- Nineteen years on, Boca Juniors and São Paulo will meet at the Morumbi to decide who goes through in their CONMEBOL Sudamericana tie.
- The Argentine side, who won the first leg 1-0, ended an 11-match winless run away from home in CONMEBOL competition knockout rounds in the Round of 16 and will look to do it again on Brazilian soil.
The story has already been written once, and with the same numbers. In 2007, São Paulo lost 2-1 at La Bombonera to Boca and won 1-0 at the Morumbi to advance to the quarterfinals of the CONMEBOL Sudamericana. It was the first link in a chain of comebacks: since then, the 'Tricolor' have overturned five of the last eight knockout ties in the competition in which they lost the first leg away. Nineteen years later, Boca return to Brazil with a slim lead, that of Miguel Merentiel's 1-0 in Buenos Aires.
The context, however, is different. São Paulo come into this match without Jonathan Calleri, suspended for an accumulation of yellow cards after the booking he received at La Bombonera, and off their first defeat of the edition. At home, on the other hand, they have a clear pattern: they opened the scoring in every home match of this CONMEBOL Sudamericana, 38% of their home goals came before the tenth minute and the latest was against Bolívar, in the 17th. The Morumbi will also be the stage for their 91st match in the competition, which moves them past Lanús and to within seven of Liga de Quito, the all-time leader.
São Paulo in the 2026 CONMEBOL Sudamericana: results, squad and schedule
Boca, for their part, recently broke a pattern that had been haunting them. With the 4-0 against Recoleta in the Round of 16 they ended a run of eleven matches without an away win in knockout rounds of CONMEBOL competitions, with six draws and five defeats, and the last time they had strung together two away wins in those stages was in the 2019 CONMEBOL Libertadores, when they eliminated Athletico Paranaense. Rodolfo Arruabarrena's side are unbeaten in eleven matches in all competitions and have in Merentiel their man for the decisive nights: he has scored in three of his five matches in the competition and, if he scores again, will join Rodrigo Palacio, Martín Palermo, Andrés Chávez and Edinson Cavani as the only 'Xeneizes' with more than three goals in a single edition.
Boca Juniors in the 2026 CONMEBOL Sudamericana: results, squad and schedule
Match details:
Stadium: MorumBIS, São Paulo
Date and time: Tuesday, September 15, 9:30 PM (Argentina time)
Referee: Gustavo Tejera (Uruguay)
VAR: Leodán González (Uruguay)
The match in numbers:
- São Paulo managed to come back in five of the last eight CONMEBOL Sudamericana ties in which they lost the first leg away. The first match of that run was precisely against Boca in 2007: they lost 2-1 at La Bombonera and won 1-0 at the MorumBIS to advance to the quarterfinals.
- Boca have just ended a run of 11 matches without an away win in knockout rounds of CONMEBOL competitions (6D 5L) after beating Recoleta 4-0. The last time they achieved consecutive wins in these stages was in the 2019 CONMEBOL Libertadores, where they eliminated a Brazilian opponent (Athletico Paranaense).
- 38% of the goals São Paulo scored at home in the 2026 CONMEBOL Sudamericana came within the first 10 minutes of play (3/8). The Tricolor opened the scoring in all of their home matches in the current edition of the competition and their latest goal came against Bolívar, at 17:17 of the match.
- Miguel Merentiel (Boca) has scored in three of the five matches he has played so far in the 2026 CONMEBOL Sudamericana. Only four Xeneize players have exceeded three goals in a single edition of the competition: Rodrigo Palacio (5 in 2005), Martín Palermo (4 in 2005), Andrés Chávez (4 in 2014) and Edinson Cavani (5 in 2024).
- São Paulo will play their 91st match in the CONMEBOL Sudamericana, surpassing Lanús (90) and sitting seven behind the all-time leader, LDU Quito (98). The Tricolor are also the club with the second-most goals in the competition, with 133.
