Sebastián Battaglia

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 San Miguel.

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.

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

Club career

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.