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Sebastián Battaglia

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Sebastián Battaglia
Battaglia in 2015
Personal information
Full name Sebastián Alejandro Battaglia
Date of birth (1980-11-08) 8 November 1980 (age 44)
Place of birth Santa Fe, Argentina
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Youth career
–1998 Boca Juniors
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2003 Boca Juniors 102 (9)
2004–2005 Villarreal 29 (1)
2005–2013 Boca Juniors 122 (9)
Total 252 (19)
International career
2003–2009 Argentina 10 (0)
Managerial career
2018 Almagro
2018 Banfield (assistant)
2020–2021 Boca Juniors II
2021–2022 Boca Juniors
2023 Huracán
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Sebastián Alejandro Battaglia (born 8 November 1980) is an Argentine football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He was recently the manager of Huracán.

He spent most of his career with Primera División Argentina club Boca Juniors, but also had a brief spell with Spanish side Villarreal. At international level, he made 10 appearances for the Argentina national team between 2003 and 2009. Battaglia has been described in his club profile as displaying good positioning, being a ball-winner and possessing good aerial ability.[1]

Battaglia is the most decorated player in Boca Juniors' history, having won 17 titles with the club between 1998 and 2012.[2][3] His last championship playing for Boca was the 2011–12 Copa Argentina.

Club career

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Even though he was born in Santa Fe Province, Sebastián began his career with the Boca Juniors' reserve team. He made his professional debut on 31 May 1998, and quickly became an important player for Boca Juniors. He played for five years at the club, when in the middle of the 2003–04 season, Villarreal CF of La Liga bought 50% of his contract for €2.8 million and acquired his services. Villarreal was considered an excellent destination for Battaglia as there were already plenty of former Boca players such as Martín Palermo, Juan Román Riquelme, Diego Cagna, Rodolfo Arruabarrena and Fabricio Coloccini at the club.

Battaglia played only a season and a half at Villarreal, and never displayed the form that had made him such a hot property in Argentina. His family also had trouble adjusting to their new life in Spain. After an injury stopped him playing for almost six months, he decided to return with his family to Argentina. In July 2005, after some prolonged negotiations between Boca Juniors and Villarreal, he got his wish.

Back at Boca Juniors he recaptured his old form and started to improve his game, becoming club captain and being called up to the Argentina national team in the World Cup Qualifiers match against Peru on 8 October 2005. He was also a starter in the friendly match against Qatar in November of the same year.

During the 'Torneo de Verano' of 2008, Battaglia scored in the Superclásico against arch rivals River Plate, in a game where which Boca Juniors won 2–0. On 4 May 2008, in the 'Torneo Clausura' Battaglia would again score against River Plate, by heading in a goal from a corner which won Boca the game at 1–0.

On 11 December 2011, Battaglia entered the pitch as a substitute to play the last minutes of the final match of the 2011 Apertura (that Boca Juniors had already won two matches earlier), therefore being part of the title-winning squad. Thus, he became the most successful player in Boca Juniors history, with 18 trophies.

Coaching and later career

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On 20 March 2018, Battaglia was appointed manager of Primera Nacional club Club Almagro, following the resignation of Alfredo Grelak.[4][5] This was his first ever experience as a coach. He made his debut against the Instituto on 21 March in a 0–0 draw. Failing to secure promotion on 11 May, Battaglia was fired.[6]

A week after being fired at Almagro, Battaglia was appointed assistant coach of Julio César Falcioni at Banfield.[7] The duo left the club at the end of 2018.

In the beginning of 2020, Battaglia was appointed manager of Boca Juniors' reserve team.[8][9] In July 2021, Battaglia was named as an interim replacement for Boca Juniors manager Miguel Ángel Russo, who was in isolation together with the majority of the first team squad, after a defeat to Atletico Mineiro after a player had been tested positive. He was in charge for two games.[10]

On 17 August 2021, Battaglia was named interim manager of Boca until December, after Russo left.[11]

Career statistics

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International

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Battaglia with the Chief of Government of Buenos Aires and former Boca Juniors president, Mauricio Macri (left) in 2012.

[12]

Argentina national team
Year Apps Goals
2003 3 0
2004 0 0
2005 3 0
2006 0 0
2007 0 0
2008 2 0
2009 2 0
Total 10 0

Managerial statistics

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As of match played 28 June 2023
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Almagro Argentina 21 March 2018 11 May 2018 7 3 2 2 8 6 +2 042.86
Boca Juniors 24 July 2021 27 July 2021 2 0 1 1 0 2 −2 000.00
17 August 2021 6 July 2022 55 29 16 10 79 42 +37 052.73
Huracán 9 May 2023 28 June 2023 9 0 4 5 3 10 −7 000.00
Total 73 32 23 18 90 60 +30 043.84

Honours

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Player

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Boca Juniors
Villarreal

Manager

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Boca Juniors

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sebastián Battaglia.
  1. ^ "Player Profile". Boca Juniors. Archived from the original on 22 April 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  2. ^ "Se retiró Battaglia, el jugador más ganador de la historia de Boca", Infobae, 4 April 2013
  3. ^ "Battaglia, el más ganador en la historia de Boca, anunció su retiro", La Razón, 4 April 2013
  4. ^ SEBASTIAN BATTAGLIA NUEVO ENTRENADOR TRICOLOR, 20 March 2018
  5. ^ Sebastián Battaglia es el nuevo DT de Almagro, telam.com.ar, 20 March 2021
  6. ^ Battaglia se fue de Almagro, tycsports.com, 11 May 2018
  7. ^ Sebastián Battaglia se suma al cuerpo técnico de Julio César Falcioni en Banfield, infobae.com, 23 May 2018
  8. ^ Con Battaglia a la cabeza, la reserva comenzó la pretemporada, lanumero12.com.ar, 3 January 2020
  9. ^ Suma y sigue, bocajuniors.com.ar, 10 February 2020
  10. ^ Cómo es Sebastián Battaglia como DT, minutouno.com, 23 July 2021
  11. ^ "Battaglia, el encargado de comandar a Boca en el futuro inmediato" [Battaglia, the one in charge of Boca in the immediate future] (in Spanish). TyC Sports. 17 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  12. ^ Sebastián Battaglia at National-Football-Teams.com
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