Úbeda’s surprise: starting player benched for 10 games vs Estudiantes | OneFootball

The Lanús academy product will once again be a starter for Xeneize due to the absences of Paredes and Battaglia. He will share the midfield with Milton Delgado.

The tear in Rodrigo Battaglia’s left soleus muscle and the suspension of Leandro Paredes for accumulation of yellow cards opened an unexpected door in Boca’s midfield ahead of the crucial match against Estudiantes next Sunday. With his great comeback against Barracas Central, Milton Delgado secured his spot, while Tomás Belmonte beat Ander Herrera to the position and will have a golden opportunity to regain the importance he lost in recent matches.

Toto arrived at Xeneize in mid-2024 for three million dollars and, although he has played a lot since then, he never fully convinced the fans and was often the target of criticism. Still, alongside Delgado, he was an undisputed starter in midfield when Fernando Gago was the coach.

Against Benfica in the Club World Cup, the first match of Miguel Ángel Russo’s third spell at the club, he started on the bench, but an injury to Ander put him back in the starting eleven. Against the Portuguese side and against Bayern Munich he was one of the team’s standouts, which led him to keep his spot at the start of the Clausura Tournament: he started against Argentinos, Unión, and Huracán.

In the week following the defeat to el Globo, he suffered a grade III tear in his right hamstring. That injury kept him out of the squad for the next four matches, and he only returned to the list for the clash against Rosario Central. By that time, the Battaglia-Paredes duo had established themselves in the center of the field, which led to his absence in the following four matches.

During that period, Herrera returned to the pitch after three months and saw minutes in Xeneize’s last four matches, which suggested he had the edge in the head-to-head with Belmonte, who played the last 13 minutes against Barracas after nine matches without action.

However, in Thursday’s tactical training at La Bombonera, Claudio Úbeda chose to put the Lanús academy product in the starting lineup and the Basque among the substitutes. Barring any setbacks, Belmonte will share the midfield with Delgado, just like in those days when Gago was the coach. Without a doubt, it will be a great opportunity for Toto to establish himself as a reliable backup for a midfield that has been one of the team’s highlights this semester.

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