Written September 26, 2026
2026 CONMEBOL Sudamericana Quarterfinal, First Leg - Final Score: Boca Juniors 1-0 São Paulo FC ⎮ Match Link
Against São Paulo’s high press, Boca Juniors stretched the field, played direct, and used coordinated midfield rotations to progress around rather than through central areas.
Boca’s base formation was a 4-3-3 with Leandro Paredes as the singular holding midfielder. In possession, this shifted to a 4-1-5 with the option to push Lautaro Di Lollo into midfield or Lautaro Blanco into the wide left channel to create a 3-2-5. Boca’s primary objective in attack was to play the ball wide. The intention of the home side was to exploit the space behind the São Paulo wing-backs in attack. This reduced the need for extra bodies in midfield during build-up.
Boca Juniors base formation: 4-3-3
Boca Juniors in possession: Asymmetrical 4-3-3
São Paulo started the first half in a high press, intending to force turnovers in the Boca defensive third. Instead of playing through São Paulo’s press, Boca opted to bypass central build-up. This meant that Paredes and Santiago Ascacíbar contributed as much through their off-ball positioning as they did as central distributors. For much of the match, the center-back duo Di Lollo and Facundo Herrera became the main distributors. Goalkeeper Álvaro Montero was also used as an extra playmaker, allowing for more distribution options across the back line.
From deeper positions, Boca often opted to find wide outlets. This was particularly effective against São Paulo’s centrally concentrated 3-5-2 formation. Leonel Flores and Alan Velasco often receive the ball directly or by virtue of combining with other players positionally anchored in wide areas. Paredes and Ascacíbar remained central link-up players. Paredes in particular provided a shorter option out of the back. The Boca captain also acted as a through-line to wide areas, often receiving deep, turning, and distributing into the channels. Although Paredes recorded the most touches in the match, most of his involvement came through one and two touch passing.
Paredes’ distribution capabilities were further exploited by Boca through his rotation with Lautaro Di Lollo. Di Lollo frequently pushed into midfield either providing an extra body centrally or allowing Paredes to rotate into the back line. Di Lollo’s progressive dribbling opened up the São Paulo press and gave Boca more options in build-up. Simultaneously, Boca was able to take advantage of Paredes’ long-range passing. As a center back, Paredes’ distribution and vision progressed the ball directly into wide areas. If both Di Lollo and Paredes remained in midfield, Boca had more bodies to contest for the second ball if Herrera or Montero chose to play directly to Boca’s attacking lines.
To exploit the space behind the São Paulo wing-backs, Boca stretched the field as wide as possible. The objective was to create an overload in wide areas to find inroads into the box. Both Boca wingers, Leonel Flores and Alan Velasco, had different attacking relationships with their respective fullbacks. In the first half, Flores partnered with Lautaro Blanco on the left. Blanco was the more aggressive of the two fullbacks. He underlapped and overlapped Flores with regularity to form effective 2 vs. 1 combinations. To account for Blanco’s higher position, the Boca back line either shifted over to cover the vacated space or Leandro Paredes dropped behind Blanco.
On the right side, Lozano held a deeper position behind Velasco. Although Lozano did advance, his movements forward were largely inverted rather than overlapping. That gave Boca an additional central body in midfield and left them better positioned to defend in transition. Attacking midfielder Tomás Belmonte compensated by drifting towards the right half-space to provide wide support for Velasco. This allowed Boca to create wide overloads without sacrificing central defensive security.
Flores and Velasco switched sides for the second half. Both fullbacks retained their positioning and individual roles. On the right, Flores remained as the wide outlet while Lozano provided more conservative and inverted support. Velasco and Blanco took over the combination play on the left. In the 73rd minute, Flores receives the ball out wide and begins to drive forward. Lozano, from his inverted position, begins to underlap Flores. Instead of waiting for Lozano’s run wide, Flores cuts central into the vacated space. With Blanco pushing up, Velasco makes his run central from the left to meet Flores’ pass. His shot from the top of the area goes wide. As shown in Figure One, the fullbacks’ and wingers’ different roles created combinations that São Paulo struggled to defend with their back three.
The only goal of the match came for Boca in the 52nd minute. The sequence leading up to Miguel Merentiel’s goal illustrates the importance of Boca’s positional framework. Lozano, having inverted in transition, wins the ball centrally. He plays directly to Flores on the right wing. To prevent the switch ball, São Paulo crowd the right half space with five bodies. Flores plays centrally to Paredes, who is man-marked by two São Paulo midfielders. The Boca captain lets the ball go through his legs. This action simultaneously beats São Paulo’s high press and allows the ball to reach Ascacíbar in space. These actions are shown below in Figures Two and Three.
The rest of the sequence is shown below in Figure Four. Ascacíbar finds Velasco on the left touchline. Blanco underlaps Velasco and crosses into the box. Merentiel’s shot rebounds off the goalkeeper and Boca’s number sixteen gives the home side the advantage in the tie.