Paredes’ late strike completed Boca’s comeback at the Maracanã, keeping the club alive in the Sudamericana and several other competitions.
Leandro Paredes delivered the decisive moment Boca Juniors needed: a late, dipping strike at the Maracanã that completed a comeback against Vasco da Gama and sent the Xeneize into the Copa Sudamericana final. The goal came after Boca had been pushed back toward a penalty shoot-out, and it turned a tense two-legged tie into a statement of nerve as much as finishing. It also kept alive a season in which Boca are still chasing honours on several fronts, despite the strain of a crowded schedule.
A comeback settled by Paredes
Boca arrived in Rio needing to overturn a one-goal deficit from the first leg, which left little margin for a cautious approach. Luciano Di Lollo quickly levelled the tie with a header from a Lautaro Blanco corner, giving Boca an early foothold and changing the terms of the contest. Miguel Merentiel then put Boca ahead after breaking away on the counter around the half-hour mark. The two goals showed how Boca could threaten from different situations: a set piece and a fast attack.
Vasco pulled one back after the interval, putting the tie on course for a penalty shoot-out and restoring uncertainty after Boca’s strong start. That shift mattered: a match that had seemed to be moving toward a Boca breakthrough became a test of whether the visitors could manage pressure without losing their threat. With only minutes left, Paredes found space outside the Vasco area and struck. His shot dipped past goalkeeper Léo Jardim and into the net, quieting the home crowd and sparking celebrations among Boca’s sizeable travelling support.
This is more significant than it looks. A late goal in a knockout tie doesn’t just settle the score; it can define how a team understands its own chances under pressure. Paredes’ strike arrived when the margin for error had narrowed, after Vasco had threatened to force a shoot-out. The finish gave Boca a place in the final, but the route there also showed the team absorbing a setback and finding another opening.
For Paredes, the moment carried added weight. He had left Europe to return to the club where his career began, and this was the kind of night that choice had promised: a leading role in a high-stakes match, in front of supporters who had travelled to see Boca. The goal gives that return a vivid image, though one strike can’t by itself resolve the larger question of what the move will mean over a full season. After the final whistle, following a tense close to the two-legged contest and scuffles between players, he credited his teammates.
“These guys are all heroes, it is the entire team because they are doing an incredible job,” Paredes told reporters. “They are giving their very all, as much as we can and more. We always face up to the challenge. This team wants to do big things.”
Boca still have several routes to silverware
The Sudamericana final is one part of Boca’s late-season push, and the other competitions make the achievement harder to isolate. They also came back from a two-goal deficit against Racing to reach the Copa Argentina semi-finals, and remain in contention in the Clausura despite the demands of competing across multiple tournaments. These runs give Boca several opportunities to finish the season with a trophy, but each also adds another match to a schedule already testing the squad.
With three regular-season matches remaining, Arruabarrena’s side sit second in Group A. A win over Independiente this weekend would secure a playoff place, making the league match consequential even as attention turns to the cup final. Boca also lead the annual league table, which offers another route to a trophy, as Rosario Central’s position there showed last year. That possibility gives the remaining league games significance beyond qualification for the Clausura playoffs.
The schedule leaves little room to recover, and that makes the order of the next fixtures important. After Independiente, Boca get a few days’ rest before hosting River at La Bombonera. The Clausura playoffs begin around the middle of November, followed by the Sudamericana final on November 21 in Barranquilla, where Boca will face Atlético Mineiro. Each competition asks for a different kind of focus, while the short gaps leave limited time to reset between them.
Arruabarrena has rotated the squad to manage the workload, and the competing demands have affected some league performances. Rotation can help spread minutes across a team, but it also means changing combinations and rhythms from match to match; the results suggest Boca haven’t escaped that trade-off. Paredes, however, is fit and back in form. His late goal offers a timely lift, though it won’t make the fixture list any lighter.
The test now is sustaining the momentum
For Boca, the immediate challenge is to carry the energy of the Maracanã goal through a crowded run of fixtures, with the chance to turn a difficult season into a memorable one still within reach. That will depend on more than one player’s form: the team must keep producing results while managing fatigue and the pressure attached to each competition. If you’re following Boca’s season, the next stretch will show whether this comeback becomes a turning point or remains a brilliant night in an uneven campaign.
And this is the part most people overlook: reaching several late-stage competitions can be both an opportunity and a burden. Boca have more than one route to silverware, but every route demands attention, selection choices and enough energy to compete when the stakes rise. Here's the thing: Paredes has supplied a moment that can lift the group, yet the fixtures that follow will determine how far that lift carries them. A spark, not a guarantee.
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