Boca Juniors begins preparations for Copa Libertadores final vs River

Boca Juniors, who defeated Tigre over the weekend at La Bombonera Stadium with a squad made up of reserves, returned to practice, preparing to take on rival River Plate in the Copa Libertadores final.

The two Argentine clubs will meet next weekend in the first leg of the series, vying to win South America's premier club tournament, reports Efe.

Boca Juniors rolled to a 4-1 win over Tigre with just one regular starter, goalkeeper Agustin Rossi, on the field.

The victory moved Boca Juniors into 6th place in the Superliga Argentina standings, with 18 points, putting the two-time defending champions eight points back of league leader Racing Club.

The majority of the players who took the field against Tigre on Saturday focused on recovering, working out at Boca's gym on Monday.

The rest of the squad followed the normal training routine and played a loose practice match.

Manager Guillermo Barros Schelotto is expected to use the same roster that tied Brazil's Palmeiras 2-2 in the second leg of the Copa Libertadores semifinals: Agustin Rossi; Leonardo Jara, Carlos Izquierdoz, Lisandro Magallan, Lucas Olaza; Nahitan Nandez, Wilmar Barrios, Pablo Perez; Cristian Pavon, Ramon Ábila and Sebastian Villa.

Fernando Gago, Dario Benedetto, Mauro Zarate and Carlos Tevez, who had a brace against Tigre, will try to show the manager that they deserve a spot in the starting lineup.

Boca Juniors and River Plate will play on Saturday at La Bombonera.

--IANS

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