván Rossi CM Colo-Colo Maximiliano Velazco GK Defensores de Belgrano
Transfers Domestic transfer windows:3 July 2019 to 24 September 201920 January 2020 to 19 February 2020.
Transfers in Date from Position Nationality Name From Ref. 1 August 2019 CB Paulo Díaz Al-Ahli
Transfers out Date from Position Nationality Name To Ref. 22 June 2019 AM Camilo Mayada Atlético San Luis 3 July 2019 CB Alexander Barboza Independiente 10 August 2019 RM Santiago Vera Olimpia
Loans out Start date Position Nationality Name To End date Ref. 3 July 2019 CM Zacarías Morán Chacarita Juniors 30 June 2020 3 July 2019 CB Héctor Martínez Defensa y Justicia 30 June 2020 6 July 2019 CB Luciano Lollo Banfield 30 June 2020 17 July 2019 AM Carlos Auzqui Lanús 30 June 2020 1 August 2019 CM Joaquín Arzura Huracán 30 June 2020 8 August 2019 FW Alan Marcel Picazzo Villa Dálmine 30 June 2020 13 August 2019 CM Iván Rossi Colo-Colo 30 June 2020
Friendlies Pre-season In June 2019, River Plate were announced as one of four clubs, alongside Guadalajara, América and Boca Juniors, that would take part in the inaugural Colossus Cup in the United States. They were scheduled to face the Liga MX duo at SDCCU Stadium in San Diego on 28 June and at CenturyLink Field in Seattle on 6 July. A day before facing Guadalajara, the club took on USL League Two side Ventura County Fusion in a friendly match. They met the American outfit again on 4 July.
Mid-season River Plate and All Boys (Primera B Nacional) scheduled a friendly with each other for 9 August, in Ezeiza at River Camp.
Competitions Primera División
League table
Relegation table Team Relegation 3Arsenal 0 0 9 9 5 4Defensa y Justicia 44 53 4 101 57 5River Plate 45 45 8 98 57 6Independiente 46 38 6 90 56 7Godoy Cruz 56 32 3 91 57 Source: AFA
Results summary
Matches The fixtures for the 2019–20 campaign were released on 10 July.
Copa Argentina
River Plate began their cup run against Primera B Nacional side Gimnasia y Esgrima (M) on 16 July 2019, at the Estadio Único in Villa Mercedes. The game was narrow with River needing penalties to eliminate the ambitious second-tier club. In the round of 16, River disposed of Godoy Cruz courtesy of an own goal. In the quarter-finals, River beat another second-tier club, Club Almagro, on their way to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals they faced tournament surprise Estudiantes, beating them 2–0 and advancing to the final where they beat Central Cordoba 3–0.
Copa Libertadores
River Plate were drawn with Brazil's Cruzeiro in the Copa Libertadores round of 16, beating them on penalties after subsequent 0-0 draws. In the quarter-finals River beat Cerro Porteño 3-1 on aggregate. Local rivals Boca Juniors were disposed of in the semi-finals, in what was a rematch of the 2018 finals. River were paired up with Brazilian champions Flamengo in the final, who made a comeback in four minutes to take the title from River.
2020 Copa Libertadores
On 12 March 2020, CONMEBOL announced that the tournament would be suspended after matchday 2 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with matches on matchday 3, originally scheduled for 17–19 March 2020, postponed to a later date. On 17 April 2020, CONMEBOL announced that the tournament would be suspended indefinitely, and no date had been set for its resumption. On 10 July 2020, CONMEBOL announced the new schedule for the remainder of the competition, with the updated fixtures announced on 26 August 2020 to begin with matchday 3 on 15 September 2020.
Group G
Squad statistics Appearances and goals