Racing received the badge and is a finalist

The delirium of the racing players in La Bombonera. With the help of Maravilla, La Academia reached the final of the Clausura tournament / Fotobaires

In La Bombonera, Racing beat Boca 1-0 and reached the final of the Clausura tournament thanks to Adrián Martínez’s goal. The academy had a lot of craftsmanship and effectiveness to dream of winning the title next Saturday in Santiago del Estero. Xeneize wasn’t quite up to par and finished without a title for the second year in a row.

The first half was more contested than played, the game was abandoned due to violations, and both teams emphasized controlling themselves rather than trying to play. Boca tried to control the ball from the start but couldn’t find space due to the good midfield presence that Racing imposed. And the more minutes passed, the more comfortable it became for the academy as it was a more physical and direct game.

Paredes dominated the ball while Palacios and Zeballos tried to break the Avellaneda team’s solid block. Nardoni and Almendra were tireless in not leaving any spaces and also putting pressure on the Xeneize midfielders.

Boca abused the ball often and Racing was not good in the centers of Mura and Rojas. What made matters worse was that Darío Herrera stopped the game with every touch.

The first clear decision of the game came in the 40th minute when, after a good overall game, Juan Nardoni shot the ball onto the post with a good right foot. And Xeneize almost converted on the final play of the first half when, after a Paredes free-kick, a Colombo clearance led to a deflection from Giménez that went past Cambeses’ left post.

In the second half the game became a little more open as Racing dominated the ball and found good passes through Almendra and Nardoni. Boca couldn’t find a game but had in Zeballos the only hope of creating a disequilibrium. But Úbeda surprised him and took him off in the 25th minute to give him to Velasco. This modification created the La Bombonera whistle that had fans grabbing their heads.

The game was close and there were few dangerous moves, but racing was the most comfortable. Paredes and Delgado lacked control in midfield, which led to Xeneize excessively misusing the ball. Ayrton Costa was one of the highlights of the second half, where he had a lot of momentum and even went on the offensive several times to get his teammates to react. Merentiel and Giménez clashed, but Úbeda stood firm and decided not to make any further variations despite the team’s needs.

Rojas and Mura started to dominate on the wings and the academy had some approaches. However, in the 30th minute he found the decisive shot on goal: Rojas passed the ball from the left, and after sending a sharp cross into the center of the penalty area, Maravilla Martínez beat the strong Costa and made it 1-0 with a wonderful header. And it also ended a 996-minute drought without scoring, but goal scorers are like that.

In the following minutes there was a wave of nervousness at Boca as the game failed to get going. Paredes was not good at set pieces and the team was stopped badly on several occasions, with Racing failing to take advantage of some counterattacks. With no reaction on the field and no reaction on the bench, Xeneize looked for the draw without too many resources.

He attacked with a feeling of helplessness, against a racing team that always had a plan and ran the game the way it wanted. Velasco had a bad time in the Xeneize and people complained about him with murmurs every time he lost a ball.

The minutes passed, Racing held on and in the end took a historic and fair victory because they knew how to act in a hard-fought game. Gustavo Costas’ team thus secured a ticket to the final in Santiago del Estero, where they will once again try to become Argentine football champions. And also to get a ticket for the next Copa Libertadores.

For its part, Xeneize completed another year without a title and failed to reach the semi-finals despite playing with its people. Aside from qualifying for the Copa Libertadores, he was once again in debt in a year that would be forgotten. Aside from the possibility of Claudio Úbeda moving on for 2026, it remains to be seen whether Riquelme sticks to his decision after this exit.