Boca Juniors drew 2-2 with Argentinos Juniors in a vibrant match on Saturday and won their first ticket to the Diego Maradona Cup final of Argentine football, while River Plate was left out of the title fight by falling 2-0 to Independent .
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Boca, who lined up a team with several substitutes, recovered from an adverse start, as Argentinos started better and took the lead with a goal from Diego Sosa (9).
The Xeneize team changed the score with goals from Mauro Zárate (24), after a brilliant assist from the Colombian Edwin Cardona and Ramón Wanchope Abila (60), who missed a penalty in the first half (42), which he raised . above the crossbar.
Boca seemed to be heading for the final easily, but Fausto Vera (87) equalized for Argentinos, who needed to win to be a finalist.
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Thus, Boca finished at the top of group A in the champion phase with 9 points, followed by River (8 and goal difference +1) and Argentinos Juniors (8 and 0), and in the final of the Maradona Cup they will face the winner of group B, which will be known on Sunday, with Banfield, Talleres de Córdoba and Gimnasia La Plata as applicants to get the other ticket to the definition.
Beyond playing the final of the Maradona Cup next week, Boca’s main goal is the Copa Libertadores, which is why he has reserved most of the headlines for revenge for the semifinals against the Brazilian Santos, who will play next Wednesday at Vila. Belmiro after drawing 0-0 in the first game.
On the other hand, River had great chances to fight for a place in the final, against the already eliminated Independiente, but “Rojo”, who was left without a technical director in the last hours due to the resignation of Lucas Pusineri, surprised him with a double from the skilled Alan Velasco (24 and 40), in a duel that showed the “Millionaires” in weak shape.
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Like Boca, River will play all or nothing in the other semifinal of the Copa Libertadores on Tuesday, when he will visit Palmeiras in Sao Paulo. Those led by Marcelo Gallardo must overcome three goals as a visitor, after falling 3-0 in the first game.
– Vélez advances to the completion phase –
For the completion phase, Velez took over Group B and advanced to the definition of this round, defeating Godoy Cruz 3-2.
In the Group B table, Vélez moved Newell’s from first place, who said goodbye to the tournament with a 3-1 defeat during his visit to Racing, a team that was last managed by coach Sebastián Beccacece , who announced his departure back. a few weeks.
In addition to the defeat, Racing regretted that the Chilean goalkeeper Gabriel Arias was injured before the end of the game.
For Group A in the completion phase, Rosario Central finished in first place, despite losing 2-0 in the visit to Lanús.
Despite this defeat, Central, who has 10 points and a goal difference of +6, is almost qualified for the final, although he must hope that Defense and Justice (7 points and 0 difference) will not beat him by 6 or more goals at Aldosivi, in a game postponed on Thursday due to the cases of covid-19 from auriverde “Falcon”.
The winner of the final of the champion phase will qualify for the next Copa Libertadores, while the duel between the best in the completion phase and the loser of the first final will qualify for the South American Cup-2022.