Diego Martínez’s cycle at the head of Boca It is adopting a key distinctive feature for the back and forth between a coaching staff and the footballers. It is true, the team is exhibiting a form of small steps, but it is gaining lightness and perseverance: beating River with such authority in the quarterfinals of the League Cup (3-2) may well be enough to sentence that the blue and gold set is already much of what was seen in Córdoba. And it can be more: “We look at each other day by day, we are hungry,” the coach said. However, while building identity, it is essential to see responses, conviction, connection and a head raised even in adverse contexts. This Boca seems to be prepared to face the challenge posed to it.
You can lose, obviously. In fact, it has happened three times. If you put the magnifying glass on how it happened, in those procedures he lacked personality: he had an ugly night in Lanús from 1-2, in the Santa Fe afternoon against Unión he kicked the goal just once and they beat him (1-0) on the hour for looking at the dead ball, and Estudiantes beat him by the same result in La Plata and almost in the same way. However, it is no coincidence that it has been superior in all the classics that have been played this year nor that in seven of the 18 matches of the cycle it started at a disadvantage. -including some of those great duels-, but in five they recovered with forcefulness, football and character.
That is, what happened this Sunday at the Mario Alberto Kempes stadium It was not a matter of a casual day. That the superclásico and the rush to escape elimination woke up the team and pushed them to do so. A huge day divided between Miguel Merentiel’s double and Edinson Cavani’s header that took Boca from 0-1 to 3-1. The version that these footballers absorb “from the dear”, as the coach said. Recovering begins to be a hallmark, a healthy habit.
It all started against the same rival, but at the Monumental stadium. For years, fans (and managers) have asked Núñez to go with a posture not as timid and excessively protective as he exhibited since that painful defeat in Madrid. Martínez granted them: he put the ball on the grass and prioritized manners. He forced all the ultra-offensive tools that Martín Demichelis had put in place to run backwards in the face of so much ease. Pablo Solari’s goal just started the second half did not change his mind and with the lethal overflow of Lautaro Blanco and the definition of Cristian Medina he put the final parity.
Boca doesn’t lower his arms. A week later and at the Bombonera, with the demand of his audience, he did not make the wrong paths. That time, Belgrano They started winning due to Lucas Passerini’s goal, but in the second half the explosion appeared due to Cavani’s hat trick: he came out of the 2024 drought with a penalty, a great goal hitting it over the goalkeeper and a right hand near the goal.
The night with RacingIt can even be said that it was more meritorious. Because the blue and gold team started winning (by Lucas Blondel), but came out to play the second half and immediately received the second academic goal through Adrián Martínez (Juan Fernando Quintero had equalized). Less margin and a lot of urgency. He came out ahead: Blanco forced a goal against, then assisted on the “Matador” header and Nicolás Valentini also put his head in front. Twenty days later, the always annoying person visited him. Saint Lawrencebut not even the early penalty that Adam Bareiro sealed imposed Barça’s paternity: throughout the process Boca let him know that it was more, he played comfortably, patiently and the hierarchy did its thing through a great collective goal that culminated “Edi” and the definition of “The Beast” to make it 2-1 shortly before the end.
Up to this point, only encounters. However, Martínez himself was clear at the press conference about River’s elimination when answering a question based on these reactions: “I’ll add a more important one: the one we had with Godoy Cruz.” He even mentioned it when giving the keys to the passage to the semifinals: “In the championship we had three things that allowed us to win games and we had to have to beat River: The hierarchy of the players is one, the game was another and also the personality and the heart, as we showed with Godoy Cruz.”
A week ago, Boca had to beat the Mendoza team to reach the quarterfinals, but when there were still no goals and only thirty minutes had been played, Medina received a double warning and subsequent expulsion. For the DT it was starting at the bottom in a key match: Ten minutes later, Cavani’s left foot shot gave him the necessary victory. In that sense, he also overcame the loss of Blondel (starter and very loved by Martínez, he tore his cruciate ligament), while losing to San Lorenzo.
What is seen in Cavani’s goal against River
In the game Boca is growing too. And, having gained more confidence from the movement of the ball and the collective work of his players, he knows that he generates more scoring chances than before. So they don’t get discouraged if they receive a goal because the team feels comfortable with this style of play, more offensive, and maintains a winning attitude, fighting the divisions with numerical superiority, putting pressure on the rival field. and battling more than once in the same play, as happened in the birth of Cavani’s goal against River in Córdoba. The pressure in the rival field was not seen in such a sustained way with the previous coaches.
And several individual performances grew: Romero once again felt important against Godoy Cruz and River; Rojo is looking for continuity after so many injuries and Lema settled in after some passing doubts; Cavani and Merentiel contribute goals, what is asked of them the most and they have to contribute; Zenón and Blanco won the affection of the fans with regularity at the levels and Advíncula maintains its defensive solidity and the imbalance that it already carried in 2023. Cristian Medina became key for the coach and if he cannot be there, Jabes Saralegui appears, a youth of the lower ones. Those who join from the bank are not usually a figure, but they manage to maintain the performance of those who leave the playing field. Some of the reasons that Diego Martínez finds to sustain this character that helps Boca turn around adverse results.
Boca continues in the League Cup and accumulates experiences: it feeds on triumphs, plays clearly and puffs out its chest when it has to row against all odds.