Saturday's night will have Boca Juniors taking on Miguel Angel Russo's Racing on a clash of giant that will leave only one of them with chances to join the top fight.
Both Boca Juniors and Racing Club have been trying to recover their footbalistic level during the last years, but something went wrong and both teams have been forbidden from even showing their worth within America's best. Two experienced coaches with strong squads will fight for a match that involves much more than three points, who would succeed?Inner force
La Bombonera will be crowded with over sixty thousand voices ready to shout for their team's glory when Claudio Borghi leads Boca Juniors towards its first victory home in the Apertura. Boca's coach is a known Racing sympathizer, but for this Saturday match he'll probably leave his love aside and go for the full scoring without hesitating.
Juan Roman Riquelme finally signed with the Xeneizes after a controversial negotiation which forced many of Boca's directives to resign. Boca's play maker won't yet be able to perform, still experiencing some problems in his right knee, but Borghi had already found an ace up his sleeve with Sebastian Battaglia. Clemente Rodriguez will play a decisive role to sharpen Borghi's offense, as former Estudiantes' winger returned from South Africa with renewed energy, relegating Matias Gimenez to the bench after a week debut.
Sidelined for the first match due to disciplinary problems, Pablo Mouche might be joining Martin Palermo and Lucas Viatri in the last meters, turning Boca's offensive machine into a deadly machine. A fully renewed back line (With Matias Caruzzo, Juan Insaurralde and Christian Cellay) and Christian Luchetti between the posts assure Boca Juniors must be taken seriously. Will the Xeneizes be able to offer team's followers three points after this week's Derby?The power to believe
Miguel Angel Russo is aware his rival will be looking forward to overwhelm the bands thanks to the speed of their wingers to keep Racing's defense busy, but for this very reason Racing's coach has been working heavily during the week to assure his players will remain focused on such challenging match. Giovanni Moreno has finally joined the squad, and with the young Colombian Racing will probably have the creativity lead over his rival, though it is yet to know whether they'll be able to turn this advantage into a real difference.
Pablo Luguercio's versatility in the offense will be decisive, for he becomes the ideal partner for Claudio Bieler. With Moreno leading the offense Racing might have the weapons needed to pierce Boca's defense, as the Academia can also pose a threat through the air with the experience of its defenders in the opposite area.
Thanks to the article 225 of Argentina's Football Federation, Racing's captain Claudio Yacob will be able to perform, even though he received a red card on last week's match; Franco Zuculini's injury playing for Argentina's U-20 National Football Team allows Racing to make up for his lost by taking Yacob on its trip to La Bombonera.In the Clausura Racing bag the victory 2 to 1. Boca Juniors has a big advantage over the Academicos when playing home (almost 50% efficiency), winning 73 matches of the 153 played between the teams. Racing's last victory broke the cycle of seven matches against Boca without a victory for the Racinguistas, will Miguel Angel Russo be able to maintain the momentum and sink Boca deeper on the positions table?
