2002–03 Club Atlético River Plate season

The 2002–03 Club Atletico River Plate season was the club's 73nd season in the Argentine Primera División.

River Plate

2002–03 season
President	José María Aguilar
Manager	Manuel Pellegrini
Argentine Primera División	Apertura: Runner-up Clausura: Champion
2002 Copa Sudamericana	Second stage
2003 Copa Libertadores	Quarterfinals
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2001–02 2002–03 →

The season was split into two tournaments (format adopted since 1990–91 season) Apertura (Opening) 2002 (from August to December 2002), and Clausura (Closing) 2003 (from February to June 2003).

The club's kit was provided by Adidas, and the sponsor was Budweiser beer.

Season events

On May 23, 2002, Manuel Pellegrini was presented as new manager of River Plate.^[1]

On July 22, midfielder Lucho González moved from Huracán to River Plate. The transfer was made for US$700,000.^[2]

On June 15, 2003 during Round 16 of Torneo Clausura 2003, River Plate defeated Lanús and because Velez and Boca tied games, finished the match day as sole leaders.^[3]

On June 29, during Round 18, River defeated Olimpo in Bahía Blanca and won the championship, by getting a difference of 4 points to rivals Boca Juniors, with only 1 round to go.^[4]

Apertura Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ARG Ángel Comizzo (Captain) 2 DF  PAR Celso Ayala 3 DF  PAR Ricardo Rojas 4 DF  COL Jersson González 5 MF  ARG Leonardo Astrada (Vice-captain) 6 DF  ARG Martin Demichelis 7 FW  ARG Alejandro Domínguez 8 MF  ARG Eduardo Coudet (3rd captain) 9 FW  ARG Fernando Cavenaghi 10 MF  ARG Andres D'Alessandro 11 MF  ARG Victor Zapata 12 GK  ARG José María Buljubasich 13 DF  MEX Javier Gandolfi 14 DF  ARG Ariel Garcé 15 MF  ARG Guillermo Pereyra

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 DF  ARG Matías Lequi 17 GK  ARG Franco Costanzo 18 MF  ARG Diego Barrado 19 MF  ARG Gabriel Pereyra 20 MF  ARG Juan Pablo Raponi 21 MF  MEX Damian Alvarez 22 GK  ARG Germán Lux 23 FW  ARG Maxi López 24 FW  PAR Nelson Cuevas 25 MF  ARG Luciano Leguizamon 26 MF  ARG Andres Aimar 27 MF  ARG Lucho González 28 FW  ARG Gaston Fernandez 29 MF  ARG Oscar Ahumada 30 FW  ARG Esteban Fuertes

Clausura Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ARG Ángel Comizzo 2 DF  PAR Celso Ayala 3 DF  PAR Ricardo Rojas 4 MF  ARG Claudio Husain 5 MF  ARG Leonardo Astrada 6 DF  ARG Martin Demichelis 7 FW  ARG Alejandro Domínguez 8 MF  ARG Eduardo Coudet (3rd captain) 9 FW  ARG Fernando Cavenaghi (Vice-captain) 10 MF  ARG Andres D'Alessandro (Captain) 11 MF  ARG Victor Zapata 12 GK  ARG José María Buljubasich 13 DF  URU Martin del Campo 14 DF  ARG Ariel Garcé 15 MF  ARG Guillermo Pereyra

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 DF  ARG Matías Lequi 17 GK  ARG Franco Costanzo 18 MF  ARG Diego Barrado 19 MF  ARG Osmar Ferreyra 20 FW  ARG Darío Husaín 21 DF  ARG Horacio Ameli 22 GK  ARG Germán Lux 23 FW  ARG Maxi López 24 MF  MEX Daniel Ludueña 25 DF  URU Máximo Lucas 26 MF  ARG Andres Aimar 27 MF  ARG Lucho González 28 FW  ARG Gaston Fernandez 29 MF  ARG Oscar Ahumada 30 FW  ARG Esteban Fuertes

Transfers

In

Date	Pos.	Name	From	Fee
11 June 2002	GK	José María Buljubasich	Rosario Central	Loan[5]
1 July 2002	DF	Marcelo Gómez	Huracán	Loan return[citation needed]
1 July 2002	DF	Jersson González	Galatasaray	Loan[6]
22 July 2002	DF	Lucho González	Huracán	USD 700,000[7]
2 August 2002	DF	Esteban Fuertes	CD Tenerife	USD 250,000 (Loan from RC Lens)[8]
11 January 2003	MF	Claudio Husaín	Napoli	USD 300,000[9][10]
8 January 2003	DF	Martín del Campo	Nacional	Loan[11][12]
11 January 2003	DF	Máximo Lucas	Danubio	Loan[13]
16 January 2003	MF	Eduardo Coudet	Celta de Vigo	Loan return[14]
1 February 2003	FW	Darío Husaín	Vélez Sarsfield	Free[15][16]
1 February 2003	FW	Horacio Ameli	São Paulo FC	USD 175,000 (Loan)[17]

Out

Date	Pos.	Name	To	Fee
1 July 2002	FW	Ariel Ortega	Fenerbahçe	£6m[18]
1 July 2002	FW	Martín Cardetti	Paris Saint-Germain	Free[19]
2 September 2002	MF	Eduardo Coudet	Celta de Vigo	Loan €200,000[20]
1 July 2002	MF	Cristian Ledesma	Hamburger SV	USD 4,000,000[21][22][23]
1 January 2003	DF	Javier Gandolfi	Talleres	Loan[24]
1 January 2003	DF	Damián Álvarez	Monarcas Morelia	Loan USD 150,000[25]
1 January 2003	DF	Jersson González	Centauros Villavicencio	Loan end[6]
1 January 2003	DF	Alejandro Escalona	Everton	Loan end[26]

Competitions

Pre-season and friendlies

River Plate v Boca Juniors

15 June 2002 Friendly	River Plate	2 – 1	Boca Juniors	Miami
	Lequi 90' Raponi 90+2'	Report 1 Report 2	Burdisso 8'	Stadium: Orange Bowl Referee: Kevin Terry

River Plate v Monarcas Morelia

22 June 2002 Friendly	River Plate	1 – 1	Monarcas Morelia	San Jose, California
	Garcé 72'	Report 1 Report 2	Morales 39'	Stadium: Spartan Stadium Referee: Roberi Sabella (United States)

River Plate v Club América

28 June 2002 Friendly	River Plate	1 – 2	Club América	Los Angeles
	López 89'	Report	Navia 21' Castillo 75'	Stadium: Memorial Coliseum Referee: Ricardo Valenzuela (United States)

River Plate v Rangers F.C.

13 July 2002 Friendly	River Plate	3 – 2	Rangers F.C.	East Rutherford, New Jersey
	Ayala 17' Zapata 51' López 79'	Report	Arveladze 61' Amoruso 78'	Stadium: Giants Stadium Referee: Jair Maruffo (United States)

Monterrey v River Plate

17 July 2002 Movistar Cup – SF	Monterrey	1 – 0	River Plate	Monterrey, Mexico
	Franco 19'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Tecnológico Attendance: 28,000[27] Referee: Gilberto Alcalá (Mexico)

Racing Club v River Plate

19 July 2002 Movistar Cup – 3pp	Racing Club	0 – 2	River Plate	Monterrey, Mexico
		Report	Cavenaghi 9' Pereyra 90'	Stadium: Estadio Tecnológico Attendance: 30,000[28] Referee: Gilberto Alcalá (Mexico)

Marathón v River Plate

7 August 2002 Friendly	Marathón	3 – 1	River Plate	San Pedro Sula, Honduras
	Domínguez 72'	Report	Scott 23' Pereyra 41', 58'	Stadium: Olímpico Metropolitano Attendance: 45,000[29][30] Referee: Oscar Bardales (Honduras)

Colo-Colo v River Plate

10 October 2002 Friendly	Colo-Colo	2 – 1	River Plate	Santiago, Chile
	Cáceres 51', 83'	Report	López 44'	Stadium: Estadio Nacional Attendance: 45,000[29][30] Referee: Carlos Chandía (Chile)

River Plate v Godoy Cruz

21 January 2003 Friendly	River Plate	1 – 2	Godoy Cruz	Godoy Cruz, Mendoza
	Leguizamón 25'	Report	Torresi 79' Herrera 84'	Stadium: Feliciano Gambarte Referee: Aldo Muñoz

Apertura 2002

Main article: 2002–03 Argentine Primera División § Torneo Apertura

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Independiente	19	13	4	2	48	19	+29	43
2	Boca Juniors	19	12	4	3	32	15	+17	40
3	River Plate	19	11	3	5	35	23	+12	36
4	Chacarita Juniors	19	9	3	7	19	21	−2	30
5	Vélez Sársfield	19	8	4	7	23	19	+4	28

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Results by matchday

Matchday	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
Ground	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A
Result	D	W	W	W	W	L	D	D	W	W	W	W	L	L	W	L	L	W	W
Position	7	7	5	4	1	3	3	4	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Fixtures and results

River Plate v Newell's

28 July 2002 Round 1	River Plate	0 – 0	Newell's	Buenos Aires
15.30 (UTC−3)		[citation needed]		Stadium: El Monumental Attendance: 32,000 Referee: Ángel Sánchez

Vélez Sársfield v River Plate

4 August 2002 Round 2	Vélez Sársfield	0 – 1	River Plate	Buenos Aires
		[citation needed]	Álvarez 35'	Stadium: José Amalfitani Stadium Attendance: 28,000 Referee: Horacio Elizondo

River Plate v Colón

11 August 2002 Round 3	River Plate	1 – 0	Colón	Buenos Aires
	López 35'	[citation needed]		Stadium: El Monumental Attendance: 48,000 Referee: Oscar Sequeira

Chacarita Juniors v River Plate

18 August 2002 Round 4	Chacarita Juniors	1 – 2	River Plate	Buenos Aires
	Cella 90'	[citation needed]	Domínguez 62' Cuevas 79'	Stadium: José Amalfitani Stadium Attendance: 16,000 Referee: Claudio Martín

Estudiantes v River Plate

25 August 2002 Round 5	Estudiantes	0 – 6	River Plate	La Plata
		[citation needed]	Domínguez 6' González 17' Fuertes 24', 33' Coudet 27' Quatrocchi 54' (o.g.)	Stadium: Jorge Luis Hirschi Attendance: 21,000 Referee: Fabián Madorrán

River Plate v Huracán

1 September 2002 Round 6	River Plate	1 – 2	Huracán	Buenos Aires
	Domínguez 82'	[citation needed]	Ortiz 25' Padra 79'	Stadium: El Monumental Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Horacio Elizondo

Arsenal v River Plate

8 September 2002 Round 7	Arsenal	0 – 0	River Plate	Lanús
		Report		Stadium: La Fortaleza Attendance: 11,000 Referee: Ángel Sánchez

River Plate v Talleres

15 September 2002 Round 8	River Plate	1 – 1	Talleres	Buenos Aires
	Cavenaghi 84'	Report	Quinteros 43'	Stadium: Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti Attendance: 18,900 Referee: Gabriel Brazenas

Independiente v River Plate

22 September 2002 Round 9	Independiente	1 – 2	River Plate	Avellaneda
	Pusineri 89'	Report	González 46' D'Alessandro 87'	Stadium: Libertadores de América Attendance: 45,000 Referee: Claudio Martín

River Plate v Rosario Central

29 September 2002 Round 10	River Plate	5 – 2	Rosario Central	Buenos Aires
	D'Alessandro 50', 68' (pen.) Domínguez 59' Demichelis 62' Cavenaghi 89'	Report	Garcé 19' (o.g.) B.Schelotto 78'	Stadium: Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Daniel Giménez

Nueva Chicago v River Plate

6 October 2002 Round 11	Nueva Chicago	1 – 3	River Plate	Buenos Aires
	Carreño 81'	Report	González 14', 52' D'Alessandro 36'	Stadium: Pedro Bidegain Attendance: 22,500 Referee: Ángel Sánchez

River Plate v Unión

13 October 2002 Round 12	River Plate	4 – 2	Unión	Buenos Aires
	Domínguez 32' Pereyra 73' Cavenaghi 77', 86'	Report	Torres 21' Zapata 85'	Stadium: Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti Attendance: 24,000 Referee: Roberto Ruscio

Banfield v River Plate

20 October 2002 Round 13	Banfield	5 – 0	River Plate	Banfield
	Colautti 7', 53' Demichelis 28' (o.g.) Jiménez 52' Moreno y Fabianesi 41'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Florencio Sola Attendance: 22,000 Referee: Héctor Baldassi
Note: Match suspended at 66' due to incidents.[31]

River Plate v Boca Juniors

27 October 2002 Round 14	River Plate	1 – 2	Boca Juniors	Buenos Aires
	Fuertes 52'	Report	Delgado 42' (f.k.), 77'	Stadium: Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti Attendance: 45,000 Referee: Horacio Elizondo

San Lorenzo v River Plate

3 November 2002 Round 15	San Lorenzo	0 – 1	River Plate	Buenos Aires
		Report	Fuertes 42'	Stadium: Pedro Bidegain Attendance: 19,000 Referee: Ángel Sánchez

River Plate v Lanús

10 November 2002 Round 16	River Plate	1 – 2	Lanús	Buenos Aires
	García 52' (o.g.)	Report	Mannara 18' Bustos Montoya 37'	Stadium: Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti Attendance: 12,390 Referee: pt:Juan Pablo Pompei

Gimnasia (La Plata) v River Plate

17 November 2002 Round 17	Gimnasia (La Plata)	2 – 0	River Plate	La Plata
	Turienzo 18' Enría 32'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Juan Carmelo Zerillo Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Fabián Madorrán

River Plate v Olimpo

24 November 2002 Round 18	River Plate	2 – 1	Olimpo	Buenos Aires
	Fuertes 3' Cavenaghi 30'	Report	Bustamante 70'	Stadium: Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti Attendance: 22,000 Referee: Gustavo Bassi

Racing Club v River Plate

30 November 2002 Round 19	Racing Club	1 – 4	River Plate	Avellaneda
	Aimar 6' Fuertes 45' Cavenaghi 58', 67'	Report	Milito 76'	Stadium: Estadio Presidente Juan Domingo Perón Attendance: 16,000 Referee: Claudio Martín

Clausura 2003

Main article: 2002–03 Argentine Primera División § Torneo Clausura

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	River Plate	19	13	4	2	43	18	+25	43
2	Boca Juniors	19	12	3	4	36	23	+13	39
3	Vélez Sársfield	19	12	2	5	27	12	+15	38
4	Rosario Central	19	10	7	2	40	18	+22	37
5	Colón	19	7	8	4	19	14	+5	29

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Results by matchday

Matchday	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
Ground	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H
Result	D	L	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	D	D	W	D	W	W	W	W	L
Position	6	13	9	8	5	4	2	1	1	1	1	3	3	3	2	1	1	1	1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Fixtures and results

Newell's v River Plate

16 February 2003 Round 1	Newell's	2 – 2	River Plate	Rosario
	Rosales 61' Marino 83'	Report	Fuertes 75' Ameli 89'	Stadium: Marcelo Bielsa Attendance: 36,500 Referee: Fabián Madorrán

River Plate v Vélez Sarsfield

23 February 2003 Round 2	River Plate	0 – 1	Vélez Sarsfield	Buenos Aires
		Report	Nanni 90'	Stadium: El Monumental Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Gabriel Brazenas

Colón v River Plate

2 March 2003 Round 3	Colón	0 – 2	River Plate	Santa Fe
		Report	Cavenaghi 60' González 76'	Stadium: Brigadier General Estanislao López Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Sergio Pezzotta

River Plate v Chacarita Juniors

9 March 2003 Round 4	River Plate	2 – 1	Chacarita Juniors	Buenos Aires
	Husaín 45' Ameli 90'	Report	Pena 24' (pen.)	Stadium: El Monumental Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Roberto Ruscio

River Plate v Estudiantes

16 March 2003 Round 5	River Plate	1 – 0	Estudiantes	Buenos Aires
	Husaín 63'	Report		Stadium: El Monumental Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Ángel Sánchez

Huracán v River Plate

23 March 2003 Round 6	Huracán	0 – 6	River Plate	Buenos Aires
		Report	Cavenaghi 51', 52' Husaín 62' 51' Fuertes 77' D'Alessandro 80' Barrado 85'	Stadium: Tomás Adolfo Ducó Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Claudio Martín

River Plate v Arsenal

30 March 2003 Round 7	River Plate	3 – 1	Arsenal	Buenos Aires
	Cavenaghi 49', 65' D'Alessandro 77' (pen.)	Report	González 88' (pen.)	Stadium: El Monumental Attendance: 35,000 Referee: Rafael Furchi

Talleres v River Plate

6 April 2003 Round 8	Talleres	1 – 3	River Plate	Córdoba
	Real 33' (pen.)	Report	Pereyra 4' Coudet 58' D'Alessandro 66'	Stadium: Mario Alberto Kempes Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Daniel Giménez

River Plate v Independiente

13 April 2003 Round 9	River Plate	2 – 1	Independiente	Buenos Aires
	Fuertes 71' Milito 84' (o.g.)	Report	Montenegro 13'	Stadium: El Monumental Attendance: 60,000 Referee: Héctor Baldassi

Rosario Central v River Plate

20 April 2003 Round 10	Rosario Central	0 – 2	River Plate	Rosario
	Arias 41' Figueroa 43'	Report	González 26' Cavenaghi 57'	Stadium: Gigante de Arroyito Attendance: 44,500 Referee: Rafael Furchi

River Plate v Nueva Chicago

4 May 2003 Round 11	River Plate	1 – 1	Nueva Chicago	Buenos Aires
	Cavenaghi 54'	Report	Amaya 70'	Stadium: El Monumental Attendance: 35,000 Referee: Claudio Martín

Unión v River Plate

11 May 2003 Round 12	Unión	1 – 1	River Plate	Paraná
	Capria 32' (f.k.)	Report	González 15'	Stadium: Presbítero Bartolomé Grella Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Horacio Elizondo

River Plate v Banfield

24 May 2003 Round 13	River Plate	2 – 1	Banfield	Buenos Aires
	Husaín 10' Cavenaghi 54'	Report	Colautti 72'	Stadium: El Monumental Referee: Oscar Sequeira

Boca Juniors v River Plate

1 June 2003 Round 14	Boca Juniors	2 – 2	River Plate	Buenos Aires
	Barros Schelotto 67', 70'	Report	D'Alessandro 10' Cavenaghi 38' (pen.)	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Héctor Baldassi

River Plate v San Lorenzo

8 June 2003 Round 15	River Plate	4 – 0	San Lorenzo	Buenos Aires
	Cavenaghi 45' Lequi 64' D'Alessandro 35' Pereyra 84'	Report		Stadium: El Monumental Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Gabriel Brazenas

Lanús v River Plate

15 June 2003 Round 16	Lanús	3 – 4	River Plate	Lanús
	Garcé 4' (o.g.) Benítez 22' Morales 80'	Report	Cavenaghi 9' Fuertes 37', 47' González 42'	Stadium: La Fortaleza Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Claudio Martín

River Plate v Gimnasia y Esgrima

22 June 2003 Round 17	River Plate	3 – 0	Gimnasia y Esgrima	Buenos Aires
	Cavenaghi 1' Fuertes 6' D'Alessandro 79'	Report		Stadium: El Monumental Attendance: 35,000 Referee: Oscar Sequeira

Olimpo v River Plate

29 June 2003 Round 18	Olimpo	0 – 2	River Plate	Bahía Blanca
		Report	Zapata 80' Barrado 86'	Stadium: Roberto Carminatti Attendance: 13,000 Referee: Gabriel Brazenas

River Plate v Racing Club

6 July 2003 Round 19	River Plate	1 – 3	Racing Club	Buenos Aires
	Cavenaghi 62'	Report	Romero 27' Vitali 41' Mirošević 73'	Stadium: El Monumental Attendance: 59,086[32] Referee: Daniel Giménez

Evolution of the league table

River Plate, Boca Juniors and Velez Sarsfield were the teams who kept the championship lead for most of the tournament.

Positions by round

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
River Plate	6	13	9	8	5	4	2	1	1	1	1	3	3	3	2	1	1	1	1
Boca Juniors	1	8	6	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	2	1	2	3	2	2
Vélez Sarsfield	1	1	1	3	6	5	3	1	1	3	2	1	1	1	3	3	2	3	3

Source: www.rsssf.com

2002 Copa Sudamericana

Main article: 2002 Copa Sudamericana

Racing Club v River Plate

4 September 2002 2nd stage	Racing Club	1 – 0	River Plate	Buenos Aires, Argentina
21.10 (UTC−3)	Estévez 34' (pen.)	[citation needed]		Stadium: José Amalfitani Stadium Referee: Héctor Baldassi

River Plate v Racing Club

25 September 2002 2nd stage	River Plate	0 – 0	Racing Club	Buenos Aires, Argentina
		[citation needed]		Stadium: El Monumental Referee: Horacio Elizondo

2003 Copa Libertadores

Main article: 2003 Copa Libertadores

Group stage

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		CAL	RIV	LIB	EME
1	Deportivo Cali	6	4	0	2	9	3	+6	12			2–0	1–0	2–1
2	River Plate	6	4	0	2	10	7	+3	12		2–1		3–1	2–0
3	Libertad	6	2	1	3	9	9	0	7		1–0	0–2		2–2
4	Emelec	6	1	1	4	6	15	−9	4		0–4	3–1	1–5

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Deportivo Cali v River Plate

19 February 2003 Group Stage R1	Deportivo Cali	2 – 0	River Plate	Cali, Colombia
	Murillo 35' Castillo 59'	[citation needed]		Stadium: Olímpico Pascual Guerrero Attendance: 38,000 Referee: Gilberto Hidalgo (Peru)

River Plate v Libertad

27 February 2003 Group Stage R2	River Plate	3 – 1	Libertad	Buenos Aires, Argentina
	Fuertes 68', 83' (pen.) González 76'	Report	Benítez 64'	Stadium: El Monumental Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Wilson de Souza (Brazil)

Emelec v River Plate

13 March 2003 Group Stage R3	Emelec	3 – 1	River Plate	Guayaquil, Ecuador
	Pacheco 60' (pen.) Rey 78' Tenorio 87'	[citation needed]	Fuertes 39'	Stadium: George Capwell Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Márcio Rezende (Brazil)

River Plate v Deportivo Cali

20 March 2003 Group Stage R4	River Plate	2 – 1	Deportivo Cali	Buenos Aires, Argentina
	Cavenaghi 35' Coudet 69'	Report	Castillo 26'	Stadium: El Monumental Attendance: 27,500 Referee: Carlos Simon (Brazil)

Libertad v River Plate

2 April 2003 Group Stage R5	Libertad	0 – 2	River Plate	Asunción, Paraguay
		Report	D'Alessandro 81' Cavenaghi 90' (pen.)	Stadium: Defensores del Chaco Attendance: 21,000 Referee: Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay)

River Plate v Emelec

17 April 2003 Group Stage R6	River Plate	2 – 0	Emelec	Buenos Aires, Argentina
	Fernández 42' D'Alessandro 80'	Report		Stadium: El Monumental Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Carlos Torres (Paraguay)

Knockout phase

Round of 16

River Plate v Corinthians

1 May 2003 R16 First leg	River Plate	2 – 1	Corinthians	Buenos Aires, Argentina
	D'Alessandro 84' (f.k.) Cavenaghi 89'	Report	Wagner 68'	Stadium: El Monumental Attendance: 55,000 Referee: Gilberto Hidalgo (Peru)

Corinthians v River Plate

14 May 2003 R16 Second leg	Corinthians	1 – 2 (2-4 agg.)	River Plate	São Paulo, Brazil
	Liédson 9'	Report	Demichelis 22' Fuertes 74' (pen.)	Stadium: Estádio do Morumbi Attendance: 66,000 Referee: Óscar Ruiz (Colombia)

Quarter-finals

River Plate v América

20 May 2003 QF First leg	River Plate	2 – 1	América	Buenos Aires, Argentina
	D'Alessandro 16' Lequi 90'	Report	Vásquez 58'	Stadium: El Monumental Attendance: 50,000 Referee: Paulo de Oliveira(Brazil)

América v River Plate

27 May 2003 QF Second leg	América	4 – 1 (5-3 agg.)	River Plate	Cali, Colombia
	Vásquez 29', 35' Castillo 87' Moreno 90'	Report	Ludueña 68'	Stadium: Olímpico Pascual Guerrero Attendance: 50,000 Referee: Gustavo Méndez (referee) (Uruguay)

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

No.	Pos.	Name	Total		League		2002 Copa Sudamericana		2003 Copa Libertadores		Discipline
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	Ángel Comizzo	17	0	15	0	1	0	1	0	3	0
2	DF	Celso Ayala	18	0	16	0	2	0	0	0	2	1
3	DF	Ricardo Ismael Rojas	24	0	20	0	1	0	3	0	8	1
4 [a]	MF	Jersson González	8	0	6	0	2	0	0	0	3	0
4 [b]	MF	Claudio Husaín	18	1	12	1	1	0	5	0	6	2
5	MF	Leonardo Astrada	27	0	22	0	1	0	4	0	5	0
6	DF	Martín Demichelis	46	2	35	1	2	0	9	1	12	1
7	FW	Alejandro Domínguez	16	5	15	5	1	0	0	0	4	0
8	MF	Eduardo Coudet	28	3	20	2	0	0	8	1	3	0
9	FW	Fernando Cavenaghi	43	24	33	21	2	0	8	3	2	0
10	MF	Andrés D'Alessandro	40	14	29	10	1	0	10	4	9	0
11	MF	Víctor Zapata	22	1	15	1	0	0	7	0	2	0
12	GK	José María Buljubasich	26	0	17	0	1	0	8	0	1	0
13 [c]	DF	Javier Gandolfi	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
13 [d]	DF	Martín del Campo	4	0	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
14	DF	Ariel Garcé	43	0	34	0	1	0	8	0	5	1
15	MF	Guillermo Pereyra	32	3	24	3	1	0	7	0	1	2
16	DF	Matías Lequi	27	2	20	1	0	0	7	1	5	0
17	GK	Franco Costanzo	7	0	6	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
18	MF	Diego Barrado	17	2	11	2	2	0	4	0	0	0
19 [e]	MF	Gabriel Pereyra	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
19 [f]	MF	Osmar Ferreyra	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
20 [g]	MF	Juan Pablo Raponi	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
20 [h]	FW	Darío Husaín	19	3	11	3	0	0	8	0	1	1
21 [i]	MF	Damián Ariel Álvarez	8	1	6	1	2	0	0	0	0	0
21 [j]	DF	Horacio Ameli	23	2	16	2	0	0	7	0	8	1
22 [k]	GK	Germán Lux	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	FW	Maxi López	7	1	6	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
24	FW	Nelson Cuevas	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
25	FW	Luciano Leguizamón	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
26	FW	Andrés Aimar	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	MF	Lucho González	42	9	32	8	2	0	8	1	0	0
28	MF	Daniel Ludueña	18	1	14	0	0	0	4	1	0	0
30	FW	Esteban Fuertes	45	16	34	12	1	0	10	4	0	0

1. Wore no. 4 jersey during Torneo Apertura 2002 and 2002 Copa Sudamericana
2. Wore no. 4 jersey during Torneo Clausura 2003 and 2003 Copa Libertadores
3. Wore no. 13 jersey during Torneo Apertura 2002
4. Wore no. 13 jersey during Torneo Clausura 2003 and no. 25 during 2003 Copa Libertadores
5. Wore no. 19 jersey during Torneo Apertura 2002
6. Wore no. 19 jersey during Torneo Clausura 2003
7. Wore no. 20 jersey during Torneo Apertura 2002 and 2002 Copa Sudamericana
8. Wore no. 20 jersey during Torneo Clausura 2003 and no. 22 during 2003 Copa Libertadores
9. Wore no. 21 jersey during Torneo Apertura 2002 and 2002 Copa Sudamericana
10. Wore no. 21 jersey during Torneo Clausura 2003 and 2003 Copa Libertadores
11. Wore no. 12 jersey during Torneo Apertura 2002 and 2002 Copa Sudamericana, wore no. 31 during Torneo Clausura 2003

Source:www.livefutbol.com