ENES
Join the club
Leandro Paredes · Boca Juniors · Vasco da Gama · Copa Sudamericana

Boca rested Paredes for Vasco. He lasted 16 minutes off the bench

By the Data Desk · ·

Boca Juniors kept Leandro Paredes on the bench in Córdoba on Friday to save him for Vasco da Gama. He came on in the 55th minute, went off 16 minutes later holding the back of his right thigh, and coach Rodolfo Arruabarrena said he expects his captain to miss Tuesday's Copa Sudamericana semi-final.

  • Arruabarrena after the 2-2 draw at Instituto: “supongo que para el martes está descartado” (I assume he is ruled out for Tuesday). Scans are still to come.
  • Paredes had played 14 of Boca's last 19 games since the World Cup, the reason the coach wanted to rest him (El Intransigente).
  • Semi-final: first leg at La Bombonera on Tuesday 13 October at 21:30 in Buenos Aires (01:30 UK on Wednesday), second leg at the Maracanã on 20 October.
Why it mattersParedes is Boca's captain and the player who sets their tempo. Boca are two games from a continental final, and the second of them is in a stadium their fans remember for the wrong reason.

The plan made sense. Before the trip to Córdoba the Argentine press reported that Arruabarrena wanted to protect Paredes, who had carried a heavy load since returning from the World Cup. He sent him on in the 55th minute anyway, and in the 71st he was off again, replaced by Santiago Ascacíbar, walking to the dressing room with ice on his right hamstring (Infobae).

Arruabarrena did not hide it. “Lea se tendrá que hacer los estudios, pero creo que por las caras supongo que para el martes está descartado” (Lea will need tests, but from the faces I assume he is out for Tuesday), he said, according to La Nación. “Es el capitán, todos saben lo que genera dentro y fuera del grupo” (he is the captain, everyone knows what he brings inside and outside the group), he added, and warned that games every two to four days are causing injuries.

It was not Boca's only scare. Enner Valencia, who scored their first goal, also went off with a problem in his right ankle, and his replacement Miguel Merentiel scored the equaliser (Diario Popular). The draw kept Boca unbeaten in 17 matches, according to La Nación.

The second leg was settled in court. On Friday a Rio de Janeiro appeals judge ordered the Maracanã's operator to hand the stadium to Vasco for 20 October (Lance, VAVEL Brasil), and the operator can still appeal. It is the ground where Boca lost the 2023 Copa Libertadores final to Fluminense in extra time.

Our take

The real loss is in Rio, not Tuesday

Our editorial team thinks Arruabarrena was right to rest Paredes, and the injury is the price of a calendar he had already complained about. At La Bombonera, a side unbeaten in 17 can get through one night without its captain. The bigger risk is 20 October at the Maracanã, a hostile ground where Boca will need control more than goals, and control is what Paredes gives them. If the scans show a minor strain and he is fit for Rio, we will say the scare cost Boca nothing.

Our Instituto v Boca analysis →Football predictions →
18+Play responsibly

Updates

  1. Confirmed Update, Saturday 10 October: Paredes has a grade 2 tear in his right hamstring and is expected to be out for three to five weeks, La Nación reported on Saturday morning; Boca have not published a medical report. That rules him out of both legs against Vasco (13 and 20 October) and of the league games with Talleres (16 October) and Independiente (25 October); the Superclásico against River on 1 November is his target. The Maracanã is also in doubt again: on Saturday Suely Lopes Magalhães, first vice-president of Rio's state court (TJRJ), overturned Friday's ruling that handed the stadium to Vasco, after an appeal by the Fla-Flu consortium that runs it. Vasco had already sold more than 45,000 tickets (Clarín). The scare we hoped would cost Boca nothing will cost them the whole semi-final.
  2. Confirmed Update, Tuesday 13 October: Paredes did not play, and Boca lost the first leg 1-0 at home to Vasco, who had ten men from the 64th minute. Arruabarrena would not blame the absence: "La categoría de Leandro no la voy a descubrir yo" (I am not the one who has to tell you how good Leandro is). The second leg is on Tuesday 20 October; where it is played is still in court (La Nación, Infobae). Our story on the first leg: /en/news/boca-vasco-sudamericana-maracana-second-leg-venue.
  3. Paredes could be back sooner than the three to five weeks reported on 10 October. Before the second leg, Arruabarrena said he is "trabajando casi a la par del grupo" (training almost on a par with the group) and "está bien", but also: "todos quieren estar, pero también hay un riesgo" (everyone wants to play, but there is also a risk) and "Los tiempos no son los que pensábamos que íbamos a tener y tampoco me gusta arriesgar" (the timings are not what we expected, and I don't like taking risks), La Nación reports. He would not name his team. Vasco v Boca kicks off at the Maracanã at 00:30 UTC on Wednesday, 21 October (21:30 on Tuesday in Buenos Aires), with Boca 1-0 down (ESPN).
  4. Update, Tuesday 20 October: Paredes played, and he scored the goal that sent Boca to the final. He came on for Rodrigo Battaglia early in the second half (the 55th minute for Infobae, the 57th for EFE and ESPN), with Boca 2-0 up through Lautaro Di Lollo and Miguel Merentiel. After José 'Puma' Rodríguez pulled one back for Vasco, Paredes beat Léo Jardim with a right-footed shot from outside the box in the 88th minute (the 87th for Infobae). Boca won 3-1 at the Maracanã and 3-2 on aggregate, ten days after La Nación reported a tear that would keep him out for three to five weeks. The final is on 21 November in Barranquilla, against Atlético Mineiro or Montevideo City Torque (EFE).
Sources