Boca Juniors and Racing Club tied 0-0 in a tense first first leg of their Copa Libertadores quarterfinals. Despite a few good opportunities, neither side was able to score  and the series remains wide open for next Wednesday’s second leg.

Boca will undoubtedly come out more disappointed from the result. The team coached by Jorge Almirón looked more dangerous for most of the match, but was unable to break down the Racing defense. 

The Xeneizes’ best chances came early on, as in the third minute Cavani scored from a corner kick by promising youngster Valentín Barco. However, it was disallowed by Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio because the ball had been put in place by a Boca ball-boy.

Just six minutes later, another precise cross from the 19-year-old Barco was met once again by Cavani, but Racing goalkeeper Gabriel Arias stopped it with a great save.

In the second half, Racing improved but was still unable to gain the upper hand. Its best opportunity of the match came in the final moments, as after a great pass from midfielder Jonathan Gomez striker Maximiliano Romero found himself one on one with Boca goalkeeper Sergio Romero. However, his header wasn’t powerful enough and was easily saved.

“Today we couldn’t win despite matching them man to man throughout the game. However,  we had the clearest chances and we dominated in most of the match,” said Almirón told press after the match. Boca captain Marcos Rojo agreed. “We played a great game, dominated most of it and they almost had no chances,” said to ESPN the 33-year-old defender.

The worst news for the Boca coach will undoubtedly be the potential injury to Barco, who received a harsh tackle by Racing’s Tobías Rubio and had to come off early in the second half.

Racing Club coach Fernando Gago was only marginally happier, as his team came out with a useful result but was second-best throughout the game. “We can say [the result] was good, but also bad because we wanted to win. We are playing at home next up and we’ll want to use that advantage,” he said.

The second leg will be played on Wednesday, August 30 in Racing’s Estadio Presidente Perón, in Avellaneda, at 9:30 p.m. Argentina time. The winner of this series will go through to the semifinals, where it will most likely face Brazilian team Palmeiras, who beat Colombia’s Deportivo Pereira 4-0 away in the other quarterfinals.

Before that, Boca will visit Sarmiento on Sunday August 27 at 5:00 p.m. while Racing will host Tigre on Saturday 26 at 7:30 p.m., both games for Argentina’s Copa de la Liga Profesional.