Boca Juniors' mid-year review: four eliminations in four competitions

There are still five months left until the end of the football year, and Boca's path to this point has been pure frustration . While some teams still have two or three tournaments ahead of them, Xeneize will only compete in the Clausura, a tournament in which they started with two draws. After losing 2-1 to Atlético Tucumán in Santiago del Estero in the round of 32 of the Copa Argentina, they registered their fourth elimination in four competitions.

From January until last Wednesday, Boca played 27 matches and had three coaches : first Fernando Gago , then Mariano Herrón on an interim basis, and now Miguel Angel Russo . The first match of the year was for the first round of the Copa Argentina and began with an auspicious 5-0 thrashing of Argentino de Monte Maíz.

However, the first challenge for the young coach was the second round of the Copa Libertadores , necessary to reach the group stage, after also passing through a third round. But it was only two games, against Alianza Lima of Peru, coached by Néstor Pipo Gorosito , who in the pre-match interview had teased that La Bombonera was a legend, "pure biri biri." The truth is that after losing 1-0 in Lima and winning 2-1 at home, everything was decided on penalties and Boca was eliminated, without the Libertadores or Sudamericana, since they at least needed to advance to the third round to access a spot in the second international competition.

Without playing well, the Ribera team managed to reach the round of 16 of the 2025 Apertura tournament. But on the penultimate matchday, they lost 1-0 to River Plate at the Monumental, and Juan Román Riquelme decided to dismiss the coach. Under Gago, the 2025 season saw 18 matches, with 12 wins, 2 draws, 4 losses, 30 goals scored, 12 conceded, and a 70% efficiency rate. On the final matchday, Herrón took over as interim manager and drew 1-1 with Tigre. The management retained him for the playoffs; in the round of 16, they drew 0-0 with Lanús at La Bombonera and won on penalties. In the quarterfinals, they lost 1-0 to Independiente in Avellaneda and were eliminated.

Of the 27 matches he played this year, he won 12, drew 8, lost 7, scored 37 goals, conceded 22, and earned 54% of the points. The three managers used a total of 35 players, and the only one who appeared in all 27 matches was Miguel Merentiel, who started 17. The Uruguayan is also the top scorer of the year, with 9.

By then, it was already known that Russo would take over the club's management duties after leaving San Lorenzo for the Club World Cup, a competition in which they failed to advance past the first phase after three matches, two draws (2-2 with Benfica and 1-1 against amateur side Auckland City) and one defeat (1-2 to Bayern Munich). After two draws in the first two rounds of the 2005 Clausura, the Copa Argentina became the fourth tournament in which they were eliminated early . Furthermore, they went 10 matches without a win, the worst losing streak in history, with other series being held in 1957 and 2021. And if they don't beat Huracán, it will be their worst.