# 1998–99 Club Atlético Boca Juniors season

The 1998–99 Club Atlético Boca Juniors season was the 69th consecutive Primera División season played by the senior squad.

## Summary

After the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, a new head coach arrived to the club: Carlos Bianchi former Velez Sarsfield manager wherein clinched 1994 Intercontinental Cup, 1994 Copa Libertadores and several local titles. The squad is reinforced with Barijho (a petition from Bianchi), Pereda and right back defender Hugo Ibarra. Also midfielder José Basualdo returned to the club. Finally, the team won undefeated the Apertura Tournament after a drought of 6 years aimed by a solid formation with Martin Palermo scoring 20 goals in 19 matches.

## Special uniforms

Alternate kits only worn in 1998 Copa Mercosur:
| Home | Away | Third |

## Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | COL | Oscar Córdoba |
| 2 | DF | COL | Jorge Bermúdez |
| 3 | DF | ARG | Rodolfo Arruabarrena |
| 4 | DF | ARG | Hugo Ibarra |
| 5 | MF | COL | Mauricio Serna |
| 6 | DF | ARG | Walter Samuel |
| 7 | FW | ARG | Guillermo Barros Schelotto |
| 8 | MF | ARG | Diego Cagna |
| 9 | FW | ARG | Martín Palermo |
| 10 | MF | ARG | Juan Román Riquelme |
| 11 | DF | ARG | Fernando Navas |
| 12 | GK | ARG | Roberto Abbondanzieri |
| 13 | DF | ARG | Christian Traverso |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 15 | DF | ARG | Anibal Matellán |
| 16 | MF | ARG | Ariel Rosada |
| 17 | MF | ARG | Gustavo Barros Schelotto |
| 18 | MF | ARG | José Basualdo |
| 19 | DF | ARG | César La Paglia |
| 20 | DF | ARG | Emiliano Rey |
| 21 | FW | ARG | Christian Giménez |
| 24 | DF | PER | José Pereda |
| 27 | FW | ARG | Antonio Barijho |
| 28 | FW | ARG | Ariel Carreño |
| 29 | DF | ARG | Adrián Guillermo |
| — | FW | ARG | Fernando Ortiz |

### Transfers

In :
| Pos. | Name | from |
| FW | Antonio Barijho | |
| DF | Hugo Ibarra | |
| MF | José Horacio Basualdo | |
| MF | José Antonio Pereda | Universitario de Deportes |
| MF | Gustavo Barros Schelotto | Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| FW | Claudio Caniggia | | |
| MF | Diego Latorre | | |
| DF | Nelson Vivas | Arsenal F.C. | |
| DF | Nestor Fabbri | FC Nantes Atlantique | |
| DF | Héctor Pineda | Udinese Calcio | Definitive |
| MF | Nolberto Solano | Newcastle United | |

#### January

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |

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

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Boca Juniors | 19 | 13 | 6 | 0 | 45 | 18 | +27 | 45 |
| 2 | Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) | 19 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 31 | 23 | +8 | 36 |
| 3 | Racing | 19 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 39 | 29 | +10 | 33 |
| 4 | Lanús | 19 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 20 | 20 | 0 | 30 |
| 5 | Colón | 19 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 28 | 27 | +1 | 26 |

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

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Boca Juniors | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 35 | 11 | +24 | 44 |
| 2 | River Plate | 19 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 37 | 19 | +18 | 37 |
| 3 | San Lorenzo | 19 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 33 | 19 | +14 | 36 |
| 4 | Rosario Central | 19 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 24 | 20 | +4 | 32 |
| 5 | Independiente | 19 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 32 | 26 | +6 | 29 |

#### Matches
## Copa Mercosur
### Group stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | VEL | BOC | FLA | CER |
| 1 | Vélez Sársfield | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 11 | Advance to Quarter-finals | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| 2 | Boca Juniors | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 7 | +4 | 9 | Advance to Quarter-finals | 0–1 | — | 3–0 | 3–1 |
| 3 | Flamengo | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 8 | −1 | 9 | | 2–0 | 0–2 | — | 2–0 |
| 4 | Cerro Porteño | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 13 | −4 | 5 | | 2–2 | 3–2 | 2–3 | — |

### Knock-out stage
#### Quarter-finals
## Statistics
### Players statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Apertura 98 | Apertura 98 | Clausura 99 | Clausura 99 |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | COL | Oscar Córdoba | 27 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | ARG | Hugo Ibarra | 25 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | ARG | Walter Samuel | 34 | 2 | 17 | 1 | 17 | 1 |
| 2 | DF | COL | Jorge Bermudez | 32 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 16 | 3 |
| 3 | DF | ARG | Rodolfo Arruabarrena | 36 | 3 | 18 | 2 | 18 | 1 |
| 8 | MF | ARG | Diego Cagna | 35 | 5 | 19 | 4 | 16 | 1 |
| 5 | MF | COL | Mauricio Serna | 29 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | ARG | José Basualdo | 33 | 3 | 16 | 3 | 17 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | ARG | Juan Román Riquelme | 37 | 10 | 19 | 3 | 18 | 7 |
| 9 | FW | ARG | Martín Palermo | 35 | 32 | 19 | 20 | 16 | 12 |
| 7 | FW | ARG | Guillermo Barros Schelotto | 28 | 10 | 14 | 5 | 14 | 5 |
| 12 | GK | ARG | Roberto Abbondanzieri | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| | DF | ARG | Emiliano Rey | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | DF | ARG | César La Paglia | 9 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | ARG | Anibal Matellán | 14 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 13 | DF | ARG | Christian Traverso | 21 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | ARG | Gustavo Barros Schelotto | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 27 | FW | ARG | Antonio Barijho | 12 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
| 11 | DF | ARG | Fernando Navas | 25 | 3 | 12 | 3 | 13 | 0 |
| | DF | ARG | Adrián Guillermo | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | PER | José Pereda | 19 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| 21 | FW | ARG | Christian Giménez | 10 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| | FW | ARG | Fernando Ortiz | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - |
| 28 | FW | ARG | Ariel Carreño | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | FW | ARG | Ariel Rosada | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | ARG | Sebastián Battaglia | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | GK | ARG | Christian Muñoz | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | MF | ARG | Guillermo Valdez | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | DF | ARG | Fabricio Coloccini | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | MF | ARG | Juan Arostegui | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | ARG | Christian Dollberg | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | ARG | Iván Furios | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | ARG | Esteban José Herrera | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
* Source: