Boca v Racing: high-voltage clash for final spot at La Bombonera | OneFootball

The Xeneize and the Academia face off at 19:00 at La Bombonera, seeking a spot in the final next Saturday in Santiago del Estero.

This Sunday, from 19:00, Boca and Racing meet at La Bombonera for the semifinal of the Torneo Clausura. This will be the eighth knockout match between them in the last 13 years and, like the previous seven, it promises to be full of tension. Claudio Úbeda will field the best he has available, while his friend Gustavo Costas will have some significant absences.

Boca comes into this match after stringing together six consecutive victories: four in the regular phase of the Clausura, and the other two against Talleres in the round of 16 and against Argentinos Juniors in the semis. Despite arriving full of confidence and with a team that knows itself by heart, there were moments of struggle, and the coach will need to review some aspects ahead of next Sunday's classic.

The good news is that they recover the last missing player, as Alan Velasco is part of the squad list after training normally during the last week and having overcome his ligament strain in the right knee. Brian Aguirre, a starter until a few matches ago, was left out of the call-up. Ander Herrera, who was in doubt due to a strain in the left hamstring, will also be part of the match.

The team will be the same that won the last two matches, despite speculation during the week about possibly including an additional midfielder and leaving out Milton Giménez, who is going through a six-match goal drought and has missed incredible goals recently.

Racing, on the other hand, comes from two epic series in which they emerged victorious. In the round of 16, a dramatic comeback against River: they won 3 to 2 with a goal by Gastón Martirena in the 93rd minute, which unleashed general euphoria at the Cilindro de Avellaneda. That venue witnessed the quarterfinal match against Tigre, which, after a 0-0 in regular time and extra time (during which Martirena and Santiago Sosa for the Academia and Ramón Arias for the Matador were sent off), Gustavo Costas' team won on penalties with an imperial Facundo Cambeses.

Besides the sent-offs, Racing has several injured players in their squad: Matías Zaracho, Marcos Rojo, and Elías Torres will also not be part of the match against Boca. The good news is that Bruno Zuculini will return, who suffered an injury in the first half against Newell’s and missed the two playoff matches.

In addition to the changes forced by the red cards, Costas would return to a five-man defense to protect against Boca's offensive power, despite having said in a press conference that he would maintain the 4-3-3. He tried Di Césare as a third center-back and without Zuculini in midfield. Additionally, Tomás Conechny replaced Santiago Solari, who ended the match against the Victoria team with discomfort. Despite this, the former Defensa wants to be there no matter what on Sunday.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.