There are barely 48 hours left until what will be Boca
's starting point
after the impasse of the FIFA date. And there was a lot of talk these days that the ball was stopped about the series, about
that poker of matches that could qualify for the final phase of the League Cup
. And also, of course, the start of the Sudamericana, which will be at the height of Potosí, with everything that that means.
However, the level of difficulty is higher because there is a pending score that
Diego Martínez
will try to settle, even though it has nothing to do with the broken dishes of the past. Since
Juan Román Riquelme
ventured into his leadership role, first as vice president of Jorge Amor Ameal and then as president, the accounts have not been closed in the sum of all the classics, just before the duel with San Lorenzo.
It is true that
at the beginning of his administration the tables were turned against River
and it was not a minor issue. How influential the Superclásico must have been for Boca that
Daniel Angelici found in the defeats against Marcelo Gallardo's team
- especially the Libertadores final in Madrid -
one of the reasons for his electoral fall in December 2019
. However, he lost two of the last three head-to-head games he played against the red-band team now coached by Martín Demichelis.
In short,
of the 34 classics he played with River, Racing, Independiente and San Lorenzo he only won 7
. Afterwards, he had 16 draws and lost 11 times. That is to say, he scored 37 points out of 102 in play, just 36% efficient.
Cavani was in the Nuevo Gasómetro tie.
In this context, they beat River twice (both in 2022, once at the Monumental, another at the Bombonera), twice against Independiente (both as visitors, once in 2020 and once last year) and three times against Racing (one for Libertadores 2020, two for the local tournament).
San Lorenzo, on the other hand, could not beat them
.
Of the four times they met, three were Barça triumphs (2020, 2022 and 2023) and one draw (last year, 1 to 1 at the Nuevo Gasómetro.
In Bajo Flores they boast, in short, of paternity that San Lorenzo has over its blue and gold rival
. Without a doubt, it will be a thorn in the side. Independiente, which stars in Zone A, could only face it in an eventual crossing of the quarterfinals or semis of the League Cup if it achieves the classification.
Anyway, the Martínez era started off on the right foot when it comes to the classics. On the interzonal date, which paired him with
River
neither more nor less, it ended with a taste of victory due to 1 to 1 equality in Núñez. Behind closed doors, it was taken as an impetus in the coach's process.
Boca lost at the Monumental and scored a great goal with Cristian Medina
as the banner. Afterwards, he defeated Racing 4 to 2 in La Bombonera in the best game of the former Tigre strategist's brief cycle.
Blondel hugs Medina, after Boca's great goal at the Monumental. Photo: EFE
Of the 34 games mentioned, 13 were in the Bombonera, 16 as a visitor and 5 on neutral ground (3 draws and 2 losses). He did better at home with 4 wins, 7 losses and two falls. In someone else's rodeo he only won 3, tied 6 and lost 7.
Beating San Lorenzo became a great necessity, not only for the sake of balancing the statistics. Furthermore, for an essential issue: those three points will be key to forcing classification, since they are currently outside the group of four, but they have 63 minutes remaining with Estudiantes, that match suspended due to the seizure of Chilean Javier Altamirano.
Looking ahead to this match, Martínez already has Pol Fernández, recovered from a serious sprain to his right ankle that left him inactive for 40 days. At this time, he hopes to have Sergio Romero in condition, who has an inflammation in the heel of his left foot. The goalkeeper was injured in Santa Fe, during the match he played against Unión for the 9th round of the local tournament. Leandro Brey or Javier García will replace him if he is not 100%.
For this Saturday, in addition, the coach will have available Nicolás Valentini (Argentina), Luis Advíncula (Peru) and Norberto Briasco (Armenia), who returned from their respective teams that played the FIFA date. Also, Medina, who was summoned by Javier Mascherano to the Sub 23.