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By Rick Sharma
MADRID (Reuters) – Boca Juniors arrived Wednesday in Madrid to prepare for the Libertadores Cup final against Spanish rival River Plate, at a time when the Spanish capital is the biggest insurance deal for a match in the city.
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A noisy crowd of about 5,000 people accompanied the Boca Juniors bus early Wednesday morning as it headed from Bombonera stadium to Buenos Aires airport.
Some 10,000 spectators are expected to attend the match, which was postponed twice before being transferred Sunday to the Bernabeu stadium, at the Real Madrid stadium in the Spanish capital.
With tens of thousands of Argentines living in Europe likely to watch the game, Spanish police said the match was the most dangerous in the history of Madrid.
More than 2,500 security personnel are expected to ensure the safety of the match, one of the fiercest football matches in the world. Police in Spain also asked for help from Argentine security.
River Plate will leave Argentina at 17:00 GMT and arrive in Madrid early Thursday morning.
* Attack on the bus
The two teams drew 2-2 in the finals on Nov. 11 at Boca Stadium, but the return leg, scheduled for Nov. 24 in Buenos Aires, was postponed twice after River Plate fans attacked the rival bus outside the Monumental Stadium.
Boca players were injured after their team's bus was stoned with pepper spray. The South American Confederation of Football (CONMEBOL) has decided to transfer the return match to be held in Madrid after its initial setting up at River Plate Stadium the following day.
Castiana Street, one of the main arteries of the city, will be closed Sunday at 9:00 am (08:00 GMT), police planning to separate the supporters to avoid riots.
The fans will arrive on private flights organized by the clubs and will be transported by bus to the designated areas after their arrival at Adolfo Suarez Barajas airport.
Although each club has 25,000 tickets for the match, only 5,000 tickets will be allowed for fans of all Argentine clubs to prevent the rogue trip to Spain.
Argentinian law enforcement officials said the police had arrested one of the supporters who had participated in the Bucca bus attack last month and that others had have been identified and researched.
River said he had arrested the cheerleader, a club member, and that he would try to prevent him from attending games in the future.
(Reuters)
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