Boca Juniors tie descends into chaos with 22-man brawl after star kicked in face

Boca Juniors' Copa Libertadores match against Always Ready descended into a brawl after defender Frank Fabra was kicked in the head by Rodrigo Ramallo.

Ramallo was shown a straight red card for the offence, with the Bolivian international forward lashing out at Fabra as the Colombian lay on the ground. However, before referee Gustavo Tejera could get the card out of his pocket, players and substitutes got involved as tempers boiled over.

Boca led 1-0 at the time in the group game, having lost to Deportivo Cali in their home opener, as they attempt to improve on their last-16 run from the 2021 tournament. Dario Benedetto, who scored the opener, eventually made the victory safe in second half stoppage time.

After Fabra was fouled by Ramallo, the defender reached out to grab the ball while prone on the ground. However, as he did so, his opponent took a swing and ended up catching the 31-year-old in the head.

Ramallo was shoved to the ground by a Boca player, before getting to his feet and attempting to make his case to the referee. While this was going on, however, the brawl began at the side of the pitch and enveloped substitutes warming up on the touchline.

As things kicked off, visiting goalkeeper Pipo Gimenez ran half the length of the pitch to get involved. Eventually the referee was able to dole out several cards - a straight red for Ramallo, and yellows for Benedetto, Gaston Avila and Juan Carlos Arce for their part in what followed.

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The victory brings Boca level on points with Always Ready, who beat Corinthians 2-0 in their home opener. Corinthians and Deportivo Cali are due to meet on Wednesday night.

"Today we scored two goals and we won, which was the objective," manager Sebastian Battaglia said after the game. "When a team closes it is difficult to get into it. We have to get finer in some things and improve movements that we have been working on."

Benedetto, meanwhile, pledged to take things one game at a time. The Buenos Aires club have three league games coming up before their next continental tie against Corinthians on April 27.

"It was a win we were waiting for, here at home, we played a good game," the former Marseille striker said. "Now we have to continue like this, first think about the game this weekend and then about Brazil."

The first of the three league matches will see Boca take on Lanus at the Bombanera on Sunday. Battaglia's team currently sit third in the top-flight after eight games, while their opponents are bottom of the pile with just one win to their name.