The new Boca is too similar to the old Boca: curse Cavani, boos for Fabra and the beautiful game that cannot be seen

The 2024 model does not start Diego Martinez. To the poor 0-0 of the debut against Platense is added this 1-1 against the humble Sarmiento. Nothing seems to have changed at Boca compared to last year. Go ahead Edinson Cavani in a series so dark it was surprising: once again he missed four clear scoring opportunities when the duel was 1-0. More: Peruvian Luis Advincula continues to make fans fall in love with it, the exact opposite of what happens Franco Fabra. The positive thing is the performances of Cristian Lema and Kevin Zenón, the reinforcements for the season. The negative? The game still doesn’t appear.

It was a whistling afternoon at the Gasómetro. The first to be rejected was Fabra: when the voice from the stadium announced it, the screams could be heard loudly. The second to suffer disapproval was Pablo Perez, when he entered Sarmiento. It is remembered that the passage of the wheel to Boca was not productive. The last sentence, perhaps the strongest because it was unexpected, was for when Guillermo Fernandez He leaves the playing field: the boos are unanimous.

Just as the poor conditions of the playing fields contribute to preventing teams from playing well, the same can be said of the heat. The idea of ​​applying pressure that Diego Martínez almost always imposes on his team must have been put aside due to the very high temperatures. Only a privileged physique like Luis Advíncula’s can develop as if the sun didn’t burn enough to even breathe. For this reason the Peruvian earned repeated ovations from the 28,000 present at Bajo Flores.

On Boca’s side there were opposites. 36 minutes passed in which Advíncula held a ball between three rivals and changed front for Fabra. The applause was loud. All until the Colombian grabbed the ball and tried to put it deep for Edinson Cavani who didn’t bite. What came down were boos.

If time doesn’t exist in Argentine football, it doesn’t exist in big teams. Martínez opted to play in the preseason summer friendlies and in the goalless draw against Platense. Ezequiel Bullaude then pays off and Boca lines up with a vertical 4-4-2 that looks a lot like a 4-2-4, with Luca Langoni and Kevin Zenón flying on the flanks.

Boca had clear ideas about two things: first, they would not put pressure on their rival to leave so as not to wear themselves out; Secondly, he would attack from behind the veteran Juan Manuel Insaurralde. Advíncula takes the lead immediately after the duel by extending to Langoni, who makes a mistake in the center of defense. Shortly afterwards, in the 8th minute, the Peruvian dressed as Riquelme to leave Miguel Merentiel face to face with Monetti and with the ball hitting from 30 meters away. The Uruguayan went too far and celebrated. Naturally everyone went to hug Advíncula.

Boca controlled the tempo with the opening goal. The match logically became heavy and without rhythm. Sarmiento doesn’t worry, beyond a few runs from the powerful Ivan Morales, well controlled by Cristian Lema. Sergio Romero almost didn’t touch the ball in the first half.

Offensive conclusions of the new scheme? It cost Cavani the game, as expected. However he moved so that his companions could search for him. Langoni was limited by the wing, although he made a couple of dangerous overtaking moves. And Zenón seems to have always worn the Boca shirt. The former Unión player came close to making it 2-0 with a header from Advíncula’s cross early on and tired to put Cavani on target in the second half.

To complete, Rondina brought in Joaquín Gho as a central defender and created a 4-4-2. This change improved Sarmiento, who got closer to Romero’s goal. However the Juninenses eventually arrived alive only due to Cavani’s bad luck. The Uruguayan had 4, 3 very clear and after Zenón’s clearances, he just missed them all. In the clearest way, he hit it against Monetti and the crossbar said no. In the last one he missed the ball and got injured. All negative for the attacker.

In the equalizer, Gho beats Fabra and finds the definition from the spot by Juan Mauri. Martínez gave Mauricio Benítez his debut and the youngster prevailed. In the last 15 minutes, Boca ran out of strength and ideas. He probably ended up with his mind fixed on Cavani’s comedies.