Boca and Atletico Mineiro meet for the ninth time: the history before Barranquilla

They've met eight times in international cup competition, and now comes the ninth, this time with a trophy on the line. Boca Juniors and Atletico Mineiro are set to collide again, this time in the CONMEBOL Sudamericana final, and the history between the two clubs has a bit of everything: a title celebration at La Bombonera, painful eliminations, and even a night of ugly incidents that's still remembered to this day.

The numbers favor the Xeneize: three wins for Boca, one for Atletico Mineiro and four draws. But there's one detail worth keeping in mind if you're reading into trends: the Brazilian side was the one that advanced in the last two knockout meetings between these clubs, the 2000 Copa Mercosur and the 2021 Libertadores. In other words, Boca leads the all-time series, but Mineiro has had the upper hand in the most recent chapters.

Both sides arrive at this final after intense series. Boca sealed its spot with a comeback against Vasco da Gama at the Maracana, while Mineiro eliminated Montevideo City Torque in the semifinals. The two clubs will meet in Barranquilla, where a trophy will once again be on the line, just as it was back in 1993.

The 1993 Copa de Oro, the closest precedent

If there's one matchup that resembles what's coming, it's that one. The 1993 Copa de Oro was decided over two legs: the first, at the Mineirao, ended 0-0 and left everything to be settled at La Bombonera. That's where the difference emerged: a header from Carlos Mac Allister gave Boca a 1-0 win and, with it, the title. That remains, to this day, the only final these two clubs have played against each other, and also the last time Boca beat Mineiro.

From the 1978 Libertadores to the controversy of 2021

The history between these two clubs began fifteen years earlier, in the 1978 Libertadores, when Boca was defending champion and faced Mineiro in the semifinal group stage. With Juan Carlos Lorenzo as coach, the Argentine side won both matches: 2-1 in Belo Horizonte, with a brace of free kicks from Miguel Bordon, and 3-1 at La Bombonera. Those two wins account for much of the edge Boca still holds in the all-time series.

Brazil's only win in the series didn't come until November 2000, in the quarterfinals of the Copa Mercosur: Mineiro won 2-0 at the Mineirao and then held on for a 2-2 draw at La Bombonera (with a brace from Antonio Barijho) to advance on a 4-2 aggregate, against a Boca side coached by Carlos Bianchi at the time.

The most recent meeting, in the round of 16 of the 2021 Libertadores, left a very different mark. Both legs ended 0-0, and Mineiro advanced on penalties, winning the shootout 3-1. The series was marked by Boca's complaints over two disallowed goals, one in each match, and by the serious incidents that broke out near the locker rooms after the second leg, to the point that part of the Boca delegation ended up spending the night in a police station.

With such a recent and tense precedent hanging over this rematch, the Barranquilla final carries an extra edge. It's not just a trophy on the line: it's also Boca's chance to finally settle, after more than two decades, a score that's been building in its most recent history against Atletico Mineiro.