River haven't won from behind in 31 games. Ponzio says he has four finals

By the Data Desk · Published 15 OCT 09:00

The last time River Plate went a goal down and still won was 6 November 2024, 3-2 at Instituto in Córdoba with Marcelo Gallardo on the bench. Since then they have trailed in 31 matches, lost 22 and drawn 9, Cadena 3 counted after Wednesday's 1-1 at Sarmiento, and interim coach Leonardo Ponzio now talks of "four finals".

• Julián Contrera put Sarmiento ahead after 14 minutes in Junín; Gonzalo Montiel had a header ruled out by VAR for a Fausto Vera handball before equalising from a Thiago Almada pass around the 70th minute (MDZ, Los Andes).
• The streak is a media count, not an official stat: La Página Millonaria had 26 games in July, Soy del Millo 30 after the September defeat to Huracán, Cadena 3 31 now.
• River are ninth in their Clausura group on 17 points, one below the play-off places, and eighth in the annual table on 46, five behind the last Libertadores place.

The draw in Junín followed the pattern. River had chances, Montiel thought he had equalised ten minutes after the break, and only after a VAR check for Vera's handball did the goal go; the real equaliser came around 25 minutes from time. Ponzio waited until the 72nd minute for his first substitutions, Soy del Millo noted. "Sometimes it is good to add a point, but we will always go for the three," he said afterwards, in Infobae's version.

Behind the scenes, the noise is about the bench. Ponzio has been interim coach since 27 August, when Eduardo Coudet resigned, and with Argentine media floating a return for Ramón Díaz, his answer, as Infobae carried it: "Vivo el hoy. River es hoy" (I live in the present; River is today). He added that to plan for next year, River must win what is left: "Ahora, tenemos cuatro finales y son más que importantes" (now we have four finals, and they are more than important).

The numbers behind the streak have built up slowly. La Página Millonaria listed 26 games without a comeback up to the 1-0 home defeat to Barracas Central on 25 July, with 18 defeats and 8 draws; Soy del Millo counted 30 after the 2-1 loss to Huracán in September; Wednesday's draw makes 31. None of the outlets quotes an official source, so read it as their count, but the trend is the same in all three.

What happens next: Belgrano v River at the Kempes in Córdoba on Sunday 18 October at 20:15 Argentine time, then Racing at the Monumental on 25 October and Boca at La Bombonera on 1 November at 15:00, with Aldosivi away still to be scheduled.