In a match that puts a lot at stake, Boca will face Olimpo this Saturday, in a duel for the 32nd round of the Copa Argentina in which the future of their coach, Hugo Ibarra, may also be sentenced. The game will be played starting at 7:00 p.m. at the Centenario de Chaco stadium, will be refereed by Lucas Comesaña and will be televised by TyC Sports.
Boca has an uncomfortable match in front of it. If he wins, he will barely fulfill an obligation against a rival from Federal A, two lower categories. But if he loses, the bad moment he is going through in the Professional League will be enhanced, where he has accumulated two consecutive defeats and three games without winning, in addition to being submerged in the middle of the table. To make matters worse, Ibarra’s future as head of the team remains unknown, since the versions that have been circulating in the last few hours indicate that the former winger could still leave with the team qualified for the next round. Even Gerardo Martino is already mentioned as the main candidate to replace him.
Of course, Boca’s problems are not only linked to Ibarra, but are accentuated by the weak moment that several players are going through at the same time, such as Frank Fabra, Guillermo “Pol” Fernández, Darío Benedetto and Sebastián Villa, the latter failed with a thunderous whistle when he was replaced last Sunday night in the second half of the game against Instituto.
Ibarra will appeal to the team’s rotation to try to reverse the situation, and thus Facundo Roncaglia, Nicolás Valentini and Agustín Sandez will play in defense for Nicolás Figal, injured, Bruno Valdez, summoned to the Paraguayan team on the FIFA date, and the Colombian Fabra .
Cristian Medina, one of the most requested by the fans, will enter the midfield, and Juan Ramírez will also be there despite being in the group of those questioned, and Ezequiel “Equi” Fernández and the captain “Pol” Fernández will leave. Ibarra will return to the 4-4-2 tactical scheme instead of the unproductive 4-3-3 and will use Benedetto and the Uruguayan Miguel Merentiel as forwards, while the youthful Luca Langoni will not play, with a muscular ailment.
His rival, Olimpo, led by Arnaldo Sialle, is in high spirits after having thrashed Sol de Mayo, from Viedma, last Sunday for the second date of the Federal A Tournament, and he is also excited by the possibility of facing Boca with all the repercussion that this generates. The best-known player of the Bahía team is Facundo Affranchino from Entre Ríos, a 33-year-old midfielder who began his career at River.
