River Plate host Blooming at the Estadio Más Monumental on 28 May 2026 in the final Group H match of the Copa Sudamericana. River have already wrapped up first place and a round of 16 berth with 11 points from five matches, whereas Blooming sit bottom on a single point with nothing to show for their campaign. The first leg ended 1-1 in Santa Cruz de la Sierra and nothing tangible is riding on this result, though River will want a win regardless.
Eduardo Coudet, who took charge of River in March 2026, favours an intense high pressing style built on possession, while Erwin Sánchez, back at Blooming for a third spell since mid-May, sets up his side to absorb and counter in a 4-2-3-1. They have not met in competitive football before, so this is the first real test of how their approaches match up against one another.
River are carrying a lot of absences, with Sebastián Driussi (knee sprain, out until late June) and Agustín Ruberto (cruciate ligament damage, long term) both ruled out and Matías Viña, Gonzalo Montiel, Paulo Díaz and Marcos Acuña among those carrying doubts. Blooming have no major injury concerns and should field a settled lineup, a contrast that only adds to the intrigue around how Coudet deploys what he has available. River are expected to line up in a 4-2-3-1 with Beltrán in goal, Bustos at right back and a midfield axis of Moreno and Vera, while Blooming will likely deploy Uraezaña behind a back four anchored by Enoumba or Carrasco. Blooming are winless across the group stage and have conceded 14 goals in five matches, including a 0-6 hammering by Red Bull Bragantino - the worst defensive record in the group by some distance.
River's full backs push high and overlap to create overloads wide, while the press is designed to recover the ball inside Blooming's half. The system leans heavily on tempo and movement through the lines, with Colidio and Galván as the creative outlets, though rotating several starters into that structure may leave the side short of the sharpness that makes them dangerous in transition. Blooming have little choice but to defend deep, their double pivot sitting narrow to cut off the through ball rather than press. The most interesting individual battle is River's wide attackers against Blooming's full backs, who were Blooming's most exposed area throughout the group stage.
River have a clear edge from set pieces, with the height and timing of Pezzella or Quarta at corners and reliable delivery into the box from Bustos or Meza. Blooming showed occasional threat in the first leg through Antony Vásquez but 14 goals conceded in five games sets a hard ceiling on their ambitions here. With qualification already decided, River may be more inclined to manage their legs than chase the game at full throttle.
River's rotation and the low stakes of the fixture combine to make this more unpredictable than the group table suggests. A patched up side missing the runs of Driussi and Ruberto in behind may find it difficult to unpick a compact block and Blooming's double pivot showed enough organisational discipline in the first leg to slow the tempo and keep River from finding rhythm in the final third. The prediction is 1-2 Blooming: not because they are the better side but because a heavily rotated River, with little riding on the result and their two most incisive forwards on the treatment table, may not carry the pressing intensity Coudet's system needs.
Ryan Baldi
Football Writer
Ryan Baldi is a professional football writer with years of experience and has been featured by respected outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Sky Sports, DAZN, FourFourTwo, ESPN, Yahoo Sport and Football365. He has also written several books including Arsène Who?.
