Battle and a stick to the Football Council for the lack of reinforcements: “There are issues that have not been resolved”

A month and a half ago, with the consecration of Boca in the League Cup, the roughness between Sebastián Battaglia and the football council led by Juan Román Riquelme seemed to have smoothed out. But the truth is that, after a forgettable night in which Xeneize was eliminated from the Copa Libertadores against Corinthians, the DT did some self-criticism but also chose to raise another conflict against the management.

And it is that a few minutes after the game, and with the elimination of his team already consumed, Battaglia addressed the microphones at a press conference. The TD of the La Ribera club complained of wasted opportunities while he joked with a very sensitive issue: the departure of some players and the absence of reinforcements.

“There were problems that needed to be solved and they haven’t been solved, We should have been more aggressive on the transfer market and important players would have leftBattaglia launched, in what was quickly read as a stick for the Football Council. With regard to these important players that he mentions, the coach refers to Cristian Pavón and Eduardo Salvio, who in recent days have left the club on free leave.

Furthermore, regarding the painful and surprising defeat on penalties, he declared: “It is a defeat that hurts, one of the most important goals is always the Cup and the idea was to go as far as possible. Today we remain on the road, but this continues. It’s football and these situations can happen ”.

The club deserves to respond day by day and be present in all the competitions that await us. You have to look forward and move forward. What happened now has passed, it will hurt for logical reasons, but we have to move on. They will remember that Boca was excluded. A little inside of me I have the satisfaction of the fatigue and the game that the boys have played. I’m proud, but Boca has been excluded “, she stressed.

a strained relationship

The link between Battaglia and Riquelme was forged in the most successful cycle in the history of Boca, one consecrated as the one that celebrated the most titles and the other on its pedestal as the institution’s idol par excellence. However, the relationship between DT and manager was tied to the results and football performance of the teams Seba planted.

Until recently, when Boca was struggling with the Libertadores group stage, there was talk of a management that disavowed the DT even in front of its players, a situation that experienced its most critical point with the controversy of Agustín Almendra . The youth teams were disaffected by the coach while Roman and his teammates made an effort to clarify that he was a boy from the club.

That bad weather was also discovered at the end of last year, when Riquelme, after a defeat against Gimnasia at the Bombonera, let the players out of the microphone to have a chat in the locker room. As happened with the League Cup, that night of sparks was covered by the subsequent victory in the Argentine Cup, on penalties against Talleres.

Now, outside the Libertadores, the one who was quick to move and clarify his position was Battaglia.

To close with his word after this painful elimination, the TD concluded: “They deserved the victory against an important rivalI only have words of thanks to the players ”.