- Back-to-back champions in 2004 and 2005, the 'Xeneize' remain the only club to have won the CONMEBOL Sudamericana in consecutive years.
- After sweeping aside Recoleta 7-1 on aggregate, the blue and gold side will face 2012 champions São Paulo.
Some competitions become forever intertwined with a club, and Boca Juniors share a foundational bond with the CONMEBOL Sudamericana: the 'Xeneize' became the competition’s first back-to-back champions and remain the only team to have won it in consecutive years. Two decades after that golden run in 2004 and 2005, Boca powered their way into the Quarter-finals — their best showing in the tournament since 2014 — and now find themselves facing a question that is stirring excitement at La Bombonera: could this be the year of a third 'Gran Conquista'?
The first title came in 2004, in only the third edition of the competition, by which time the tournament had already established itself on the continental calendar. That Boca side defeated Bolívar in the final and began a relationship with the trophy that quickly became familiar: one year later, they returned to the decider, this time against Mexico’s Pumas, and settled it in dramatic fashion at 'La Bombonera'. The second leg ended 1-1, with Martín Palermo scoring for Boca, leaving the aggregate score level before the hosts prevailed 4-3 in the penalty shootout to spark celebrations of a second consecutive title.
Two finals, two trophies and a place in the competition’s history that no one has managed to take away from them since: more than twenty editions later, no other club has managed to win the CONMEBOL Sudamericana in back-to-back seasons.
What followed was a long search without reward. Boca returned to the competition in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014 and 2024, but never managed to reach another final. Their closest attempt came in 2014, when they advanced to the Semi-finals before being eliminated by River in a memorable tie defined by two iconic moments: Marcelo Barovero’s penalty save from Emanuel Gigliotti and Leonardo Pisculichi’s goal became etched into the competition’s history. Boca’s most recent appearance, in 2024, ended in the Round of 16.
And the 'Xeneize' have reached this stage in emphatic fashion. After overcoming O'Higgins in the Playoffs for a place in the Round of 16, Boca swept aside Recoleta with a 7-1 aggregate victory: they won the first leg 3-1 after coming from behind and finished the job in Asunción with a commanding victory that brought back a much-awaited sight — Miguel Merentiel smiling once again in goalscoring form.
The Quarter-finals now bring Boca face to face with a club of similar pedigree: São Paulo, champions in 2012, in a clash between former winners that promises to captivate the continent. The 'Tricolor paulista' are chasing their second title in the competition; Boca are pursuing their third. And the tie is packed with compelling storylines, starting with Jonathan Calleri, the São Paulo idol with a Boca past who has just renewed his love affair with the Brazilian club and will now come up against the team with whom he won a title in 2015.
More than twenty years have passed since that Boca side made the CONMEBOL Sudamericana their territory. The pursuit of a third 'Gran Conquista' is officially underway, and La Bombonera is already dreaming of adding another trophy to the cabinet and becoming the most successful club in the competition’s history: Liga de Quito, Independiente, Athletico Paranaense, Independiente del Valle and Lanús currently share the top spot with two titles apiece.
