Boca Juniors Coach Diego Martínez Reflects on Defeat and Looks Ahead to Must-Win Match Against Godoy Cruz

Boca Juniors suffered a surprising defeat against Estudiantes in La Plata that took them out of the qualifying positions to the quarterfinals of the League Cup. A few minutes from the end, Xeneize coach, Diego Martínez, gave a press conference in which he delved into the fall, which forces him to beat Godoy Cruz this Tuesday in Bombonera to advance to the Final Phase of the championship.

With a sad mood, Martínez lamented the adverse result: “It hurts a lot, it was a game of details. Estudiantes came out to try to even out the middle of the field. The team had control, it lacked more depth. The feeling was that we managed to get into a rival camp. We lacked the control we had in the first 32 minutes.”

“The second half was similar. Estudiantes had a situation, two corners. They are details, it hurts us a lot because we come to get the three points. We wanted to play the last date already classified, but it depends on us, we have a home game and we will try to win it to advance,” he analyzed. And he added: “Students took advantage of what they had.”

Later, the coach explained the contributions of Lucas Janson and Darío Benedetto to go for the tie at the end and referred to the absence they will have to face Tomba at home because Lautaro Blanco was sent off in added time: “We have a significant loss facing the end, as is Lautaro, due to regularity, which gives us both in attack and defense. “I still haven’t decided or thought about who his replacement will be.”

* The statements of Diego Martínez

In this sense, he was asked if Frank Fabra was ruled out, after the coach had expressed the intention of using him in the midfield: “No, I said that Frank was a possibility at the time of the competition, but he can play side as he always did.”

Next, he avoided emphasizing the work of Fernando Echenique, although he disagreed with the second yellow shown to Blanco for a foul on Pablo Piatti: “I’m not going to talk about the refereeing. That play didn’t seem like a warning to me, but they are game situations. Sometimes certain decisions can end up hurting you, but I always believe that the referee is a human being, who can make mistakes like I can make. “If it wasn’t a good night for us, I take it as a game thing, nothing more.”

Returning to the football level, Martínez expressed that the final score had no relation to the general procedure: “If I have to say what would have been fairer, it would have been a tie. We almost didn’t make any difference. It’s annoying because, although it depends on us, we could have sealed the classification.” “The rival also plays, Estudiantes is a great team, they work well in the games. “It was a game of details, of duels in the middle of the field,” he concluded.

Boca Juniors will play again this Tuesday from 7:30 p.m. (Argentine time) against Godoy Cruz, who has already qualified for the next phase. They need to get the three points with the support of their fans to secure their place in the final stages of the local tournament.

* The expulsion of Lautaro Blanco for a second yellow card

The 8 matches that will define those classified for the quarterfinals of the League Cup:

MONDAY, APRIL 15:

20.00 Argentinos-Barracas Central

20.00 Independent-Workshops

20.00 Independent Rivadavia-Vélez

20.00 Instituto-River

TUESDAY, APRIL 16:

19.30 Boca-Godoy Cruz

19.30 Lanús-Students

19.30 Defense and Justice-Newell’s

19.30 Belgrano-Racing

2024-04-13 02:25:00
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