Cienciano surprised after a 3-3 draw against River Plate at the Monumental Stadium in the first South American Cup final in 2003. Years later, another Peruvian club also left the “millionaires” field undefeated, but for the Copa Libertadores and with a goal in goal the 90′. You remember?
Come on Peruvian teams in the Copa Libertadores They have a hard time in 2023 too. Sport Huancayo gave fans a short-lived joy after beating Nacional in their first game, but were eliminated in the last game of the second leg. A week later, Sporting Cristal followed in his footsteps with a defeat that made qualifying even more difficult with another goal conceded in the closing minutes. This is the context after 20 years of Cienciano titles at the 2003 Sudamericana.
Cienciano won their first international title after beating River Plate in the final, becoming the only Peruvian club to draw at the Monumental. But 12 years later and amid poor Peruvian campaigns in the Copa Libertadores, another national team – also dressed in red – miraculously repeated that statistic.
Juan Aurich and the 2015 Copa Libertadores
Juan Aurich became runners-up in the Descentralizado national team in 2014 after losing in the third game with Sporting Cristal in Trujillo. The ‘Cyclone’ was champion of the opening tournament and that was enough for him to play in the final despite being fifth overall. In this way, they belonged to Group 6 of the 2015 Copa Libertadores, along with San José, Tigres and River Plate.
In the end, the group was more balanced than expected, as Aurich reached the last date with a possibility of a place in the round of 16 depending on itself. Despite suffering in most games, the Peruvian team achieved important away results that no one could have imagined. One of these was accomplished when he visited River Plate at the Monumental.
Juan Aurich was about to qualify for the round of 16 of the 2015 Copa Libertadores. Photo: GLR archives
The suffering of Juan Aurich in the River Plate Monument
The Tigres de México had already qualified after four games (10 points), but the rest were still fighting for second place. Aurich (4 points) visited River Plate (2 points) in Argentina, who drew in Chiclayo, and lost to San José (3 points) in Bolivia. Despite being last, led by Marcelo Gallardo, they were superior to their two rivals, but the results did not accompany them.
It was therefore not surprising to many when Juan Aurich suffered from an attacking streak from the home side from start to finish. Without exaggerating, the match could end similarly to the 8:1 that the “Millionaire” brought Alianza Lima to in 2022: three beatings, a spectacular performance by Pedro Gallese and unusually missed goals allowed the “Zyklon” to finish in the last with just one goal Minutes come a goal (Gabriel Mercado at 26 ‘).
Pedro Gallese was the character of the game at the River Plate Monument. Photo: EFE
Marcos Delgado and a historic coup
At 90 minutes, Roberto Mosquera’s team had a free-kick from midfield which Germán Pacheco fired into River’s box. Christian Ramos defeated Jonatan Maidana with a header and Marcos Delgado appeared at the far post to break up Julio Chiraini’s goal. The cheering was ebullient, the silence in the stands unforgettable: no one could believe it was 1-1.
That day, Juan Aurich entered the Monumental field with a very defensive scheme and formed a five-man line. The ‘Ciclón’ lined up as follows: Pedro Gallese; Marcos Delgado, Christian Ramos, Edgar Balbuena, Gianmarco Gambetta, Jair Cespedes; Oscar Vilchez, Alfredo Rojas; Hernan Rengifo, Luis Tejada, German Pacheco.
Thanks to that draw in Argentina and another in Oruro – also 1-1 and again thanks to a goal by Delgado – Aurich only had to beat the Tigres substitutes on the last day of the game to reach the round of 16. Unfortunately, the evil of Peruvian football could not be present at international level and a memorable 4-5 win over River enabled qualification to become champions months later.