The second leg against an almost criminally timid and withdrawn Verdao will go down in the books as another perfect Gallardo game, even if it was not quite enough to overturn an enthralling tie.
River prevailed 2-0 in Sao Paulo and also saw a goal and two penalty shouts turned down by VAR by the most razor-thin of margins, thus falling just short of what would have been an historic comeback.
Rafael Borre also rattled the crossbar during a manic end to proceedings, in which River, despite being reduced to 10 men, refused to give up as Palmeiras hung on for dear life. Indeed, the stats told the story: the visitors accumulated 23 shots, 11 on target, while the Brazilians failed to test Franco Armani even once.
River s quest began in subdued fashion with a 3-0 defeat away to Liga de Quito in Group D, but Marcelo Gallardo s charges quickly rediscovered their best form.
Peru s Binacional were thrashed 8-0 and 6-0 while the Millonario also picked up four points against a Sao Paulo team featuring Dani Alves, pushing the Brazilians into third place and the Copa Sudamericana while River qualified in first.
In the last-16 stage River dominated over Athletic Paranaense, racking up 39 shots over two legs to their opponents 14. Goals proved hard to come by, though, and after tying the first leg 1-1 in Coritiba a single strike from Nicolas de la Cruz saw the Argentines over the line. Uruguay s Nacional were then put to the sword, with River s 2-0 home win followed by a 6-2 thrashing in Montevideo to produce an emphatic aggregate victory for the Millonario.