Sebastián Alejandro Battaglia (born 8 November, 1980 in Santa Fe) is an Argentine football midfielder who currently plays with Argentine club Boca Juniors.

Even though he was born in the Santa Fe Province, Sebastián began his career with the Boca Juniors' reserve team. He made his professional debut on May 31, 1998, and quickly became an important player for Boca Juniors'. He played for 5 years at the club when, in the middle of the 2003/2004 seaons, Villarreal CF of Spain bought 50% of his contract for 2.8 million euros and acquired his services. Villarreal was considered an excellent destination for Battaglia as there were already plenty of former Boca players 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 Villareal, 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 6 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 squad to participate in the World Cup Qualifiers match against Peru on October 8, 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 May 4 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 23 December 2008 Battaglia was part of the team that won the Apertura 2008 championship, making him one of the most decorated Boca Juniors players in history with 16 professional titles.

[edit] Titles

Season	Club	Title
Clausura 1999	Boca Juniors	Primera División Argentina
2000	Boca Juniors	Copa Libertadores
Apertura 2000	Boca Juniors	Primera División Argentina
2000	Boca Juniors	Copa Intercontinental
2001	Boca Juniors	Copa Libertadores
Apertura 2003	Boca Juniors	Primera División Argentina
2003	Boca Juniors	Copa Libertadores
2003	Boca Juniors	Copa Intercontinental
2005	Boca Juniors	Copa Sudamericana
2005	Boca Juniors	Recopa Sudamericana
Apertura 2005	Boca Juniors	Primera División Argentina
Clausura 2006	Boca Juniors	Primera División Argentina
2006	Boca Juniors	Recopa Sudamericana
2007	Boca Juniors	Copa Libertadores
2008	Boca Juniors	Recopa Sudamericana
Apertura 2008	Boca Juniors	Primera División Argentina

[edit] External links

• (Spanish) Argentine Primera statistics
• Sebastián Battaglia at Football Lineups