Old Boys Superclasico: Higuain & Falcao's River Plate vs Samuel & Tevez's Boca Juniors

Oct 27, 2012 9:00:00 AM

The biggest fixture on the Argentine calender returns on Sunday, but who would be stronger had these two South American giants been able to hold on to their stars?

In recent years, River Plate and Boca Juniors have sold their fair share of talent to European football and with the Superclasico returning to Argentina's top flight after a year's absence, Goal.com takes a look at the best squads each side could muster had they been able to resist the cheque books of Europe's big spenders.

They may have spent last year languishing in the second division, but the River production line continues to flourish. In keeping with the club's tradition, we have gone for the sort of attacking line-up that would delight the romantics at El Monumental, with Esteban Cambiasso the only midfielder charged with stopping the opposition.

Lucas Mareque and Fernando Belluschi will look to stretch the play and provide our attacking trident of Alexis Sanchez, Lucho Gonzalez and Erik Lamela the space in which to fashion the bullets for deadly duo Gonzalo Higuain and Radamel Falcao to fire.

In la Boca, locals may traditionally cherish those who 'bleed for the shirt', but there is no shortage of flair in our team, with Ever Banega and Fernando Gago pulling the strings while Gary Medel bites at the heels of River's expansive midfield in the quintessentially Argentine 4-3-1-2 system.

Gago and Banega will sit alongside him, looking to feed enganche Nicolas Gaitan and support-striker Rodrigo Palacio between the lines, while Carlos Tevez runs River's exposed back-line ragged. Fabricio Coloccini and Walter Samuel will look to dominate the aerial battle, while Facundo Roncaglia and Luciano Monzon will be asked to attack their respective flanks.

River Plate Old Boys

Juan Pablo Carrizo
Lazio (Italy)

Fernando Belluschi
Bursaspor (Turkey)

Javier Mascherano
Barcelona (Spain)

Martin Demichelis
Malaga (Spain)

Lucas Mareque
Lorient (France)

Esteban Cambiasso
Inter (Italy)

Lucho Gonzalez
Porto (Portugal)

Erik Lamela
Roma (Italy)

Alexis Sanchez
Barcelona (Spain)

Gonzalo Higuain
Real Madrid (Spain)

Radamel Falcao
Atletico Madrid (Spain)

Substitutes

German Lux
Dep. La Coruna (Spain)

Maxi Lopez
Sampdoria (Italy)

Fernando Cavenaghi
Villarreal (Spain)

Diego Buonanotte
Malaga (Spain)

Pablo Aimar
Benfica (Portugal)

Javier Saviola
Malaga (Spain)

Alejandro Dominguez
Rayo Vallecano (Spain)

Boca Juniors Old Boys

Willy Caballero
Malaga (Spain)

Facundo Roncaglia
Fiorentina (Italy)

Fabricio Coloccini
Newcastle (England)

Walter Samuel
Inter (Italy)

Luciano Monzon
Lyon (France)

Gary Medel
Sevilla (Spain)

Ever Banega
Valencia (Spain)

Fernando Gago
Valencia (Spain)

Nicolas Gaitan
Benfica (Portugal)

Rodrigo Palacio
Inter (Italy)

Carlos Tevez
Man City (England)

Substitutes

Alvaro Gonzalez
Lazio (Italy)

Matias Silvestre
Inter (Italy)

Juan Forlin
Espanyol (Spain)

Nicolas Burdisso
Roma (Italy)

Emiliano Insua
Sporting (Portugal)

Pablo Mouche
Kayserispor (Turkey)

Dario Cvitanich
OGC Nice (France)

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