This is the kind of decision that tells you exactly how much risk a coach is willing to take when a semifinal is slipping away. Boca head into the second leg against Vasco da Gama at the Maracaná needing to overturn a one-goal deficit, and Rodolfo Arruabarrena has made the call that will dominate the conversation: Leandro Paredes is not starting.
On Tuesday at 21.30, Boca will try to rewrite the story of this Copa Sudamericana semifinal after losing the first leg by one goal at La Bombonera before Tuesday. That alone would make this a difficult night. Add the Maracaná, add the pressure of the comeback, and add the fact that Paredes was expected by many to be part of the solution, and you have a selection that says plenty about Arruabarrena’s thinking.
It is not hard to understand why the coach hesitated. Paredes had been recovering from a grade 2 hamstring tear, and Arruabarrena had already made clear that the player was not fully settled into the ideal timeline. The coach said Lea was working almost alongside the group, but also admitted the deadlines were not what he had initially imagined. That is the key line in all of this: Paredes wants to be there, but there is a risk. In a second leg where Boca have to force the issue in Brazil, that risk has been judged too high for the starting XI.
Arruabarrena has chosen caution over romance
This is where selection stops being a medical update and becomes a football verdict. Boca do not have the luxury of sentiment. They need control, intensity and a team that can survive the match long enough to turn it. Arruabarrena has gone with the players he trusts most for the opening battle, and that means Paredes begins on the bench rather than walking straight back into the biggest fixture of the campaign.
It also fits with the coach’s broader pattern. Rodrigo Battaglia had already been used in the previous match against Talleres, which tells you Arruabarrena is prepared to lean on decisions shaped by balance and reliability rather than reputation alone. That is fair enough. The problem is that it leaves Boca asking a very blunt question: if not Paredes from the start, then where does the spark come from?
That is the danger with a lineup like this. It can look sensible on paper and still feel like a compromise. Boca need goals, but they also need authority. They need a team that can live with the tension of the Maracaná and still keep its shape when the game turns ugly. Starting Paredes would have been a statement. Leaving him on the bench is a warning that Arruabarrena is prioritizing caution over immediate impact.
Maybe that is the correct call. Maybe it is the only call, given the one-goal first-leg loss and the hamstring issue. But if Boca fall short in Brazil, this is the decision that will be dragged back into the light. In a semifinal, especially one decided over two legs, the line between prudence and regret is painfully thin.
