New to Golazo, Felix Rodrigues Lima reports from Monterrey ahead of the Copa Libertadores Final semi-final between River Plate and Tigre….

MONTERREY, Mex – 19 long years have passed since Marcelo Gallardo and company hoisted River Plate’s second Copa Libertadores trophy, and now the man they call “Muñeco,” or “the doll,” has the lads 180 minutes away from ending that drought.

Perhaps it’s fitting then that they will have to travel to the Chihuahua deserts of northern Mexico to quench their thirst for South America’s premier club football trophy, to face an opponent in Tigres UANL that may appear familiar, but has plenty of new faces ready to cement a legacy of their own as the first Mexican club to lift the Libertadores trophy.

How River got here

Upon first glance when the draw was released, many thought River, coming off a victory in the Copa Sudamericana, would breeze into the knockout stage as the winners of Group 6, while Tigres would be in a fight with Juan Aurich of Peru and San José of Bolivia for second.

That did not come to pass, and as some on the Tigres squad like Egidio Arévalo Rios are quick to point out, the first thank-you card River should be sending out for enabling their run to the final should be addressed to the team from Monterrey.

Indeed, it was Tigres’ 5-4 victory away over Aurich in the last group fixture with a predominantly reserve squad that was the guarantee that finally granted River safe passage into the knockout round as the runner-up.

River drew level with Tigres in both matchups in the group stage. They found themselves trailing 1-0 at the Monumental on Matchday 2 before Carlos Sánchez equalised in the 72nd minute. More famously, they trailed UANL 2-0 in the 85th minute on Matchday 5 when the now-departed Teo Gutiérrez and the soon-to-be-departed Rodrigo Mora hushed the Mexican crowd with two goals in a four-minute span for a stunning fightback and 2-2 draw.

The teams ended up on opposite ends of the bracket. River, as is common knowledge by now, was seeded 16th as the worst of the runners-up, and matched up against Boca. We all know how that ended up, with River leading 1-0 on aggregate halfway through the return fixture in La Bombonera before the pepper-spray incident that saw Boca thrown out of the tournament and River through to the quarterfinals.

Then, after a clunker of a 1-0 home defeat against Cruzeiro, Gallardo’s men found another gear in the competition, staging a Mineirazo of their own in winning the return leg 3-0 in Belo Horizonte.

When the tournament resumed two weeks ago, River ground out a 2-0 victory at the Monumental and a 1-1 draw in Asunción against Guaraní of Paraguay, that returned Los Millo to the Libertadores final for the first time since 1996.

How Tigres got here

Tigres’ group record was bested only by Boca’s in the group stage, having won the other four games in their group against opponents not named River Plate. That earned them the number two seed and a tie with Universitario of Bolivia.

Having already answered the Bolivian altitude question when they beat San Juan in the group stage, a first-minute goal was not enough to dissuade them from eventually turning the tables and winning 2-1 away. When they returned to Mexico, yet another first-minute goal by Universitario was rendered moot as Tigres drew level, winning 3-2 on aggregate.

Tigres’ quarterfinal against Emelec of Ecuador was perhaps a bit more nervy. Emelec secured a 1-0 win at home, but Rafael Sobis secured the equaliser for UANL on aggregate early in the return, and Jose Arturo Rivas found the winner with ten minutes to go.

When play resumed two weeks ago, Tigres found themselves down 2-0 to Internacional of Brazil after nine minutes in Porto Alegre thanks to goals by ex-River midfielder Andres D’Alessandro and Jorge Valdivia. UANL remained composed, with Hugo Ayala finding an away goal shortly thereafter. They held on for a 2-1 defeat that may have felt more like a draw or even a moral victory after Ayala was sent off in the second half.

In the second leg back in Monterrey, Tigres pounced early thanks to a headed goal from their coup signing André-Pierre Gignac, but it was a brutal own goal by Inter’s Geferson and an insurance goal from Arévalo that really allowed the Mexican dream to continue. An answer in the dying minutes by the Argentine Lisandro Lopez only made it 3-1 (4-3 aggregate), and was not enough to stop it.

What to watch for

River and Tigres both have some new faces that have already played a crucial role in helping their respective clubs reach this final.

For River, Lucas Alario and Tabaré Viudez may not have generated the fanfare that Lucho Gonzalez and Javier Saviola did when it was announced the latter two would be rejoining the club that put them on the map.

But Alario, who signed from Colon, and Viudez, who Gallardo coached in Uruguay before signing from Kasimpasa in Turkey, have already made their presence felt, and could prove critical in delivering the trophy to Nuñez. The sublime link-up between the two players in the final 15 minutes last week in Asuncion that led to the goal against Guaraní effectively ended the tie, and that link-up play could prove vital, especially in a hostile environment on Wednesday.

Much has been made of Tigres’ off-season spending in an effort to deliver this trophy outside of South America for the first time. Gignac’s goal in the return leg against Internacional, headed home from a high-arcing cross by another splash signing, the speedy winger Jurgen Damm, was potentially the first of what fans in Monterrey are hoping will be many goals.

The other new faces, Mexico international Javier Aquino and Nigeria’s Ikechukwu Uche, are working toward full fitness with a view to being available for Wednesday’s match.

Both venues will decidedly be in favor of the home sides. Unlike last week in Paraguay, where an estimated 15,000 River fans packed the visiting stand at the Defensores del Chaco, no tickets were made available for River fans wanting to make the trip to the Estadio Universitario in Monterrey, and were sold out by Saturday to Tigres fans in on the pre-sale.

El Volcán, or the volcano, as it’s called, will be a tough venue, but one River are familiar with. The same will be the case in El Monumental for Tigres next week.

Beyond the trophy

Because River is the only team from CONMEBOL in the final, they automatically qualify for the Club World Cup held in Japan this December. That could be the furthest thing from the minds of the players. They realise they have to get a positive result, and based on their experience three months ago in Monterrey, they know they can do it.

If a victory or draw eludes Los Millo on Wednesday, it’s important to note that the away goals rule is not in effect in the final; however, goal differential is still in effect as a tiebreaker. Should the teams be level on goal differential, extra time, and then penalties would determine the outcome.

As one of the top-placed teams in Mexico last season, Tigres is already slated to contest next year’s CONCACAF Champions League, which begins in August. It’s currently unknown if they would be allowed to defend their Libertadores title if they win, but one thing is for sure: they would love to be the first Mexican club to win it outright.

Cruz Azul came the closest to this, losing to Boca at home before being defeated in La Bombonera and eventually losing a penalty shootout in 2001. Chivas of Guadalajara also reached the final in 2010, but lost both legs of the tie to Internacional.

More than anything, they would also love to stick one to their cross-town rivals. C.F. Monterrey have the international pedigree to date, winning three consecutive CONCACAF Champions Leagues from 2011 to 2013, but Los Rayados have never come close to the opportunity Tigres has with this tournament.

It promises to be an evenly-matched tie, and we’ll be watching it along with you to see if River can claim its third Libertadores title, or if Tigres can buck history and become the first team outside South America to win South America’s premier club football trophy.

Felix Rodrigues Lima works as a freelance journalist based in Washington, DC. His parents are from Argentina (dad follows River, mom follows Boca) and although it’s been too long since his last visit, he is known to enjoy parrilladas and Havana alfajores from time to time. Follow him @FelixReports.