Inter wins, eliminates River Plate and will face Fluminense in the Club World Cup
Italians win direct duel with River, guarantee leadership of Group E and will face Tricolor in the round of 16; Monterrey takes the second spot.
With Group E wide open in the final round of the Club World Cup group stage, Inter Milan and River Plate faced off in a direct clash for one of the spots in the round of 16. The Champions League runner-up did their part, winning 2-0 and securing top spot in the group. With the defeat, River could only hope that Monterrey would stumble, which did not happen. The Mexicans thrashed Urawa Red Diamonds 4-0 and also advanced.
How was the game?
The match started off tense, especially for Argentina. River tried to impose itself, exploring the sides of the field and crossing balls into the area, but without success. Inter, more restrained, relied on counterattacks and came close to scoring with a shot from Asllani, but produced little offensively in the first half.
After the break, the Italians adopted a more attacking stance and began to dominate the match. Taking advantage of the flanks, they pushed River into the defensive half and created several clear chances before the 15th minute. The scenario became even more favorable for Inter in the 65th minute, when Martínez Quarta failed to control the ball in defense, lost the ball to Mkhitaryan and, when trying to correct it, committed a foul from behind on the Armenian midfielder, who was cautioned with a straight red card for preventing a clear goal chance.
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With one more player, Inter took advantage and opened the scoring in the 72nd minute. Sučić found Sebastiano Esposito inside the box, who finished well past the goalkeeper to make it 1-0. The Italian dominance continued until the end. In injury time, captain Bastoni made a great individual play, leaving two defenders on the ground and finishing from the edge of the box into the right corner of Armani’s goal to kill the game.
In injury time, Dumfries and Acuña got into an argument, which started a scuffle between the players. Montiel was cautioned with a yellow card after aggressively complaining to the referee asking for a punishment for the Dutchman, and as he already had a card, he was sent off. After the final whistle, Acuña went after Dumfries again, but was restrained by his teammates.
Mastantuono’s farewell
The elimination also marked Franco Mastantuono’s last match in a River Plate shirt. The Argentine star is leaving for Real Madrid, who paid the €45 million (almost R$300 million) release clause. This will be the biggest sale in the history of the Argentine club.
At just 17 years old, Mastantuono played 65 games for River, scored 11 goals, provided 7 assists and won the Argentine Super Cup in 2023. At the World Cup, he said goodbye without scoring any goals. He was recently called up by Lionel Scaloni for the senior team and made his debut in the World Cup qualifiers against Chile, coming on in the 39th minute in place of Giuliano Simeone.
Group E Situation
With the victory, Inter reached 7 points and secured first place in the group. In the round of 16, they will face Fluminense, who drew with Mamelodi Sundowns earlier, next Monday (30), at 4 pm (Brasília time).
With two points less, Monterrey took the second spot and will be the only Mexican representative in the knockout stage. Los Rayados will face Borussia Dortmund, leader of Group F, on Tuesday (1), at 10 pm.
River Plate finished in third place and is eliminated, as is Urawa Reds, who finished last with three defeats, only two goals scored and nine conceded.
