Boca Juniors victory with assistance from the Argentine World Cup player Leandro Paredes

The Argentinian Boca Juniors defeated the Chilean 1-0 this Thursday O’Higgins in the first leg of the play-off for a place in the round of 16 of the South American Cupa, with a bit of Uruguayan Miguel Merentiel and in a duel that marked the return of Leandro Paredes after his participation in the 2026 World Cup with Argentina.

Xeneize started its journey in the Copa Sudamericana on the right foot and achieved a slight advantage ahead of next Thursday’s second leg in Chili.

The only goal of the match was scored by the Uruguayan Miguel Merentielwho in the 44th minute defined one-on-one against the goalkeeper Omar Carabali after an exquisite assist from Paredes behind the Chilean defenders.

Those led by Rodolfo Arruabarrena, who made his continental debut in this second cycle on the blue and gold bench this Thursday, began the game suffering.

The light blue team, led by Argentine Lucas Bovaglio, had the best chances at the beginning of the match, including a long-range shot by Bryan Rabello one minute into the game, followed by another shot by Francisco González and a series of chances by Luis Pavez and Alan Robledo, who ran into Colombian Álvaro Montero, who had a good debut in the Xeneize goal.

The Argentine team relied on the creativity of Leandro Paredes, the team’s axis in the center of the field and who returned to the field less than a week after playing in the World Cup final against Spain last Sunday, after which he had an altercation with two Spanish footballers.

Boca’s best arrivals came through assists from Paredes and the dribbles from the sides of the young Leonel Flores and the Colombian Sebastián Villa, who returned to the club this month and who in his first game was incisive and vertical on the left wing.

After a disputed first half, which ended with Merentiel’s goal, the local team tried in the second half to increase the score to travel more calmly to Rancagua next week but failed to capitalize on the chances it had, including a free kick from Paredes and a header from Santiago Ascacíbar.

O’Higgins also managed to generate some opportunities in attack, mainly on the counterattack, but suffered from the same lack of effectiveness that he had suffered in the first half, as well as the good responses of Montero, who arrived this month to take the place of the injured Agustín Marchesín.

The winner of this series will advance to the round of 16 of the Copa Sudamericana, where they will face the Paraguayan Recoleta.