- Boca Juniors claimed an emphatic victory at the Estadio Defensores del Chaco to secure their place in the Quarter-finals.
- Santiago Ascacibar found the net again, Sebastián Villa scored his first goal since returning to the club, Miguel Merentiel added the third and Alan Velasco completed the rout.
Boca Juniors left no room for doubt on their visit to the Estadio Defensores del Chaco. The Argentine side cruised to a 4-0 victory over Recoleta in Asunción, completing a commanding 7-1 aggregate win and sealing their place in the Quarter-finals of the CONMEBOL Sudamericana. There, they will face the winner of the tie between São Paulo and Bolívar, who will decide the series in the return leg after drawing 1-1 in the opening encounter. Santiago Ascacibar, Sebastián Villa, Miguel Merentiel and Alan Velasco scored the goals for Rodolfo Arruabarrena's side.
It was a flawless night for the 'Xeneize', who had been caught by surprise during the first half of the first leg by a spirited Paraguayan side that nevertheless capped a historic campaign despite their elimination. Recoleta, who had gone into the break with a 1-0 lead in the match played in Buenos Aires, bowed out of the competition after finishing top of their group ahead of Santos and San Lorenzo, and after competing against the powerful blue-and-gold side, two-time champions of the tournament.
For Boca, who had been pushed all the way to penalties by O’Higgins in the Round of 16 Playoffs, it was a perfect night in which everything went their way. Despite the absence of Leandro Paredes, who picked up a knock in last weekend’s match against Platense, 'Vasco' Arruabarrena’s side took control from the outset, giving the Paraguayan team little room to respond. The deadlock, however, was not broken until the 30th minute of the first half, when Santiago Ascacibar struck again, the goalscoring midfielder of Boca’s new era who had also found the net in the first leg.
The opener unleashed an attacking surge from the visitors, who until then had been denied by an impressive performance from home goalkeeper Nelson Ferreira. In the 18th minute, he had produced a fine save to keep out a powerful Sebastián Villa effort that was heading towards the bottom-right corner. Ferreira once again appeared to have come out on top in their personal duel when he stopped a right-footed volley, but the Colombian reacted quickest to the rebound and finished with his left foot to make it 2-0, scoring his first goal since returning to the club.
Boca had already taken firm control of the tie, but before breaking the game open, goalkeeper Álvaro Montero produced a crucial intervention. In the 21st minute of the first half, José Espínola slipped a pass through for Ronal Domínguez to go one-on-one, but the Colombian goalkeeper was quick off his line to close him down and keep his clean sheet intact. It was the standout moment of an assured performance from Boca’s new No. 1, who is already proving important for both the present and future of the club.
In the second half, despite the changes introduced by Jorge González, the 'Xeneize' remained firmly in control. Arruabarrena even took the opportunity to manage his players’ workload, replacing Tomás Aranda at half-time to give Alan Velasco some minutes. Six minutes after the restart, Miguel Merentiel latched onto an excellent through ball from Milton Delgado and made it 3-0 with a composed finish past Ferreira, including a superb nutmeg. A hungry Velasco then completed the scoring in the 32nd minute, sealing Boca’s qualification with a thunderous strike that flew into the top-left corner.
