Boca Juniors vs Defensor Sporting – Liveblogging The Libertadores

Tonight’s round of 16 Copa Libertadores 2009 second leg clash between Boca Juniors and Defensor Sporting is big. Rubberduckzilla big. Sir Alan Sugar finally sacking Ben big. It is the final tie yet to be decided of the last sixteen. It is the favourites against the favourites to soon be at home reminiscing on those heady days in early 2009 when they played Libertadores football. South American giants against South America’s Bolton Wanderers under Allardyce (and I mean that in a good way, seriously).

Anything other than Boca progressing tonight would be a massive shock. But, as the video at the bottom of this post proves, anything can and indeed already has happened to Defensor Sporting in the Libertadores 2009, and their storied tale in this season’s competition might not be over just yet. It is 2-2 from the first leg, Boca have two away goals, and we will be live-blogging the action from the Bombonera from 2350 hrs GMT. Can Just Football favourites Defensor Sporting pull off a monumental upset and progress through to a quarter final tie with Estudiantes? We’ll find out in an hour or so. See you then. Bring something purple.

Hello and welcome to Just Football’s live-blogging of the last 16 Copa Libertadores clash between Boca Juniors and Defensor Sporting. It’s the classic clash between Argentina and Uruguay here, with a place in the quarter finals at stake for the winner. Boca are massive favourites, with some bookies making Defensor almost a 6/1 outside shot. But el Xeneize are not performing too well domestically this season and currently lie in lowly 16th place.

To follow our updates please refresh this page. And let us know who you will be following! Kick off is in approximately 2 minutes.

Players are on the pitch and ready. Boca are going for a strong lineup. Riquelme, Palacio and Palermo are all in the starting lineup.

1, La Doce are out in full force supporting Boca Juniors tonight, the atmosphere is pumping. Boca immediately win a free-kick on the edge of the box to be taken by Riquelme.

2, The shot is fired straight at the keeper, and the rebounded header goes agonisingly wide.

4, Good early pressure from los Xeneize.

4, Defensor win a corner. However Abbondanzieri claims it with few problems.

8, Rodrigo Palacio, looking sharp, makes a mockery of the Sporting defence before crossing for Vargas. His header is off target.

11, Defensor Sporting remaining true to their name at the moment, with some stalwart defending. The Uruguayans are soaking up the pressure nicely and attempting to hit Boca on the counter. Riquelme is drifting in and out of proceedings.

TEAM NEWS: Here are the full teams by the way:

Boca: Abbondanzieri, Roncaglia, Caceres, Forlin, Rodriguez, Vargas, Battaglia, Riquelme, Chavez, Palacio, Palermo

Defensor: Silva, Pintos, Curbelo, Risso, Ariosa, Marchant, Gaglianone, Amado, Ferreira, Vera, De Souza

15, Defensor hit Boca with another counter-attack, but it is broken down by Caceres and cleared. Defensor are well and truly in this game.

17, Defensor coach Jorge da Silva has packed the midfield for this, and Defensor are suffocating Riquelme’s game. Smart tactics from da Silva.

21, Another Defensor counter attack is cleared by a jittery Boca defence. The Uruguayan champions are playing with flair!

26, Gooooooolllll!!! Diego de Souza crashes a superbly struck shot off the bar and into the net after a smooth buildup from Defensor. 1-0 to the away team, and Defensor lead 3-2 on aggregate. The away end is awash with purple and white, and they are going crazy!

28, Defensor fully deserve this so far. They are dominant. Gaglianone, Marchant and Amado are stifling the midfield, and the defending has been superb. Told you they could do it!

31, Battaglia and Vargas simply aren’t in the game so far.

34, Palermo with a half chance, but he fouls his marker in the tussle and concedes a free-kick.

37, Fantastic save from Silva to keep Defensor in front. Chavez hits a lovely right foot shot but Silva is equal to it. Boca are gaining momentum, particularly down the flanks.

39, Palacio wins a corner after some good work down the right hand side. But once again Defensor show their ability to defend, and the corner is headed clear.

42, Another superb save from Silva! After a well-worked short corner the cross came in, but Silva palms away the header and then catches the follow-up. Boca are pouring forward now, but the Defensor tower stands strong…

45, We are in stoppage time in the first half. 2 minutes have been added. Defensor in a rare moment of possession make it into Abbondanzieri’s penalty area, but to no avail and the move breaks down.

45 + 2, Boca are getting frustrated. Chavez remonstrates with the ref about something or other. The whistle then blows for half time.

HALF TIME: Boca Juniors 0-1 Defensor Sporting. As it stands, the tournament favourites are heading home. Defensor captain Martin Silva’s saves have kept his team in this game, and he leaves the field with a look on his face that says: ‘I am indeed a war hero.’ Boca fans look perplexed in the stands.

Grab yourself a coffee or a juice. Join us for the second half in fifteen.

HT: Defensor have carried their league form into this match. I must say they have impressed. They won their last game 4-2 at Montevideo Wanderers and are clearly full of confidence.

Carlos Ischia has a big team talk to make. Boca are 45 minutes from elimination.

Battaglia had los Xeneize’s best chance with th
at header late in the first 45, but Silva was equal to it, showing feline-esque reflexes to clear.

The stats show Boca have had 3 shots on target to Defensor’s 2. But only one shot so far counts for anything.

Despite Defensor’s lead, I am not sure they can hold onto it for 45 more minutes. Tendency might be to go into their shell a bit more, which might benefit Ischia’s team. Can the Uruguayans hang onto a 1 goal lead, or should they go for a second?

Teams are emerging for the second half. Riquelme is looking miserable. Or is that a look of sheer focus?

Second Half begins: And we are off. Boca attacking from left to right now, Defensor will be attacking the end where La Doce reside.

47, Fabian Vargas is booked for a poorly timed challenge. On the sidelines, Riquelme changes his shinpads.

49, Boca stringing some neat passes together in the midfield. Patient buildups. Vargas commits another late challenge. Defensor look unconcerned by all this.

50, Riquelme goes for the speculative long range effort. It flies way over the bar, before he looks to the ground disheartened, like a man who has arrived at the airport without his passport.

51, Defensor’s frontline hold up the play but a smart one-two on the edge of the box yields no rewards.

54, Vargas now tries a long-range effort from about 25 yards out in a similar position to Riquelme. Is that frustration I smell?

55, Defensor launch another counter-attack, Vera loses the ball.

57, Vera battles for the ball in midfield before a messy passage of play sees the referee forced to intervene. Has anybody seen Martin Palermo recently?

59, Gaglianonne booked for Defensor and the game is getting scrappy. It is turning into the classic – ‘take the lead, sit tight, hit them on the break’ performance for Defensor. And it is working.

61, Boca are making some changes. Luciano Figueroa is warming up.

62, Ischia mixes things up a bit: Figueroa and Gaitan on, Chavez and Morel Rodriguez off. Over an hour gone and Boca trail, but one goal and a 1-1 draw would see them through on away goals. Estudiantes await the winners in the last eight.

65, Riquelme has a nice shot with his left foot saved by the ever impressive Silva. Nothing comes from the corner.

69, Rodrigo Mora comes on for Defensor.

71, Gracian comes on for Boca, replacing the injured Battaglia. Defensor appear comfortable, but comfortable is perhaps not the right word to describe their situation. One goal for the hosts would change things completely.

73, Seventeen minutes remain. Defensor are making good use of the wings, with Vera down the left causing problems. Somewhere, Juan Sebastien Veron watches on intently.

76, Riquelme’s through balls are not impressing Defensor’s defence, who simply intercept and clear.

77, Palermo brings down a cross from the left in the area, and in the ensuing tumble there are faint claims for a penalty from the home side. Nothing given.

79, Defensor’s key strength tonight has been in midfield. Gaglianone et al have shielded the defence superbly well.

81, Yet more stray passing from Boca. Marchant launches a hopeful long ball upfront, but Boca’s defence deal with it and Abbondanzieri claims.

82, Palacio wins a corner after his shot is palmed to safety by Silva. Amado eventually clears. Boca are running low on ideas. Is the unthinkable upset about to become a reality?

84, Ischia stands on the sidelines looking resigned to defeat. The favourites are 5 minutes from elimination.

86, Yet another patient buildup between Palacio, Riquelme and Figueroa breaks down.

87, What a save!! Silva saves magnificently AGAIN after a wonderful overhead kick from Boca’s number 23 Gaitan.

90, 3 minutes of stoppage time remain. Defensor Sporting are going to see this through now, surely?

90 + 1 Boca win yet another corner, but it is cleared by Amado. Seconds remain in this match now.

90 + 2, Everyone back for Defensor, they have defended so well over the 90 minutes. Surely they will not buckle now???

90 + 3, IT IS OVER!! Defensor Sporting beat Boca Juniors 1-0 in the Bombonera to qualify for the quarter finals of the 2009 Copa Libertadores!! An incredible upset!! The Boca fans in the stands look stunned.

FT: Boca Juniors 0-1 Defensor Sporting – Defensor Sporting win 3-2 on aggregate and the Uruguayans will face Estudiantes in the last eight.

Martin Palermo finally appears, looking tired and upset. He has defined anonymity tonight.

Defensor Sporting, Just Football’s pick for the 2009 Copa Libertadores, have done the impossible tonight and knocked out the mighty Boca Juniors in their own backyard. Diego De Souza’s goal won it in the end, but it was a great team performance from Jorge da Silva’s men. The defence were compact, the midfield supported them brilliantly, the attacking players provided the perfect outlets on the counter attack, and Martin Silva was a powerhouse in goal, making some superfluous saves. Clearly man of the match.

17 shots for Boca, 7 for Defensor. Boca had 9 shots on target, which goes some way to explaining just how well Silva performed. A good number of those 9 shots were of real quality, forcing brilliant saves from the keeper.

Defensor Sporting’s storied Copa Libertadores 2009 now goes on, and the Uruguayan outfit will face Argentinian opponents once again in the quarter-finals, this time in the form of Estudiantes.

Well that is all from us for now. I mentioned at the start of the night that anything other than a Boca Juniors win would be a massive shock. And a shock is what we have witnessed. Defensor’s heroics began with their dramatic late win over Independiente Medellin to qualify and they have continued that form tonight with a famous 1-0 victory at the Bombonera. Congratulations to Jorge da Silva’s men and see you in the quarters. Vamos Defensor!

Boca Juniors, Copa Libertadores, Defensor Sporting, Football in Latin America