Boca Juniors showed off their new weapon, Edinson Cavani, today, but neither the goalscorer had fire nor his team could break Nacional, who took the definition of the quota to the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores on penalties with a 2-2 win in regulation time won by the Argentines (4-2).
The rival of Jorge Almirón’s pupils will become known this Thursday when Racing Club hosts Atlético Nacional, who won 4-2 in the first leg in Medellín.
After taking the lead twice with goals from Miguel Ángel Merentieel (m.12) and the Peruvian Luis Advíncula (m.47), and suffering the draws of the Uruguayan team with Alfonso Trezza (m.16) and Juan Ramírez (m.75), de Xeneize managed to get into the best eight of the competition.
After the goalless draw at Montevideo’s Parque Central stadium, Boca suffered to become the first Argentina team to register in the round of 16, as River Plate and Argentinos Juniors succumbed to Brazilians Internacional and Fluminense.
Meanwhile, with the elimination of Nacional, there are no more Uruguayan teams in this competition.
The first half had broad dominance for the Argentina team, who had the psychic impulse to have Cavani in the starting line-up from the start, set up by Jorge Almirón.
And to this clean and jerk was added the goal in the 12th minute by Miguel Ángel Merentiel after a perfect cross from Luis Advíncula who put the ball on the head of the ‘Beast’ to open the scoring.
This momentum didn’t last long as four minutes later, Alfonso Trezza, also with a header, sealed the equalizer with a precise shot that left goalkeeper Sergio Romero with little to do.
From then on in the tie, Nacional grew and Boca slipped in its game to go through the best moment of the visitors’ match with Bruno Damiani as the benchmark for the upset.
After the break, and with the rotation of the relay bench, Boca struck again in minute 47 with a ball left by Peru’s Luis Advíncula and took a cross that barred Salvador Ichazo’s reaction.
From then on, coach Jorge Almirón opted for a replacement with the departure of veteran Edinson Cavani and Marcos Rojo, before the entry of Darío Benedetto and Nicolás Valentini in the 71st minute.
Four minutes later, in a defensive oversight, Nacional’s equalizing goal came courtesy of Juan Ramírez’s comeback to silence a packed Bombonera.
At the end of the game, Boca tried against a withdrawn Nacional who failed to move the score again and diverted definition from penalties.
In this case Sergio Romero stopped Juan Ramírez and Daniel Bocanegra’s shot from twelve paces, Guillermo Pol Fernández missed his shot for the local and it was the youthful Valentín Barco who sealed Boca’s qualification for the quarter-finals.
– Data sheet:
2. Boca Juniors: Sergio Romero; Luis Advincula, Jorge Figal (m.46, Bruno Valdez), Marcos Rojo (m.71, Nicolás Valentini), Frank Fabra; Guillermo Pol Fernández, Alan Varela (m.85, Exequiel Zeballos), Cristian Medina, Valentín Barco; Miguel Merendiel (m.58, Marcelo Weigandt) and Edinson Cavani (m.71, Darío Benedetto).
Trainer: Jorge Almiron.
2. National: Salvador Ichazo; Leandro Lozano (m.79, Lucas Morales), Diego Polenta, Daniel Bocanegra and Gabriel Báez; Yonatan Rodríguez, Diego Rodríguez (m.71, Juan Ramírez), Alfonso Trezza, Diego Zabala and Gonzalo Castro; and Bruno Damiani (died 71, Emanuel Gigliotti).
Coach: Alvaro Gutierrez.
Goals: 1-0, m.12: Miguel Merentiel. 1-1, m.16: Alfonso Trezza. 2-1, m.47: Luis Advincula. 2-2, m.75: Juan Ramirez.
Boca Juniors scored in the penalty shootout: Exequiel Zeballos, Darío Benedetto, Nicolás Valentini and Valentín Barco; Failed: Guillermo Pol Fernandez; and for Nacional they converted Diego Polenta, Emanuel Gigliotti; while Sergio Romero saved Juan Ramírez, Daniel Bocanegra.
Referee: Brazilian Anderson Daronco admonished Nicolás Figal, Luis Advíncula and Valentín Barco, Alfonso Trezza, Yonatan Rodríguez and Franco Fagúndez.
Incidents: second leg of the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores played at the Alberto José Armando ‘La Bombonera’ stadium in Buenos Aires.
Source: El heraldo
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
