Intense. Emotional. Vibrant. Inside and outside. On the field and in the stands. From beginning to end. From area to area. From Bareiro to Cavani and Merentiel. From goal to goal. Boca and San Lorenzo put together a classic that lived up to expectations. It could have been for Ciclón, who hit from the start and managed the process until the end of the first half. It could have been a tie, because Boca couldn’t find the way to hurt Altamirano and The 1 to 1 in the Bombonera seemed like a res judicata. But it was for Xeneize, the one that sought it the most, that had the clearest opportunities and had its reward in the epilogue. Boca, thus, climbed into the classification zone for the first time at the League Cup playoffs and placed fourth in Zone B with two and a half games to play. The Raven, for its part, lost a unique chance to get closer to the fight and seems doomed.
Balloons, curtains, stick flags, bang bombs, smoke bombs, fireworks and more than 50,000 people gave him an exceptional setting to a hot classic. It was, for Boca, the possibility of achieving its fourth victory at home, climbing several steps in the table and facing the final sprint of the championship with the intact expectation of being champion. It was, perhaps, the last opportunity to try on, why not, the candidate’s suit.
All of Boca then rallied behind that goal. The fans, the players, also the coach, who did not save anything despite the marathon trip to Potosí for this Wednesday’s debut in the Copa Sudamericana. “To be champion, today you have to win,” thundered in the Bombonera As soon as the players jumped onto the field to warm up, Marcos Rojo led the way and Cavani brought up the rear. “Let this afternoon, whatever the cost,” continued the fans’ songbook, a message in itself after a joyless 2023 and facing the urgent need to add three again.
But San Lorenzo did not want to be the duck at the wedding. No. Because history also plays a role. And because the Cyclone also needed the points. The Insua team set up shop in La Bombonera and He played Boca with clenched teeth. He suffocated Xeneize in the gestation zone and bet on the power and speed of his forwards to force the rival error. This is how it came, in fact, to 1-0 at 8′ of the first half. Pressure from Bareiro against Lema, grab by the former Lanús on the captain and a penalty that was clearly his own Bareiro changed for a goal. Praised in the preview by Juan Román Riquelme, the Guaraní played a separate match against Xeneize and, with a top finish, reached his third cry in five games against Boca.
San Lorenzo was more and each counterattack seemed like half a goal. Lema and Rojo couldn’t handle Bareiro and Ferreira pulled the strings with judgment and determination. Ferreira himself had the chance to extend twice, but he decided poorly and left Boca alive midway through the first half. From there, almost everything was Xeneize, which He had his best player in Cavani (beyond his scoring role) and that deservedly reached the tie after a deep pass from Medina, control and whip from the Uruguayan.
Cavani’s departure at halftime was a blow to the local spirit. “Uhhhh…” resounded in the Bombonera when the voice of the stadium announced the change for Merentiel. Cavani and Zenón were, at that point, the clearest with the ball and those who had generated the most scoring chances. However, The Beast did not miss the appointment either. And Zenón once again showed that the responsibility of being Boca’s point guard does not weigh on him. After a very good wall with Benedetto, the former Union left Merentiel alone for the Uruguayan to push her over the line. Goal and explosion, when it seemed that the tie would not move from the electronic board: it had already been 38 minutes.
Boca ends Saturday in the qualifying zone and hopes for help from Sarmiento (they receive Newell’s on Sunday) to finish the date among the top four in their zone. In any case, Xeneize still has to complete the pending match against Estudiantes, so they could even place third if they triumph in La Plata. For now, Boca won the game they had to win, took a historic rival out of the fight and dreams of being champion again after a year of drought. We will have to see what Cavani has (Blondel’s departure also predicts a serious injury), how Diego Martínez distributes the loads, if Boca can fight on both fronts. But The dream is still latent.
The fans said goodbye to the team with a standing ovation and, prior to the debut in the Sudamericana, they left singing for the title: “Another, another Cup, Boca.” What if it’s the League Cup?