Boca and an alarming fact in the classics of the Riquelme era: how it went against San Lorenzo

There are just 48 hours left until the starting point Mouth after the FIFA date impasse. And in recent days there has been a lot of talk about the fact that the ball stopped on the sequel, up that poker of matches that could qualify for the final phase of the League Cup. And also, obviously, the departure of the South American, which will be at the height of Potosí, with all that this entails.

However, the difficulty level is higher because there is a pending account Diego Martinez will try to make amends, beyond the fact that it has nothing to do with the broken dishes of the past. From Juan Roman Riquelme He tried his hand at his role as a manager, first as vice-president of Jorge Amor Ameal and then as president, the accounts are not closed in the sum of all the classics, just before the duel with San Lorenzo.

It is true that Early in his administration the tables turned against River and it wasn’t a minor problem. How influential the Superclásico must have been for Boca Daniel Angelici found him again 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 has lost two of the last three direct matches played against the red band, now coached by Martín Demichelis.

Poised, Of the 34 classics played with River, Racing, Independiente and San Lorenzo he won only 7. They subsequently drew 16 times and lost 11 times. That is to say, he scored 37 points out of 102 in the game, with an efficiency of only 36%.

In this context, they beat River twice (both in 2022, once at the Monumental, another at the Bombonera), twice against Independiente (both as guests, once in 2020 and once last year) and three times against Racing (one for the 2020 Libertadores). , two for the local tournament). San Lorenzo, however, couldn’t beat.

Of the four matches that have met, three were victories for Barça (2020, 2022 and 2023) and one draw (last year, 1 to 1 at the Nuevo Gasómetro). In Bajo Flores they boast, in short, of the paternity that San Lorenzo has over their blue rival. No doubt it will be a thorn in my side. Independiente, who play in Zone A, could face them in a possible League Cup quarter-final or semi-final only if they qualified.

In any case, the Martínez era has started off on the right foot when it comes to the classics. In the interzonal appointment, which paired him River Neither more nor less, it ended with a taste of victory thanks to the 1-1 in Núñez. Behind closed doors, it was seen as a boost in the manager’s process. Boca lost at the Monumental and scored a great goal with Cristian Medina like a banner. Subsequently, he defeated Racing 4 to 2 at La Bombonera in the best match of the former Tigre strategist’s short cycle.

Of the 34 matches mentioned, 13 were at the Bombonera, 16 away and 5 on a neutral pitch (3 draws and 2 defeats). He did better at home with 4 wins, 7 losses and two falls. In someone else’s rodeo he only won 3, drew 6 and lost 7.

Beating San Lorenzo became a great necessity, not only for the sake of a statistical draw. Furthermore, for an essential question: those three points will be fundamental to force the classification, given that they are currently out of the group of four, but there are 63 minutes to go with Estudiantes, the match suspended due to the kidnapping of the Chilean Javier Altamirano.

Ahead of this match, Martínez already has Pol Fernández, recovered from a serious right ankle sprain that left him inactive for 40 days. At the moment he hopes to have Sergio Romero in good condition, who has inflammation in the heel of his left foot. The goalkeeper was injured in Santa Fe, during the match played against Unión, valid for the ninth day of the local tournament. Leandro Brey or Javier García will replace him if he is not 100%.

Furthermore, for this Saturday, the coach will have Nicolás Valentini (Argentina), Luis Advíncula (Peru) and Norberto Briasco (Armenia), veterans of the respective teams that played in the FIFA match, at his disposal. Also Medina, called up by Javier Mascherano in the Under 23s.