Boca He returns from Bolivia with mixed feelings. Although it was higher than Potosi National and hardly suffered the effects of the altitude, missed a penalty at the close of the first half and brings a tie with little pleasure. Yes indeed: Leandro Brey He ended up saving him in the end at 0-0 in his debut in the South American Cup.
Boca fought at 3885 meters above sea level. Despite the alternative 11 that Diego Martínez stopped, the xeneize team assumed responsibility and sought, with intelligence, to manage the pace and actions of the match. He pressed as a block, came out quickly on the counterattack and tried insistently from medium and long distance (Saralegui, Benedetto, Ramírez, Janson). He created the clearest chances and even had the luxury of missing a penalty.
At 30 minutes, Boca had generated almost half a dozen goal situations: a poisoned center from Briasco that Benedetto failed to connect; a deflected shot by Janson from the gate of the six-yard box; a shot from Ramírez that passed near Mustafá’s right corner and two bombs from the former Vélez that almost ended up inside. Against a limited opponent, who only worried at the beginning and end of the game, Boca did almost everything to take the lead at halftime, but failed in the definition.
At 42, after a series of rebounds in the Nacional area, Edisson Restrepo arrived late to a cross against Janson and the Chilean Maza did not hesitate: penalty. Without Cavani or Marcos Rojo, who even traveled, the person in charge of executing it was Darío Benedetto, who returned to the starting lineup after five games and showed, by far, his best side of 2024. However, Pipa failed again from 12 steps, just like on that fateful night against Corinthians, for the round of 16 of Libertadores 2022: His shot hit the crossbar. Of his 23 penalties in Boca, the former Marseille missed six; although of his last nine attempts, only four were inside.
The penalty that Benedetto missed
After the blow for the missed penalty, Boca continued to control the game but no longer generated an attack and began to suffer at the back. The deficit was on the sides: without Lucas Blondel (torn ligaments), Luis Advíncula (febrile condition) or Marcelo Weigandt (on loan at Inter Miami), Martínez leaned on the youthful Lautaro Di Lollo, first central marker, in the position of right tip marker. And although the captain of the Reserve was strong in one-on-one and confident in the aerial game, Briasco did not cover that area and the boy champion of America and the world with the Xeneize Sub 20 suffered from Mancilla’s climbs, which best of Biaggio’s set. In the other side, Saracchi suffered from the cross blows, he had little projection and was almost worthless. Fabra? He still owes a match for his red card in the Libertadores final with Fluminense…
Boca wore things down in the first half and sought to change the air at the beginning of the second. Tiredness and suffocation began to make themselves felt. Quick with reflexes, Martínez moved the starting bench and sent Ezequiel Bullaude and Iker Zufiaurre (18-year-old forward who played his first game in the First Division) to the field instead of Janson and Ramírez, although the movement of pieces did not work. Because Boca lost the ball, because it lost freshness. And because Nacional, with very little, threatened to take him away. In the end, Saracchi had a clear shot entering the area from the right, but his shot went wide.
At that point, Brey had already scored a couple of goal balls between the 30 and 40 of the second half, the moment of greatest confusion in the xeneize team. The 21-year-old goalkeeper returned to starting due to the injuries of Chiquito Romero and Javier García and He was very confident from above, quick in his reflexes and correct in his footwork.
With our minds set on the definition of the League Cup, Boca brings a point from Bolivia that does not satisfy it but leaves it alone. From now on, all guns will be aimed at this Saturday’s game in Rosario, against Newell’s, a direct rival in the fight to enter the playoffs. The Cup, it was clear, is not the priority. It is a tournament that gives revenge and in which Boca should get through the group stage without problems. Be careful: in the other group match, Fortaleza from Brazil beat Sportivo Trinidense in Paraguay 2-0 and already took two points at the top of the zone, although the story is just beginning.
For now, Boca has already gotten rid of the marathon and uncomfortable trip to Potosí, is returning from altitude without injured players and Martínez will have a handful of training sessions to prepare in the best possible way for the match against Leprosy, which Boca will be forced to win to stay alive in the League Cup. The coach used this match to test variants thinking about what is coming, to give some youth players a feel and to draw conclusions.
“No one but me wants to score the goal, I’m personally angry but happy for the game we played. It was difficult for us to change the atmosphere, but I think we were better in the 90 minutes,” Benedetto, who wore the Boca captain’s ribbon and did not fail in the analysis, perfectly summarized.
Brey’s good performance, the debut of two new Boca Predio kids (Zufiaurre and Milton Delgado) and the good game of the Benítez boy were the highlights of a Boca muletto that deserved better luck. Next Saturday, with a starting team, Boca plays most of its chances in the semester. And this 0 to 0, surely, will quickly be forgotten.