Boca could lose Paredes to injury ahead of Recoleta clash after Platense draw

The 1-1 draw with Platense in the 2026 Clausura Tournament left Boca with more than just two dropped points. Three players ended the match with physical discomfort, and now the concern shifts to whether they will be ready for the next game, against Recoleta, which is right around the corner.

The name drawing the most attention is Leandro Paredes, the team's captain, who felt discomfort in the opening minutes of the match and could not continue after halftime. Rodolfo Arruabarrena was the one to give the first medical update at his press conference.

He felt some discomfort. We'll do the tests afterward, but he felt the discomfort in the first few minutes. After that he switched play a couple of times, took a shot on goal. It's true he didn't go up for corners, he's smart and takes care of himself. And he asked to come off. I don't think it's anything serious, but we'll see what the doctors tell me.Rodolfo Arruabarrena

The coach's words eased the mood a bit, but didn't clear up the doubts. Diego Monroig, a reporter for ESPN, offered more context: he said Arruabarrena tried to play down the drama around the incident, though there is still no certainty about how serious the injury really is.

What the Vasco did was lower the alarm on how serious Paredes's injury is. He didn't say 'there's nothing wrong,' he acknowledged they're going to run tests and then they'll see if he can travel. But what he made clear, from talking to Paredes, is that it's nothing serious.Diego Monroig

Monroig himself was cautious about the timeline: something that looks minor today could end up ruling Paredes out of the next match if the test results aren't entirely clean. And that's the key issue: with Boca's schedule as packed as it is, there's no room to gamble with a player of that importance.

Pellegrino and Lozano, the other doubts

Marco Pellegrino also left the field at halftime, after feeling discomfort near the end of the first half. The initial read points to a muscle injury, though the severity still needs to be confirmed. Emiliano Raddi, during the SportsCenter broadcast, explained it this way: "Pellegrino's issue has to do with a muscle injury, the severity will be confirmed later." Arruabarrena, for his part, preferred to call it an overload and asked for patience: "Marco... we have to see the test results. In principle, he's had an overload. We'll see over the next few days and through the week."

The third name on the list is Leandro Lozano, who came off in the 70th minute and made way for Dylan Gorosito. The coach also played down the alarm with the fullback: "Same thing with Lozano. Lea felt some discomfort, but I don't think it's anything major." Raddi, however, was less optimistic and drew a parallel with Pellegrino's case, not expecting him to be available for next Tuesday.

Behind all of this lies a problem Boca has been dragging along for a while now: a string of matches every three or four days that leaves no time for players to properly recover. Arruabarrena himself admitted as much without hesitation: "That's just how it is: we play every three or four days and, like I said before, I put out what I believe is my best lineup. And if guys go down, someone else who's hungry for it will step in. That's how you get through these situations."

With the medical tests still pending, the coaching staff will need to decide in the coming hours who is fit to travel for the match against Recoleta. The biggest question mark remains Paredes, a player who's tough to replace in midfield, though Pellegrino and Lozano shouldn't be overlooked either, since their absences would also force Arruabarrena to shuffle the bench.