Boca Juniors, the champion of the Professional Football League (LPF), will face Patronato this Wednesday, who won the Argentine Cup and at the same time he descended to the First National in an infrequent event, in the match that will consecrate the winner of the Argentina Super Cup 2022. The final will be played from 9:15 p.m. at the Madre de Ciudades stadium, in Santiago del Esterowith arbitration by Andrés Merlos and television by ESPN Premium.
He xeneize team will go for its first title of the year, after being crowned champion in 2022 of the League Cup and the LPF, the first trophy with Sebastián Battaglia as DT and the last under the leadership of Hugo Ibarra. The Entre Ríos team, for its part, earned the right to play in the final despite having been relegated after winning the 2022 edition of the Copa Argentina after defeating Talleres de Córdoba in the final.
Boca starts as a wide favorite although it should not be trusted against a rival that caused him headaches last year, first when he thrashed him in Paraná (3-0) by the LPF and then when he eliminated him in the semifinals of the Copa Argentina. Boca’s last triumph over the Entre Ríos was on the night of August 21, 2021 when Battaglia made his debut as manager replacing Miguel Ángel Russo, and won 1-0 at La Bombonera with a goal scored by Luis Vázquez, at 85 minutes.
For the final in Santiago del Estero, Ibarra will appeal to the experience and category of some footballers who did not play in Boca’s two recent victories, at home against Platense (3-1) and in Liniers against Vélez (2-1), and will also make another significant change in the goal. In that context, Colombians Frank Fabra and Sebastián Villa, plus Darío “Pipa” Benedetto and Alan Varela, will return to the title, and those who will leave will be Agustín Sandez, Captain Guillermo “Pol” Fernández, Martín Payero and the Uruguayan Miguel Merentiel. Meanwhile, Javier García will be in the goal and not Sergio “Chiquito” Romero, this because it is a planned rotation to have the two goalkeepers in competition.
Ibarra’s strong decisions are to remove “Pol” Fernández, questioned for his low level so far this year, and above all to disarm the Langoni-Merentiel duo, a strong move since they understood each other perfectly from the first time they played together, and they are the most unbalancing of Boca. However, “Pipa” Benedetto has experience in finals and was not playing because he owed four suspension dates, and the Colombian Villa has a speed that breaks defenses although it is questioned because he always plays individually.
In any case and beyond the names, Boca appears as a favorite against a rival like the Patronato that has not yet managed to gain a foothold in the First National, in fact it did not win any game with three draws and one loss. El Patrón, now without Facundo Sava as DT and led by a history of promotion like Walter Otta, who relies on the experience of midfielder Nicolás Domingo, former River, Independiente and Banfield, among other clubs. “We have to do everything perfect to beat Boca,” Domingo, 37, analyzed in the previous one.
Santiago del Estero will host the eleventh edition of the Argentine Super Cup and, if they win it, Boca will equal River in history, up to the maximum winning time with two Super Cups. The xeneizes played the final four times and lost three (with Arsenal in 2012, San Lorenzo in 2015 and River in 2017) and prevailed in 2018 against Rosario Central.
– Probable Formations –
Boca Juniors: Javier Garcia; Luis Advíncula, Facundo Roncaglia, Nicolás Figal and Frank Fabra; Ezequiel “Equi” Fernández, Alan Varela and Oscar Romero; Luca Langoni, Darío Benedetto and Sebastián Villa. DT: Hugo Ibarra.
Board of Trustees: Julio César Salvá; Matías Ruiz Díaz, Cristian González, Sergio Ojeda and Facundo Cobos; Fabio Vázquez, Nicolás Domingo, Alexander Sosa and Jorge Valdéz Chamorro; Juan Cruz Esquivel and Enzo Diaz. DT: Walter Otta.
Referee: Andrés Merlos.
Stadium: Mother of Cities, from Santiago del Estero.
Start time: 21.15.
TV: ESPN Premium.
