The 'Xeneize' club has collapsed and there is no certainty about its title in the Argentine league and its classification in Copa Libertadores

Boca Juniors is first in the Argentine Superliga with 53 points, although the last stretch of the season has not been good for the 'xeneizes', because several clubs have cut it distance. Of the last 15 points at stake, Boca only won 7; while Godoy Cruz, second classified, added 13 points.

Leer en español: ¿Se está cayendo a pedazos la gran temporada de Boca Juniors?

Godoy Cruz has 1 more game than the Argentine giant, but it is only 3 points away. If Boca loses its next 2 games and Godoy Cruz beats Argentinos Juniors, they will tie in points and the title will be defined on the last date.

In the Copa Libertadores the outlook is more complicated, since it is in the third position of Group H, with only two games left to finish the group stage.

The great season fell apart

The club of the La Boca neighborhood was leading an exemplary season, until it lost the final of the Argentine Supercup with its greatest historical rival, River Plate, on March 14, 2018. This defeat affected the mood of the club, and the unbeatable season became a constant struggle to not lose the ground that it had previously won.

Since that defeat against River Plate, Boca lost two games, tied one, and won another two in the Argentine Super League. This performance generated Hurricane, San Lorenzo and Godoy Cruz cut distances, to such an extent that the latter has come dangerously close to the leadership. During the season, Boca came to have up to 12 points ahead of the second classified, but after stumbling several times in a row, the team is only three points ahead of Godoy Cruz, although it has one game less.

This sports and emotional fall was transferred to international competition. Boca was planted in Group H of the Copa Libertadores de América along with Palmeiras of Brazil, Atlético Junior of Colombia, and Alianza Lima of Peru. The 'xeneizes' started not only as favorites of the group, but as favorites of the entire competition. However, this status was falling with the poor results of those led by the Argentine Guillermo Barros Schelotto.

Boca started its participation in the Libertadores against the Alianza Lima in Peru, getting a pale draw with zero goals. Then, in the Bombonera it received the Junior of Barranquilla and got a win for the minimum difference that seemed to recompose its way IGNORE INTO the cup, but it would not be like that. On the third date, the team traveled to Brazil to play against Palmeiras and achieved their second draw in the competition. On the fourth date, Boca again faced Palmeiras, but in Argentina, and compromised its qualification to the next phase, as Boca suffered its first defeat and was in third place with just five points, behind Palmeiras and Junior, squads that have sixteen points respectively.

Boca Juniors has two more games against Atlético Junior in Colombia and against Alianza Lima in Argentina, so it will not be easy to qualify. On the other hand, the Superliga Argentina has three games remaining: the game postponed against Gimnasia and Esgrima de La Plata as a visitor, against Union de Santa Fe of the local and against visiting Hurricane.

Boca has a complicated horizon at the end of this season, which can be ratified as a champion in Argentina and as worthy classified in the Copa Libertadores, or which will only serve to confirm that such bad results did not crumble the season but completely collapsed.

LatinAmerican Post | Javier Aldana
Translated from “¿Se está cayendo a pedazos la gran temporada de Boca Juniors?”