It was Boca Juniors who took the bragging rights against River Plate on Sunday’s Superclásico, with a 1-0 win thanks to a penalty by Qatar 2022-winner Leandro Paredes.

At a packed Monumental stadium and with both teams arriving on a high note, with unbeaten streaks of their own, expectations were high for either club.

River took control of the ball from the get-go, looking to impose its style on a Xeneize side that sought to exploit gaps in the rival defense, but it was Boca who scored first through a Leandro Paredes penalty.

It proved to be an important win for Boca, who achieved its first triumph at the Monumental since March 2022. The result also sees the Xeneize in third place in Group A of the 2026 Torneo Apertura. 

For River, it was the first defeat since the 1-0 loss to Vélez Sarsfield that precipitated the resignation of legendary coach Marcelo Gallardo, and the first since new coach Eduardo Coudet took over. The Millonario remains in second placed in Group B, losing ground to leader Independiente Rivadavia. 

Here are our main takeaways from Sunday’s game.

Paredes gets his first truly iconic moment

Leandro Paredes’ return to Boca Juniors in July 2025 was met with anticipation. 

At 31 years old, Paredes was not only returning from Europe at the height of his powers, but also taking up the Boca flag — the club where he rose through the academy and is a self-confessed fan of — at a time when the club was struggling. 

However, so far, he had seemed unable to steer Boca out of troubled waters and away from inconsistency.

It all changed on Sunday. In the dying moments of the first half, Paredes took the game over and broke the deadlock. 

From midfield, he placed a surgical pass to striker Miguel Merentiel, setting him up one-on-one with the goalkeeper and resulting in a penalty for the Xeneize.

Not only did Paredes himself take the penalty, scoring without hesitation, but he celebrated by kissing the Boca badge and hitting the River fans with a Riquelme-esque “Topo Gigio” celebration, cupping his hands near his ears so as to better listen to the barrage of insults.

It proved to be an iconic image, one that both Paredes and Boca needed going forward.

“The celebration wasn’t planned or anything, it just came to me like that,” he said after the match. “The important thing was to win; we came here to win. I’m proud of this group, which is becoming a team of grown men, a team that plays well and knows how to dig deep.”

‘Chiqui’ Tapia faces River fans’ wrath

With River trying anything to avoid defeat in the last minutes, the match’s biggest controversy came in the 93rd minute.

As the ball flew into the Xeneize’s 18-yard box, Boca defender Lautaro Blanco pushed River’s Lucas Martínez Quarta to keep him from fighting for what could’ve easily been a key ball.

The entire Monumental roared for a penalty to be given, and a key chance to avoid defeat at the 11th hour. However, referee Darío Herrera — one of three Argentine judges summoned by FIFA to the 2026 World Cup — denied the penalty.

The call didn’t sit well with the fans, who chose to target not Herrera, but Argentine Football Association president Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia with their chants.

“‘Chiqui’ Tapia botón, “‘Chiqui’ Tapia botón” was the chant sung by the fans after it became clear it would not be a penalty. Botón — Spanish for button — is slang for a snitch.

Why aim at Tapia? Well, because referee Héctor Paletta, who was at the VAR seat and should’ve called Herrera to have him review the action, is one of Tapia’s closest men within the college of referees.

The win proved a key one for Boca head coach Claudio “Sifón” Úbeda. The 56-year-old coach arrived at Boca with Miguel Ángel Russo and was kept on the job after the iconic boss’s death in October 2025, following a run of good results.

A loss to Racing in the 2025 Torneo Clausura semifinals hung a semi-permanent sword of Damocles over his head, with it looking like it could drop at any minute when Boca started 2026 with just three wins in its first 10 league games.

However, the Xeneize is now undefeated in its last 10, and sits at the top of its Copa Libertadores group with two wins.

Victory against River could prove the peace of mind Úbeda has been lacking for the better part of a year now.

“The guys deserved a match like this,” he said after the game. “We deserved the win. Maybe we could’ve gotten one or two more goals, but we couldn’t finish our chances because of the pitch. It’s not an excuse, though; it was the same for both teams.”

© Buenos Aires Herald