The needs of Boca and its stubbornness to reach the seventh Copa Libertadores in its history in order to become the most winner of this trophy together with Independiente, who reached that amount more than 35 years ago, found themselves before a rival without history that recently He returned to the first division of his country in 2019, after 28 years sailing in the Bolivian ascent.
And in that need the defeat in the debut against Deportivo Cali, in Colombia, by 2 to 0, the same score with which the Bolivian team prevailed at home to Corinthians, from Brazil, in the presentation of both in Group E, transformed this game into a kind of “superclassic” for the “xeneizes”, beyond the fact that the Always Ready shirt is very similar to that of River Plate.
Of course, to face this commitment, Boca arrived even more decimated than against the Caleños, because to the numerous casualties due to suspension that it carries from the previous edition of Libertadores was added the injury, on Monday, of Nicolás Figal, which left without marker alternatives central to today on the tightrope Sebastian Battaglia.
That is why he had to resort to a 20-year-old boy (he will turn 21 next Saturday) like Gabriel Aranda, captain of the reserve with only four first-class games with him (first in Libertadores) to make a central duo with the returnee from Rosario Central, Gastón Avila.
That is why Battaglia’s desperation when at the end of the initial stage and Boca was already winning by a goal by Darío Benedetto pushing the ball over the sentence line after a precise clearance by Exequiel Zeballos, when Ávila reacted untimely by pushing Rodrigo Ramallo for a strong foul on his teammate Frank Fabra when the Colombian was on the ground.
“Pipa’s” goal, which is far from his level, the one he had shown when he went to Europe three years ago, came through an inspiration from Zeballos, figure of the night even above Fabra and Eduardo Salvio, of good second time, more than by a collective management that until that moment was very deficient.
It is that from his modesty, the so-called “Bolivian PSG”, for the great investment that his young president (27 years old), Andrés Costa, made for this Libertadores, knew how to stay in the game until Ramallo was expelled.
Later, already in the complement, Boca became the owner of the shares being 11 against 10, imposing more the weight of the hierarchy of some individuals than their non-existent collective game, a long debt that this team has with auriazul football long before it Battaglia assumed its technical direction.
But that soccer orphan Boca must certainly also suffer from that aforementioned sickness of absences that on top of that continued to worsen especially on the defensive side when goalkeeper Agustín Rossi had to leave due to a muscle injury at halftime, who before the suspension of the experienced substitute Javier García (He will be able to return in two weeks against Corinthians, in Brazil) had to be relieved by the youth (19 years old) Leandro Leonel Brey, who arrived at the Ribera club from Los Andes last February.
The goalkeeper who had debuted in the first division of Lomas de Zamora in March of last year for the Primera B championship against Argentino de Quilmes barely had a close history of the first division having played only seven minutes in the “xeneize” reserve .
With all these ballasts in tow, however, Boca fulfilled “its obligation” and even in injury time had the opportunity to widen the scoreboard with a header from the aforementioned Benedetto, which this Tuesday, and despite the low level mentioned, was pure productivity touching two balls in the rival area and sending both to the net of the goal defended by Arnaldo Giménez.
Now Boca will have two games as a visitor, the next one mentioned against the São Paulo players in 14 days (next week there will be no cup competition but there will be a Professional League Cup) and then the rematch with the Bolivians in the 3,600 meters of height of the Hernando Siles Stadium, La Paz.
Always Ready, which had the Argentine striker Marcos Riquelme as the starter, is actually based in the town of Los Altos, located 4,100 meters above sea level, but the Municipal stadium of that commune is not in structural conditions to host matches de Libertadores and that is why it was not authorized by Conmebol.
Meanwhile, Boca achieved its first victory of the year in the Bombonera, which clearly marks where its soccer present is going, which has it settled in fourth place in Group 2 of the Professional League Cup, the last one that qualifies for the quarterfinals of that contest.
Source: Ambito
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