Boca Juniors named 23 convocados for Sunday’s 19:30 match against Deportivo Riestra and left Leandro Paredes out of the squad, while 20-year-old Facundo Jagger Herrera was called up for the first time. The decision reshapes the opening of the Torneo Clausura 2026 list and gives a first senior chance to a player who had not yet debuted in Primera.
The match was set for the Estadio Guillermo Laza to close the first date of the Torneo Clausura 2026, which is why the squad list drew so much attention on Sunday. For Boca Juniors, it was not just about filling a bench. It was about deciding how to manage a key name after a heavy week and whether to open a door for a youth player at the same time.
Paredes had played 90 minutes on Thursday in the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana playoffs against O’Higgins, and on Friday he did not train with the group. Even so, he said he was available to help the club against Deportivo Riestra and left the final call to Rodolfo Arruabarrena. The coach, though, chose to rest him after the effort, and the omission was framed as protection rather than punishment.
Arruabarrena backed that call by stressing how much Paredes had given the group and how exhausted he finished. That matters because the player himself said he wanted to play, felt he could help, and only later accepted the possibility of taking two days off. The gap between willingness and selection is the real story here: Boca Juniors had a senior player ready, but the staff preferred to look past Sunday and preserve him for the next step.
That next step comes quickly. Paredes is expected back in consideration the following week for the trip to Rancagua, where Boca Juniors will play on Thursday at 21:30 Argentina time. Herrera, meanwhile, gets his opening in the senior environment after becoming known for the penalty that won the Reserve title at the end of 2025. For a squad list released on the eve of a league match, it was a small change on paper and a significant one for the player who finally got his first call.
