Boca Without Stars For Tachira Test

Boca Juniors will be without a number of their star players for the Copa Libertadores Group 2 encounter with Deportivo Tachira on Wednesday...

Boca Juniors travelled to Venezuela for their Copa Libertadores clash with Deportivo Tachira without four of their key players.

Carlos Ischia decided to give a rest to Claudio Morel Rodriguez and Hugo Ibarra, while Rodrigo Palacio and Martin Palermo are out injured.

These absences have given Ischia plenty of problems when selecting his team, and he has yet to announce his starting XI for the match.

"Both the Libertadores and the local championship are our priorities, but we want to preserve the players who are injured like Palermo, and that is why we have a complete team to face Tachira," said Ischia.

Without both Palermo and Palacio, Ischia has decided to go for Lucas Viatri and either Ricardo Noir or Luciano Figueroa in his attack.

Boca returned to winning ways on the weekend, with a 3-1 victory over Huracan, and Palermo got on the scoresheet.

Meanwhile, in other team news Facundo Roncaglia will occupy Hugo Ibarra's position in defense, while defensive midfielder Sebastian Battaglia will return to the side after completing a suspension.

This will be Ischia's second Venezuelan expedition with Boca. Last year his team debuted in the Copa Libertadores with a 1-1 draw with Union Maracaibo.