Talkative

Calm

During the first half both teams tried to play and not to fight. Baldassi showed one or two cards, which is very few in a Libertadores game. There were no doubtful calls, everything was calm ......

But...

Baldassi has his own style, which is always good. But I don´t like it, I´m afraid. He says he likes to let the game flow, and he does just that, but sometimes this is dangerous. When Baldassi referees, players tend to think that, as the referee is friendly, they are allowed to do what they want. So, then happens what we saw today: River and San Lorenzo players started to hit each other, to insult, to fight ... Baldassi tried to stop this by just talking but it wasn´t enough. So he started booking ... but too late. He should have showed red to Villagra at least, after a skirmish with Bergessio (he gestured saying "I didn´t see it"). As a result of the confusion, the game temperature got too warm.

At the end...

3 minutes before the match ended, Baldassi conceded a penalty to San Lorenzo. Alexis Sanchez touched the ball with his hand, that´s right. But previously, a River player had been pushed, so the whole action should have been invalidated.