Lozano and Blanco, the two fullbacks pushing Boca to the brink of Sudamericana glory

There's a snapshot that keeps repeating itself at Boca whenever the team is fighting for something big: two fullbacks sprinting the length of the field, whipping in crosses, popping up in the opposing box and, if needed, racing back to cover their own. This time that snapshot has a name, actually two: Leandro Lozano and Lautaro Blanco. And it's arriving right on cue, with the Xeneize set to play the 2026 CONMEBOL Sudamericana final against Atletico Mineiro.

Start with the Uruguayan. Lozano arrived in June of this year after a solid run with Argentinos Juniors and, surprising as it sounds, barely needed any time to make the right back spot his own. He's 27 and before crossing over to Argentina he came up in Uruguay, passing through Boston River and Nacional, where he won five titles. That path gave him something that can't be faked: experience and consistency, exactly what Boca had been missing at that position in recent transfer windows. The club paid 3.5 million dollars for him and he signed through December 2030.

He showed his best calling card in Brazil. In the 1-1 draw against Sao Paulo, at the Morumbis, he popped up in the rival box to score the goal that ended up putting Boca's spot in the Sudamericana semifinals in order. It wasn't luck or an isolated flash: in just a few months he went from being "the new signing" to a player nobody questions anymore.

Blanco, with the national team in his sights

On the other side of the field is Blanco, who arrived in January 2024 and won over the fans through sheer dribbling and service into the box. He came up through Rosario Central, where he made his first-team debut and played 96 matches, had a stint at Elche in Spain and returned to Argentine soccer to put on the Boca shirt. His level has put him back on Lionel Scaloni's radar for the Argentina national team, no small thing for a fullback at a domestic club.

The numbers back him up pretty well: he's racked up 23 assists in his two and a half years at Boca, 11 of them so far in 2026. Beyond his trademark overlapping runs down the flank, he's added new wrinkles to surprise defenses by cutting inside and linking up with the forwards. Then there's his consistency, a stat that sometimes flies under the radar: since Arruabarrena's return to the bench, he's played in all 23 of Boca's matches and started 22 of them.

Is it a coincidence that Boca is once again fighting hard on the international stage right when it has two fullbacks of this caliber? The club's history says no. From Vicente Pernia and Silvio Marzolini to Hugo Ibarra and Clemente Rodriguez, and including Arruabarrena himself back in the Carlos Bianchi era, Boca's great international sides have always had fullbacks capable of defending, attacking and showing up on the big nights. Now those names are Blanco and Lozano.

The date is Saturday, November 21, at 7:30 p.m. in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay (5:30 p.m. in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru; 4:30 p.m. in Mexico), at the Metropolitano in Barranquilla, airing on Disney+'s premium tier.