The promise of a fresh result, potentially forcing penalties in a clash against Racing, reflects Boca Juniors’ enduring aim to halt a lengthy drought at the international level. The club has long sought a breakthrough that would restore confidence and demonstrate its resilience on football’s grand stage.
The 2020 Libertadores Cup stands out as one of the most unusual seasons in memory. A six-month interruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic paused the competition from mid-March to September, reshaping schedules and testing teams’ adaptability. In that edition, Boca and Racing shared a pivotal moment in the knockout rounds. The current discourse mirrors that earlier matchup, albeit with the positions reversed in that tie.
In that decisive tie, Racing emerged with a 1-0 advantage after the first leg at the Cilindro. Yet Boca responded with determination, overturning the aggregate score through a 2-0 victory under the guidance of Miguel Angel Russo, advancing to the semifinals. That path would lead them to a semifinal where Santos ultimately ended their campaign. The memory of that triumph has lingered in the minds of Boca fans, a reminder of what could have been sustained momentum had the run continued.
What few anticipated was that the December 23, 2020 victory would mark the last time Boca tasted success in a direct-elimination match for a prolonged period. Following that win, the team would endure nine successive matches without a win, including a stark 0-3 defeat to Santos in the semi-finals after a goalless first leg at La Bombonera. The pattern suggested a team struggling to close out ties when it mattered most, leaving supporters wary of the dangers of missteps in high-stakes knockout football.
The 2021 and 2022 editions of the Libertadores presented similar scenarios: draws that yielded no goals against Atlético Mineiro and Corinthians, respectively, and heartbreaks decided by penalties. In both cases, Boca watched as opponents edged them out on shootouts—first at Arena do Galo, then on home soil at La Bombonera—an outcome sharpened by a moment when a key penalty was missed in regular play, contributing to the collapse of the tie in dramatic fashion.
In the current campaign, Boca faced another tense knockout, this time with a 0-0 scoreline followed by a 2-2 result in the home leg at Brandsen 805. The opportunity to clinch qualification came down to the dreaded 12-step format, with the visiting Racing Club holding a lead that Boca could not erase in the return leg. The home crowd watched with cautious optimism as the tie swung on the edge of penalties, a familiar but painful reminder of the club’s recent history in such deciders. Will Boca finally end this prolonged penalty ordeal, or will the sequence of shootouts continue to define their continental fate, extending the club’s absence from meaningful knockout triumphs?
Source: Goal