When the teams for the 2018 Copa Libertadores final were finally confirmed - amid huge controversy, of course - unpopular Argentine president Mauricio Macri said that this super Superclasico was an opportunity to show the country’s face to the world… only for no one to show up on the pitch at all.

That was ultimately because Argentine football has many faces: excitable, aggressive, angry, anxious - and, most pointedly, perpetually hysterical.

These are all extremes, as this really is a country that has a more intense relationship with football than any other. It is not a healthy relationship. This may the country that cares about football far too much, and that goes way beyond love to something much more obsessive and obviously damaging.

Argentina this weekend had the opportunity to put on a great exhibition for the world - to show the best of their game - but emotion got the better of it all, as every worst stereotype and expectation was instead played out in full global glare.

Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico Show all 24 1 /24 Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico Boca fans cheer ahead of the first leg of the Copa Libertadores final They call it the greatest rivalry in football and the people who watch it the greatest fans in the world Reuters Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico Members of the Ituzaingo official River Plate supporters club fall over their leader Mauro Lezama They are calling the meeting of Argentina's Boca Juniors and River Plate the greatest final ever Reuters Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico A Boca Juniors fan kisses a crucifix While Europe has the Champions League with money, glamour, and organisation, the Copa Libertadores played in South America is all about grit, passion and unpredictability Reuters Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico Sofia Deketele, who was covered with paint and eggs because she just became a doctor, holds a sign with the River Plate flag that reads "Doctor Deketele" The second leg match between Argentina's two biggest clubs - known as the Superclasico - is almost as much about the fans as the players. The threat of chaos, both on and off the field, is omnipresent Reuters Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico A young Boca fan sits on a t-shirt his father hung on the safety fencing The two teams drew the first leg 2-2 at Boca's hallowed Bombonera ground in Buenos Aires on Nov. 11 Reuters Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico River Plate fans cheer as they wait for their team bus to leave for the first leg match The decisive second leg takes place at River Plate's Monumental stadium on the other side of town Reuters Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico Boca Juniors arrive at the La Bombonera stadium ahead of the first leg For the most passionate of followings, it is all or nothing Reuters Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico River Plate fan Vicente Zucala at his home in Escobar "This is a very important match, we cannot lose," said Vicente Zucala, a 29-year old blind fan of River Plate. "If we lose, we're done, it will all be over." Reuters Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico Boca fans climb the fence before the first leg match Boca have won the Libertadores six times and River have won it three, but this is the first time in the competition's 58-year they have met in the final Reuters Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico River Plate fan Emanuel Torri walks in the rain showing his tattoo that reads "River Plate" Both matches were sold out, with people coming from all over the world just to soak up the atmosphere Reuters Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico A Ford Falcon car decorated with the River Plate colours "River Plate for me is my life, my passion," said Byron Stuardo Alquijay, a 33-year old who came from Guatemala. "I had to sell my car to come here. I might buy another car in the future but this match will never be repeated." Reuters Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico Residents play soccer in the La Boca neighbourhood Unlike in the past, when rival fans could occupy either end of the stadium praying for a chance to taunt their opponents, only home fans have tickets for the final's two matches Reuters Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico River Plate fans take selfies outside the Monumental stadium Away fans have been banned from Argentine derby matches because of recurring trouble between competing sets of barras bravas, the name given to the organised fan groups who roar their support from the terraces Reuters Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico An image of Diego Maradona on a timber sheet inside a Coventillo "The Superclasico between Boca and River is so important because the fans are so passionate," said Cayetano Milon, a 51-year old Boca fan who runs a shop next to the Bombonera Reuters Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico Silvia, 58, the owner of Matias Parrilla, who cooks for Boca fans next to La Bombonera stadium That rawness is what appeals to many old-school fans and what makes the Libertadores so different from the Champions League and European football in general Reuters Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico Twin brothers watch the first leg On the field it is unpredictable - 18 different sides have made it to the last 10 Libertadores finals, compared to just 10 in the Champions League Reuters Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico Victor, 80, poses inside the pharmacy he used to own in the La Boca neighbourhood Off the field, there is a different level of commitment, even for those used to Kop at Liverpool, the Yellow Wall at Borussia Dortmund, or fireworks and fervour in the Balkans Reuters Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico La Bombonera stadium Grounds such as La Bombonera are steeped in history, even though many are ramshackle and run down and often lacking proper seats, proper cover and even proper toilets. Many of the stadiums are part of the community and remain in the same place they were built decades ago, still hemmed in by houses and shops Reuters Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico Boca fans eat on a street ahead of the first leg The fans are separated from the players by moats, running tracks or chain-link fences. Sometimes the corners are fitted with perspex to stop drinks and bodily fluids raining down on opposition players Reuters Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico A cat sits underneath a poster of the Boca Juniors team from 1998/99 In the Libertadores, pitches are not always pristine, tackles from behind are common, and it is normal to see the matches end with officials surrounded by riot police, their shields protecting them from fans and players Reuters Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico Miguel Aguirre sits outside his home covered with the colours of River Plate The South American Football Confederation wants to make the competition more like the Champions League - a tough task given their prize money is only one-tenth of their European counterparts Reuters Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico Residents drink amongst Boca memorabilia inside Ribera Sur bar One of the big changes is to end the home-and-away format for the final and make it a one-off event in a neutral venue Reuters Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico Virulaso, 60, a former football hooligan and Boca fan The change will take effect next year and has infuriated fans who say the distances and costs involved will rob ordinary supporters of the chance to see their team in the biggest match of the season, and perhaps of their lives. It also means this Boca-River showdown is the last of its kind. This weekend therefore carries a special poignancy for fans of both teams Reuters Fans take centre stage at Boca-River Superclasico Boca fans from the same family play in the street "Personally, I don't like the River-Boca matches," said River fan Maria Fe Diaz, whose father once had a heart attack during a derby match. "They are too stressful for me. I didn't want this match to happen. I don't know how I'm going to make it until Saturday." Reuters

There are many profound sociological reasons for this negative relationship, from the lack of identity upon which an immigrant state was founded to the extremes of economics have endured, but the effects are multifarious.

One was obviously that attack on the Boca Juniors bus, but it says a lot that “disgrace” - as Conmebol president Alejandro Dominguez described it - was actually entirely mild relative to a football culture that has seen 93 deaths in the last decade alone, even if its consequences were anything but mild. It has created humiliation for the country, and the newspapers in Argentina have been filled with so many headlines about “national shame”.

Even that now feels an inevitable consequence of so many incidents over the past few days, and a city that wasn’t looking forward to the game but actually dreading its potential result. Nerves, tension and fear governed.

One River-supporting shopkeeper told The Independent he didn’t “want to even predict” what would happen in the second leg because he didn’t “want to jinx it or bring bad luck”.

One Boca-supporting taxi driver meanwhile said he’d willingly “sell his soul to the devil” to win that match. The energy with which he was imparting this indicated he was entirely sincere.

This is also the flip side to the much-shared and much-admired footage of over 60,000 Boca fans cramming into the Bombonera on Thursday for what was supposed to be their last training session ahead of the second leg.

It was hard not to be entirely enamoured by that, such passion, but that passion was already spilling over on the day. Literally. Fans were dangerously cramming into the stand, blocking stairwells and forcing others forward, while one supporter directly in front of The Independent cut his leg failing to scale a 15-foot high glass wall to try and get into an even busier area.

The second-leg descended into farce (Getty)

Argentine football just feels like it is in a perpetual state of unsustainable frenzy.

That creates the spectacle so many of us came to the Libertadores final for, but it also creates a lot of huge problems even beyond the violence, and thereby further feeding that violence.

Just look at the state of the international football team right now, and the weight of tension that surrounds almost every single match. That was never more blatant than for the World Cup group game against Nigeria. Even if you had no connection to the country, and even in a tournament as electric as Russia 2018, you could still sense the utterly suffocating and stifling nerves of that game. The Argentine team did shamble through that match, got the result.

And that’s a huge part of the problem.

Argentina has a football culture that cares so much that the result really has become the be-all and end-all; where nothing else matters. It is a place where even constantly just about getting that result causes a regression and an inherent inability to confront problems that might prevent results. The national team are again the proof of that.

Supporters of River leave the Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires after authorities postponed the match (AFP)

This disgrace of a Libertadores final was the logical end point of that, as none of it could be sustained. It was partly why worry, and thereby violence, governed the build-up. It all spilled over.

The entire football culture is meanwhile a logical end point of the way support seems to be going on social media in the UK, where tribalism rules, where saying anything mildly critical of a team makes you the enemy. Argentina is the extreme illustration of all that, if not a result of it.

The country's situation is the result of so many interwoven sociological issues, although its difficult not to simplistically think that people's extreme identification with their club is the result of extreme economic disparity. It's what they cling to, what gives a sense of self in a society with so many breaking points.

It is also why - in the words of one top Argentine club official - coaches are sacked so often, with average tenures of barely six months. And that doesn’t just apply to senior teams. It applies to youth teams too.

Security forces stand guard as River's supporters leave Estadio Monumental (AFP/Getty Images)

No one can ever plan anything, because those plans are thrown out with the latest result. This is the mindset that governs everything, because histrionic reaction pervades all thinking. This is the mindset that has meant the country has so fallen behind Germany and Spain and other big football nations, because it has no idea how to actually maximise what might be the greatest talent factory in the world.

That talent can’t be nurtured if negativity pervades everything, if nobody ever has the freedom to make mistakes.

Everything in Argentine football is so stifled, so strangled.

It was a mindset best summed up by Marcelo Bielsa, who said he gave up on his country’s club football when he realised that the way you play wasn’t as important to a lot of people as being able to insult the opposition.

So we saw on Saturday.

So much for the follow-up to Macri’s comment, that he hoped Argentina could show the country can “demonstrate maturity and that we’re changing, that we can play in peace”.

The Libertadores organisers are left with many more questions than answers (Getty)

They showed anything but that.

And we were still hearing anything but that amidst all of the shame.

In the hours after the Libertadores final second leg had been postponed for a second time, on a metro train back down from the Monumental stadium on the Sunday, River fans began to sing some of the songs that make their matches such occasions. All of the chants to the tune of 60s rock hit came out, until there was a new one. Its subject? The attack on the Boca bus and how their rivals had “sh** themselves”.

Never mind the other effects, the other problems. It was a result, of sorts.