# 1996–97 Club Atlético Boca Juniors season

The 1996–97 Club Atlético Boca Juniors season was the 67th consecutive Primera División season played by the senior squad.

## Summary

Macri reinforced the club with several players: Diego Latorre, Julio César Toresani, Néstor Lorenzo, Sandro Guzmán, Facundo Sava, Sebastián Rambert, Gabriel Cedrés, Diego Cagna, Mauricio Pineda, Hugo Guerra, Silvio Carrario, Fernando Cáceres and Christian Dollberg. Owing to health issues club star Diego Maradona took another retirement. Meanwhile, forward Claudio Paul Caniggia suffered his mother' suicide in Henderson and announced his own retirement for the next Apertura Tournament. Also, left winger Kily González, Juan Sebastián Verón were transferred out to Europe. 17-yr-old playmaker and future club legend Juan Román Riquelme made his debut in this Apertura tournament.
In Apertura Tournament, the squad was a total failure sinking down to the middle of the table far below of champions River Plate prompting Bilardo to be sacked during December.
In spite of rumors about Miguel Ángel Brindisi as new trainer, the club appointed Héctor Veira as new head coach and reinforced the squad with goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri (returned from a loan Rosario Central), midfielder Christian Traverso, Alfredo Berti and Pedro González. However, in Clausura the team just reached a miserable ninth spot despite Sergio "Manteca" Martinez scored 15 goals being the Clausura top striker. Finally, by July 13 Diego Maradona came back from his brief retirement and played against Racing for the joy of Boca fans.

## Special uniforms

Alternate kits worn only in 1997 Supercopa Libertadores
| Home | Away |

## Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | COL | Carlos Navarro Montoya |
| — | GK | ARG | Sandro Guzmán |
| — | DF | ARG | Nelson Vivas |
| — | DF | ARG | Julio César Toresani |
| — | DF | ARG | Fernando Cáceres |
| — | DF | ARG | Néstor Fabbri |
| — | DF | ARG | Mauricio Pineda |
| — | DF | ARG | Néstor Lorenzo |
| — | DF | ARG | Aníbal Matellán |
| — | DF | ARG | Christian Dollberg |
| — | DF | ARG | Walter Del Río |
| — | MF | ARG | Kily González |
| — | MF | ARG | Diego Maradona |
| — | MF | ARG | Diego Latorre |
| — | MF | ARG | Juan Román Riquelme |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ARG | José Basualdo |
| — | MF | ARG | Diego Cagna |
| — | MF | ARG | Roberto Pompei |
| — | MF | ARG | Ariel Rosada |
| — | MF | ARG | Raúl Peralta |
| — | MF | ARG | Pablo Trobbiani |
| — | FW | URU | Sergio Martínez |
| — | FW | ARG | Claudio Caniggia |
| — | FW | CMR | Alphonse Tchami |
| — | FW | URU | Gabriel Cedrés |
| — | FW | URU | Hugo Guerra |
| — | FW | ARG | Sebastián Rambert |
| — | FW | ARG | Facundo Sava |
| — | DF | ARG | Silvio Carrario |
| — | FW | ARG | Luis Darío Calvo |

### Transfers

Players in :
| Pos. | Name | From |
| MF | Diego Latorre | Racing Club |
| MF | Julio César Toresani | |
| DF | Néstor Lorenzo | |
| GK | Sandro Guzmán | |
| DF | Facundo Sava | |
| FW | Sebastián Rambert | Real Zaragoza |
| MF | Gabriel Cedrés | |
| MF | Diego Cagna | |
| DF | Hector Pineda | |
| MF | Hugo Guerra | |
| MF | Silvio Carrario | |
| DF | Fernando Cáceres | |
| MF | Christian Dollberg | |
Players out :
| Pos. | Name | To |
| DF | Carlos Mac Allister | |
| DF | Fabián Carrizo | |
| FW | Darío Scotto | Rosario Central |
| MF | Juan Sebastián Verón | Sampdoria |
| MF | Kily González | Real Zaragoza |

#### January

Players in :
| Pos. | Name | From |
| GK | Roberto Abbondanzieri | Rosario Central |
| MF | Christian Traverso | |
Players out :
| Pos. | Name | To |
| GK | Carlos Navarro Montoya | Extremadura UD |
| MF | José Basualdo | Extremadura UD |

## Competitions
### Torneo Apertura
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 8 | Colón | 19 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 26 | 24 | +2 | 26 |
| 9 | Newell's Old Boys | 19 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 24 | 26 | −2 | 26 |
| 10 | Boca Juniors | 19 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 36 | 33 | +3 | 25 |
| 11 | Estudiantes (LP) | 19 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 27 | 28 | −1 | 25 |
| 12 | Gimnasia y Esgrima (J) | 19 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 18 | 19 | −1 | 25 |
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | River Plate | 19 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 37 | 20 | +17 | 41 |
| 2 | Colón | 19 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 36 | 28 | +8 | 35 |
| 3 | Newell's Old Boys | 19 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 23 | 20 | +3 | 35 |
| 4 | Independiente | 19 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 38 | 21 | +17 | 32 |
| 5 | Vélez Sársfield | 19 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 25 | 18 | +7 | 30 |
| 6 | San Lorenzo | 19 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 32 | 22 | +10 | 30 |
| 7 | Racing | 19 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 24 | 22 | +2 | 27 |
| 8 | Platense | 19 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 21 | 22 | −1 | 26 |
| 9 | Boca Juniors | 19 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 34 | 32 | +2 | 25 |
| 10 | Ferro Carril Oeste | 19 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 24 | 22 | +2 | 24 |
| 11 | Lanús | 19 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 22 | 21 | +1 | 24 |
| 12 | Unión | 19 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 31 | 36 | −5 | 24 |
| 13 | Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) | 19 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 19 | 25 | −6 | 23 |
| 14 | Huracán | 19 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 22 | 33 | −11 | 22 |
| 15 | Huracán (C) | 19 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 21 | 28 | −7 | 21 |
| 16 | Estudiantes (LP) | 19 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 22 | 26 | −4 | 19 |
| 17 | Deportivo Español | 19 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 19 | 25 | −6 | 19 |
| 18 | Rosario Central | 19 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 24 | 27 | −3 | 18 |
| 19 | Banfield | 19 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 20 | 32 | −12 | 16 |
| 20 | Gimnasia y Esgrima (J) | 19 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 21 | 35 | −14 | 14 |

#### Position by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H |
| Result | W | L | L | D | L | W | L | W | D | L | D | W | L | W | D | L | W | L | L |

#### Matches
### Torneo Clausura
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 7 | Racing | 19 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 24 | 22 | +2 | 27 |
| 8 | Platense | 19 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 21 | 22 | −1 | 26 |
| 9 | Boca Juniors | 19 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 34 | 32 | +2 | 25 |
| 10 | Ferro Carril Oeste | 19 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 24 | 22 | +2 | 24 |
| 11 | Lanús | 19 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 22 | 21 | +1 | 24 |

#### Position by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | L | D | D | W | D | D | D | L | L | W | D | W | D | L | W | L | W | D |
| Position | 3 | 8 | 9 | 15 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 9 |

#### Matches
## Statistics
### Players statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Apertura 96 | Apertura 96 | Clausura 97 | Clausura 97 |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | ARG | Carlos Fernando Navarro Montoya | 13 | 0 | 13 | 0 | - | - |
| | | ARG | Nelson Vivas | 27 | 1 | 16 | 1 | 11 | 0 |
| | DF | ARG | Néstor Fabbri | 29 | 4 | 16 | 2 | 13 | 2 |
| | MF | ARG | Kily González | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - |
| | FW | URU | Sergio Daniel Martinez | 17 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 15 |
| | FW | ARG | Claudio Paul Caniggia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | ARG | Diego Maradona | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | | ARG | Raul Alejandro Peralta | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| | MF | CMR | Alphonse Marie Tchami | 12 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| | | ARG | Luis Darío Calvo | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | MF | ARG | José Horacio Basualdo | 9 | 1 | 9 | 1 | - | - |
| | MF | ARG | Walter José Del Río | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | ARG | Sebastián Rambert | 27 | 10 | 18 | 5 | 9 | 5 |
| | MF | ARG | Diego Latorre | 35 | 9 | 19 | 4 | 16 | 5 |
| | DF | ARG | Roberto Pompei | 30 | 3 | 18 | 3 | 12 | 0 |
| | DF | ARG | Julio César Toresani | 31 | 7 | 16 | 5 | 15 | 2 |
| | DF | ARG | Fernando Cáceres | 15 | 1 | 15 | 1 | - | - |
| | MF | ARG | Diego Cagna | 29 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 14 | 0 |
| | MF | URU | Gabriel Cedrés | 28 | 8 | 13 | 6 | 15 | 2 |
| | MF | URU | Hugo Romeo Guerra | 12 | 5 | 12 | 5 |
| | DF | ARG | Cristian Dollberg | 12 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| | DF | ARG | Héctor Pineda | 17 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| | MF | ARG | Juan Román Riquelme | 22 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 14 | 2 |
| | FW | ARG | Facundo Sava | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | - | - |
| | DF | ARG | Silvio Carrario | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | - | - |
| | GK | ARG | Sandro Daniel Guzman | 18 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| | DF | ARG | Néstor Gabriel Lorenzo | 13 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| | MF | ARG | Pablo Marcelo Trobbiani | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | ARG | Aníbal Matellán | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| | DF | ARG | Ariel Rosada | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | MF | ARG | Christian Traverso | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| | DF | ARG | Rodolfo Arruabarrena | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| | MF | ARG | Pedro Enrique González | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| | GK | ARG | Roberto Abbondanzieri | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| | MF | ARG | Blas Giunta | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| | DF | ARG | Alfredo Jesus Berti | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| | DF | ARG | Ruben Darío Cantero | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | DF | ARG | Emanuel Ruiz | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | DF | ARG | German Gallo | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | ARG | Diego Gastón Herrera | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | ARG | Gustavo Hernan Scolari | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | ARG | Carlos Alcides Zapella | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
* Source: