Alianza Lima defeats Boca Juniors in the Copa Libertadores 59 years later

The last time Alianza Lima had left La Bombonera victorious, the stadium that Romario says is the closest thing to hell, had been 59 years ago. Boca Juniors still had no Copa Libertadores on display, Argentina was unaware of what it was like to be delirious after winning a World Cup and Maradona was about to start primary school. On March 10, 1966, a juggler named Víctor Pitín Zegarra silenced the temple of the legendary La Boca neighborhood with a black-and-white goal that is not available on YouTube.

On the night of February 25, 2025, Alianza Lima tasted for the second time the syrup of leaving unscathed and triumphant. They lost 2-1 in the match, but won in a perfect penalty shootout, becoming the first Peruvian team to eliminate Boca Juniors in a Libertadores instance. The result is historic because the team located in the Lima district of La Victoria suffers from a paradox: it is giant in its country and tiny on the continent. It owns the majority of negative records in the most competitive club tournament in South America.

“If Boca is eliminated from the Libertadores by Alianza Lima, I will never make a fuss again in my life,” said Davoo Xeneize, an Argentine streamer, who now has to prove whether he has a word. La Cobra, another Internet opinion-maker, broke down during his broadcast when Alan Velasco missed the decisive penalty against Bolivian Viscarra. Minutes later, in a display of elegance, he wrote on X: “Without words, go fuck yourselves.” On cable television, Argentine commentators and commentators, who for decades have taken possession of the “truths” of football, put their professionalism to the test. Some were unable to shout out Hernán Barcos’ header. From the box, Juan Román Riquelme, the idol who got drunk on power, was paralyzed and empty: he had left his mate on the side.

In recent times, Alianza Lima has lived with dignity and dishonor. It was on the verge of being relegated to the Second Division in 2020, but it re-emerged and was the undisputed two-time champion of Peruvian football in the following two years. In 2023, it lost a final to its archrival, Universitario de Deportes, and in a pathetic act, it turned off the lights in its stadium to spoil their party. But at the same time, in that same year it broke the curse of adding thirty games without knowing victory in the Copa Libertadores by defeating Libertad of Paraguay in Asunción. In 2025, it cut the worst streak of consecutive games without winning for a team at home in said tournament (twenty-one games) by beating another Paraguayan club, Nacional. And yesterday it eliminated Boca Juniors, with its six Copa Libertadores behind it. Everything has happened in this unforgettable February, highlighted from now on in the calendar.

In a football epic, the humility of the weak is celebrated and the powerful are accused of arrogance. And although there is a lot of that, they are roles that are interspersed in an endless movie. On more than one occasion, Alianza Lima has behaved like Boca Juniors in the local tournament. It is a lesson that is easily unlearned. Crossing the line of success is more tempting than maintaining modesty. The white and blues will have to remember this when they face Deportes Iquique of Chile in the next round for a place in the group stage.

“Nobody believed in us. We have earned respect from Peru and Alianza Lima. And I say Peru, because Alianza Lima is Peru,” said Argentine Hernán Barcos, the 40-year-old, half-bald forward who was moved to tears in his fight to change the reputation of the white and blues on the continent. The match against Boca Juniors, moreover, was proof of the passage of time. The goal that Edinson Cavani, the second top scorer of the Uruguayan national team, missed out of sheer clumsiness in the six-yard box, three metres from the goal. The inaccuracy of Bilbao native Ander Herrera, who until a few years ago assisted Messi and Mbappé at Paris Saint Germain. The other side of the coin is the Alianza duo who are both 81 years old: Barcos and Paolo Guerrero, the historic number 9 of the Peruvian national team who killed the young Brey from the twelve steps.

On the bench, the battle was won by a provocateur: Néstor Pipo Gorosito, a crack identified with River Plate, who with his statements, his mischievous smile and his curls of a cumbia singer destabilized the 'bostera' fans. "It's all Biri Biri on the field," he said recently about La Bombonera, that three-story stadium that resembles a human avalanche. Up front, Fernando Gago looked like a novice coach, confused among his tactical manuals, who never knew how to drive a luxury car.

While Boca Juniors fans will continue to wonder why their goalkeeper Marchesín asked to be substituted at the last minute to avoid a penalty shootout, the Alianza fans, given over to ecstasy, have earned the right to be respected. It will be on the conscience of their rivals if they lower the price of this leap of dignity. Close to turning 85, Víctor 'Pitín' Zegarra, the scorer of the goal in 1966, enjoyed the victory from the stands. The cabal worked, as did the prayers to the Lord of Miracles. There is always a second time. The team that turned off the light, has just turned it on.