- 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 where they will face São Paulo. 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.
The match in numbers
- Boca reached the CONMEBOL Sudamericana Quarter-finals for the sixth time, and for the first time since 2014. They have progressed from 23 of their last 25 CONMEBOL tournament ties after winning the first leg at home, with the only exceptions coming against Cruzeiro in 2024 and São Paulo in 2007, both in the Sudamericana Round of 16.
- This is only the second time Boca have scored seven goals in a CONMEBOL Sudamericana knockout tie. The first came against Cerro Porteño in the 2004 Quarter-finals, when they won 7-3 on aggregate.
- With this 4-0 victory away to Recoleta, Boca recorded the biggest away win in their CONMEBOL Sudamericana history.
- Boca registered 11 shots on target against Recoleta. Since at least 2013, it is the highest number of shots on target by the 'Xeneize' in a CONMEBOL Sudamericana match.
- Santiago Ascacíbar scored his second goal of the current CONMEBOL Sudamericana. He is the first Boca player to score in both legs of the same tie in the competition since Emmanuel Gigliotti did so against Cerro Porteño in the 2014 Quarter-finals, scoring twice.
- Sebastián Villa was directly involved in three goals (1G+2A) in the Round of 16 of the current CONMEBOL Sudamericana. It is the most goal involvements by a Boca player in a knockout round of the competition since Andrés Chávez recorded four (2G+2A) against Cerro Porteño in the 2014 Quarter-finals.
