Argentinos Juniors faced Barcelona SC Guayaquil in the first leg of the CONMEBOL Libertadores qualification. The match was played at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on February 26, 2026 at 0:30 UTC. The final result was 1-1 in regular time and 4-5 in penalties. Jhonny Quiñónez scored the goal for Barcelona SC Guayaquil in the 66th minute, while A. Lescano equalized for Argentinos Juniors in the 90+1 minute. In the penalty shootout, M. Celiz scored the decisive goal for Barcelona SC Guayaquil.