Boca win and impress against Instituto, but miss out on a thrashing | OneFootball

Boca showed a different side. They defeated Instituto at La Bombonera 2-0, on matchday 12 of Zone A in the 2026 Apertura Tournament. Claudio Úbeda’s team picked up three points at home after four consecutive draws. Tomás Aranda and Adam Bareiro were the scorers on a night when the team performed at a very high level.

In previous matches, the Xeneize had shown improvement in their performance, although they still hadn’t fully capitalized on it. Tonight, with Leandro Paredes, Milton Delgado, and Ander Herrera controlling the pace of the match, they dominated the game from the first minute and created several goal-scoring opportunities.

From the opening whistle, the club from La Ribera controlled the ball, with their captain as the team’s standard-bearer, launching passes behind the defenders. One of the clearest chances of the first half fell to youngster Aranda, who received the ball inside the box, got tangled up with it, and squandered the opportunity—but he would get his revenge later.

Despite some promising attacks and their superiority on the field, Boca couldn’t reflect it on the scoreboard until the second half. Precisely at the 52nd minute, the team pushed the play toward Manuel Roffo’s goal. Miguel Merentiel received a deep cross, controlled it, looked up, and assisted Tomás Aranda, who with a simple move shook off his marker and fired a right-footed shot to make it 1-0.

Tomás Aranda scored his first goal wearing the Boca shirt

The 18-year-old sent all of La Bombonera into a frenzy with his first professional celebration for the club. From there, he began to establish himself as one of the standout players on the pitch. But five minutes later—once again, La Bestia—won in a footrace down the left. After a series of rebounds inside Instituto’s box, the ball fell to Adam Bareiro, who slotted it home for Boca’s final 2-0, following a lengthy VAR review.

La Gloria had a chance to pull one back with a thunderous right-footed shot from Jeremías Lázaro in the 74th minute, but the goal was disallowed for offside at the start of the play. Even towards the end of the match, alarm bells rang for Boca due to an injury to Agustín Marchesín, who had to be replaced—possibly a torn adductor—by Leandro Brey.

When does Boca play again?

After the win against Instituto, Boca will have almost two weeks without action in the Apertura Tournament. This is because there will be a FIFA international break, during which the Argentina National Team will play its last two friendlies before the start of the 2026 World Cup, against Mauritania and Zambia, both at La Bombonera.

Upon their return, the Xeneize will travel to Córdoba to face Talleres de Córdoba on the weekend of April 5, although the exact date and time are yet to be confirmed. What is confirmed is that on Tuesday, April 7, they will make their Copa Libertadores debut against Universidad Católica, in Chile.

Keep reading:

Boca’s player ratings in the win against Instituto at La Bombonera

Dates and times: Boca’s fixture in the 2026 Copa Libertadores group stage

The trips Boca will have to make in the 2026 Libertadores group stage

Boca’s opponents in the 2026 Copa Libertadores group stage

Boca received CNRT approval to expand La Bombonera

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