Paredes sends Boca to the Sudamericana final with an 88th-minute winner at the Maracanã

By the Data Desk · Published 21 OCT 05:40

First reported by El Gráfico · 21 OCT 03:26

Eleven days after tearing his right hamstring, Leandro Paredes came off the bench at the Maracanã and hit the goal that put Boca Juniors in the Copa Sudamericana final: a shot from about 25 metres in the 88th minute. Boca won 3-1 in Rio, 3-2 on aggregate after losing the first leg 1-0 at La Bombonera, and will play the final on Saturday 21 November in Barranquilla.

• Lautaro Di Lollo headed in Lautaro Blanco's corner early on and Miguel Merentiel made it 2-0 on a break set up by Sebastián Villa. José Rodríguez pulled one back for Vasco midway through the second half (ESPN).
• Paredes replaced Rodrigo Battaglia in the 57th minute. He tore the muscle against Instituto on 9 October and was expected back around 1 November.
• According to El Gráfico, it is Boca's 11th win in Brazil in official CONMEBOL competitions, one more than River Plate, the most by any foreign club.

Paredes struggled for words. "Es difícil encontrar palabras para lo que estoy sintiendo", he told ESPN after the game, as quoted by Infobae. La Nación's correspondent in Rio, Leandro Contento, writes that Léo Jardim got a touch to the shot but could not keep it out, and that Paredes, short of match fitness, played almost as a sweeper in front of the defence. Roughly 4,000 Boca fans were in a stadium of around 70,000, the same paper says.

Vasco had the ball, not the chances. ESPN's numbers give the hosts 62.6% possession and 12 shots, only two of them on target, against Boca's seven shots and three on target. Rodolfo Arruabarrena's side scored with three of them.

The ground carried history for Boca, little of it good. They lost the 2023 Copa Libertadores final at the Maracanã, and El Intransigente and LU17 both write that their only previous official win there came in 1998, 2-0 against Flamengo in the Copa Mercosur. El Intransigente also counts 11 games without a win in Brazil since a 1-0 at Internacional in December 2020.

What happens next: Atlético Mineiro play at Montevideo City Torque tonight, 22:00 UTC, at the Estadio Centenario. Boca are back in the league on Sunday 25 October at Independiente, 20:00 UTC, at the Estadio Libertadores de América. The final at the Estadio Metropolitano in Barranquilla is a single match, with extra time and penalties if needed.