Boca Juniors drew 2-2 with Argentinos Juniors in a vibrant match this Saturday and won the first ticket to the final of the Diego Maradona Cup of Argentine football, while River Plate was left out of the fight for the title by falling 2- 0 with Independent.
Boca, who lined up a formation with several substitutes, recovered from an adverse start, as Argentinos started better and took the lead with a goal from Diego Sosa (9).
The ‘Xeneize’ team turned the score around with goals from Mauro Zárate (24), after a brilliant assist from Colombian Edwin Cardona, and from Ramón Wanchope Abila (60), who missed a penalty in the first half (42), which he lifted above the crossbar.
Boca seemed to be heading smoothly to the final, but Fausto Vera (87) tied for Argentinos, who needed to win to be a finalist.
Thus, Boca finished at the top of Group A of the Champion Phase with 9 points, followed by River (8 and goal difference +1) and Argentinos Juniors (8 and 0), and in the final of the Maradona Cup they will face the winner of Group B, which will be known on Sunday, with Banfield, Talleres de Córdoba and Gimnasia La Plata as applicants to obtain the other ticket to the definition.
Beyond playing the final of the Maradona Cup next week, Boca has as its main objective the Copa Libertadores, that is why it reserved most of its starters for the revenge of the semifinal against the Brazilian Santos, who will play next Wednesday in Vila Belmiro after equaling 0-0 in the first game.
On the other side, River came with good chances of fighting for a place in the final, against the already eliminated Independiente, but the ‘Rojo’, who was even left without a technical director in the last hours due to the resignation of Lucas Pusineri, surprised him with a double from the skilled Alan Velasco (24 and 40), in a duel that showed the ‘Millionaires’ in poor shape.
Like Boca, River will play all or nothing in the other semifinal of the Copa Libertadores next Tuesday, when it visits Palmeiras in Sao Paulo. Those led by Marcelo Gallardo have to overcome three goals as a visitor, after falling 3-0 in the first game.
– Vélez advances in the Complementation Phase –
For the Complementation Phase, Vélez took over Group B and advanced to the definition of this round by beating Godoy Cruz 3-2.
In the Group B table, Vélez displaced Newell’s from first place, which said goodbye to the tournament with a 3-1 defeat during its visit to Racing, a team that was last managed by coach Sebastián Beccacece, who announced his departure ago. a few weeks.
In addition to the defeat, Racing regretted that the Chilean goalkeeper Gabriel Arias was injured before the end of the game.
For Group A of the Complementation Phase, Rosario Central finished first, despite losing 2-0 in their visit to Lanús.
Despite this defeat, Central, who has 10 points and a goal difference of +6, is almost classified for the final, although he must hope that Defense and Justice (7 points and 0 difference) will not beat him by 6 or more goals to Aldosivi, in a game postponed to Thursday due to the cases of covid-19 in the ‘Falcon’ auriverde.
The winner of the final among the first of the Champion Phase will qualify for the next Copa Libertadores, while the duel between the best of the Complementation Phase and the loser of the first final will qualify for the South American Cup-2022. AFP (HN).