MADRID — Pity Martínez, his legs like lead, took a deep breath. After 120 minutes of impossible tension, after a journey of 6,000 miles, after a game that had lasted a month, there was one more run to make.
So he ran. Away from the last vestiges of resistance Boca Juniors could muster, away from all the turmoil and strife that had enveloped the final of the 2018 Copa Libertadores, and into the wide green expanse of Santiago Bernabéu, toward the unguarded goal, toward a place in eternity.
Behind him, a sea of red and white bounced and broiled, urging him on, waiting for that moment of release, of certainty: for the third goal that would seal River Plate’s 3-1 victory — and, just as important, Boca’s defeat — and ensure that, for the fourth time in its history, River would be the South American champion.