Way back when in the mists of time, a rookie coach by the name of Marcelo Gallardo made the headlines as he took River Plate to a Copa Sudamericana title in his first season on the bench of the Monumental. While long considered of secondary importance, the Sudamericana served to kickstart Gallardo’s reign and usher in a glorious decade of success for River, while it certainly did not hurt that the crown arrived by way of a memorable semi-final Superclásico win over Boca Juniors.
Rodolfo Arruabarrena needs no reminding of that fact. ‘El Vasco’ was on the Boca bench for that tie in 2014, one of the great ‘sliding doors’ moments in Argentine football. Twelve years later and he is back at the Bombonera, looking to engineer a golden generation of his own starting with Sudamericana glory.
On Tuesday Boca booked their place in the Sudamericana semi-finals for the first time since that fateful Superclásico tie by downing São Paulo over two legs. The Xeneize took a 1-0 lead to the Morumbi and placed themselves within touching distance of the competition’s last four 60 minutes into the second leg when defender Leandro Lozano broke free down the middle and converted with style. The final half-hour was classic Boca: nerves thanks to a late home goal, tension, plenty of slowing the game down and bending the rules to the point of snapping, and even a few shoves and punches exchanged at the final whistle. But it proved sufficient, and Boca are now just three games from their first international title since lifting the Recopa all the way back in 2008.
The victorious coach had a candid take after the final whistle, telling reporters, “We have to win something this year.” He is not wrong. Boca remain active on three different fronts in the second half of 2026; as well as the Sudamericana, in which they will face Vasco da Gama in the semis, the Xeneize have a Copa Argentina quarter-final clash on the horizon against struggling Racing Club at the end of September and also occupy one of the eight Group A play-off spots in the league’s Clausura phase. Coming up empty-handed would be a disaster, particularly considering that their last title came at the end of 2022 – an almost unprecedented dry spell for the powerhouse.
Despite those struggles to get over the line, the current Boca crop has reason for optimism. It is a team in the best Xeneize mould, perhaps not blessed with sparkling individual talent but with grit and spirit to spare. Leandro Paredes has shaken off his post-World Cup fitness issues and is dragging Boca forward, forming one of the best midfield duos anywhere in South American football alongside the brilliant Santiago Ascacibar, while goalkeeper Álvaro Montero, who moved to La Bombonera from Vélez in June, has proven to be the inspirational presence between the posts the team has been sorely lacking of late.
The Boca faithful is desperate for silverware, be it at home or internationally, and this team looks like it might just deliver after this extended drought.
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