Claudio Úbeda on Zeballos substitution: “We saw signs of fatigue” | OneFootball

The Xeneize coach took part in the press conference following the elimination at the hands of Racing, where he explained the reason behind substituting Velasco in place of Changuito.

Boca lost 1-0 to Racing and was eliminated from the Clausura Tournament in the semifinals, a match after which Claudio Úbeda spoke at the press conference and gave details about the controversial decision to take off Exequiel Zeballos, one of the team's key players, to bring on Alan Velasco, who had been inactive for two months.

In addition, the Sifón also addressed his future, as he has not yet signed the renewal of his contract for the position he took over after the passing of Miguel Ángel Russo.

“From the bench, we saw signs that he was tired and we made the decision to take him off,” began the Xeneize boss, and elaborated on the reason behind the substitution that many pointed to as the turning point of the match in favor of the Academia: “If we look back at the previous three matches, he also came off in the final minutes and put in a huge effort every time he was on the field. That’s why we made that decision.”

A little later, the coach revealed that Edinson Cavani did not come on because he suffered a ‘discomfort’ in his back during the pre-match warm-up, which complicated the chances of bringing on another striker to go for the equalizer. “The forwards were on the field and the possibility of Cavani coming in was our first option, but we suffered the untimely injury during the warm-up that prevented us from bringing him on,” he commented.

Regarding his future in the role, the Sifón stated that he will meet in the coming days with president Juan Román Riquelme to determine the next steps, as he is expected to be confirmed in the position for 2026 despite not being able to finish the campaign with a title: “We’re going to think and see how everything continues. We didn’t expect at all to have to end the season now, we had hoped to keep advancing. Afterwards, we’ll plan for what’s next.”

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