River Plate won the second leg of the Copa Libertadores final 3-1 in Madrid.GETTY IMAGES
Two police officers were injured and at least 20 people were arrested in Buenos Aires in the early hours of Monday "as River Plate fans celebrated winning the Copa Libertadores," according to Adriana Garcia of ESPN.com. Approximately 20,000 fans gathered at the Obelisk monument in Argentina's capital city on Sunday to celebrate their team's fourth Copa Libertadores title after it won the second leg in Madrid 3-1 to defeat Boca Juniors 5-3 on aggregate. In Argentina, newspaper La Nacion reported that a "violent and inebriated group of people caused damage to shops, attacked bystanders and threw objects at police, forcing officers to use tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowds." Violent acts by hooligans "had been the reason why the game that was originally scheduled for Nov. 24 at River's Monumental stadium was moved out of Argentina by CONMEBOL." In "stark contrast, things ran smoothly in Madrid where unprecedented security measures were in place, with thousands of officers on duty for the game" (ESPN.com, 12/10). REUTERS' Richard Martin reported CONMEBOL President Alejandro Domínguez hailed the rescheduled final in Madrid as a success and praised Real Madrid President Florentino Pérez for "making it happen" (REUTERS, 12/9). In N.Y., Rory Smith reported Boca has an appeal lodged with the Court of Arbitration for Sport that, "if successful, would see River forced to forfeit the trophy, turning the most precious triumph in its history into the most bitter defeat." On Sunday, Spain’s security services took "every possible precaution, under the circumstances." The main drag of the Paseo de la Castellana, the eight-lane highway that skims the Bernabéu, was closed all day. An area to its north "had been reserved for River fans; Boca’s had a spot to the south." When fans headed to the stadium, they "had to pass through three security checks" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/9).
