at the Mineirão Stadium, in Belo Horizonte, for the third round of the group stage of the Libertadores da América 2026.
The only goal of the match was scored by Néiser Villarreal, in the 37th minute of the second half, in a move constructed with precision by Raposa. Matheus Pereira passed the ball deep to Kaio Jorge inside the penalty area, the attacker escaped through the Argentine defensive line and played it into the middle, leaving Villarreal free to push it into the back of the net and open the scoring at Mineirão.
The first half was marked by tension and intense physical competition between the teams, with Uruguayan referee Esteban Ostojich distributing four yellow cards in the initial stage — two for each side.
The yellow ones were with Kaio Jorge and Fagner, for the Cruzeiro side, and Leandro Paredes and Adam Bareiro, for the Argentines.
The most decisive moment of the first half came in the 46th minute, when Adam Bareiro received a second yellow card after leaving his arm in Christian Roberto’s face, being sent off and leaving Boca Juniors with ten players for the remainder of the match.
With the numerical advantage since the end of the first half, Cruzeiro began to press more consistently in the second half, although they encountered organized resistance from the Argentine defense.
Before the goal, goalkeeper Leandro Brey was decisive when he made a difficult save from a shot by Kaio Jorge, who had dominated in speed and sent a cross towards the net.
In stoppage time, Néiser Villarreal still got in the goalkeeper’s face, but tried to dribble instead of finishing and missed the opportunity to increase the score. Boca Juniors, in turn, ended the match with five yellow cards and one red card, in addition to having recorded a greater number of fouls committed — 14 compared to the opponent’s 11.
Discipline was one of the negative points of Miguel Angel Russo’s team, who saw the match slip out of their hands also due to their behavior on the field.
With the result, Cruzeiro reached 6 points in Group D, equaling Boca Juniors, but taking second place in the group based on direct confrontation criteria, as they won the duel between the teams.
Boca Juniors, who reached the round in the lead with six points, fell to first place in the group table solely due to goal difference, with 5 scored and 2 conceded against 3 and 2 for the team from Minas Gerais.
Universidad Católica, with 3 points, and Barcelona de Guayaquil, still without a point, complete Group D of the continental competition.
