Copa Libertadores saga ends as River Plate wins in Madrid

Madrid turned into Buenos Aires for a night Sunday, with tens of thousands of Argentine fans transforming Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu into a stadium of their own.

River Plate fans were the only ones celebrating in the end, both at home and in Spain, after the historic victory over fierce rival Boca Juniors in the twice-suspended final of the Copa Libertadores.

Players of Argentina's River Plate celebrate after defeating Argentina's Boca Juniors in the Copa Libertadores final soccer match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018. [Photo: AP]

River came from behind to beat the rival 3-1 in the second leg after extra time to win South America's equivalent of the Champions League 5-3 on aggregate.

One of the most anticipated matches in South American soccer finally came to a conclusion, nearly a month after the first leg was played in Argentina.

The final capped one of the most embarrassing chapters in South American soccer, which saw its leaders unable to stage the historic match on the continent. The second leg had to be played in the Spanish capital after it was marred by fan violence in Buenos Aires two weeks ago, when Boca players were injured before the game after River fans attacked the team bus with rocks, bottles and wood.

Soccer great Lionel Messi and FIFA President Gianni Infantino were among those at the "superclasico" at the Bernabeu, which saw the Argentine fans chanting throughout the match in a unique scene at the traditional European stadium.

It was River's fourth Copa Libertadores title, and first since 2015. Boca Juniors remained on six titles and missed a chance to tie Argentina's Independiente as the competition's most successful club.

After reaching 1-1 after 90 minutes on Sunday, River went ahead when Juan Fernando Quintero scored four minutes into the second half of extra time, and Gonzalo "Pity" Martinez added a third goal in the final minutes of the high-profile match.

Dario Benedetto had opened the scoring in normal time just before halftime for Boca, and Lucas Pratto equalized for River in the 67th.

Boca had Wilmar Barrios sent off early in extra time and then had Fernando Gago leave the field near the end because of an injury.

The first leg at Boca's La Bombonera Stadium in Buenos Aires ended 2-2.

Rival fans were separated for security reasons with more than 25,000 from each club expected at the Bernabeu, and many making the expensive trip from Argentina. Only supporters of the home team were allowed in the matches in Argentina to avoid fan violence.