
Boca Juniors were crowned champions of Argentina on Sunday, with two matches left of the 2011 Torneo Apertura. A 3-0 win against Banfield gave Julio César Falcioni’s men the title – all they’d needed was a draw. Darío Cvitanich scored twice against his – and Falcioni’s – old club, and Diego Rivero added a cracker in the second half to seal the win before being subbed for Juan Román Riquelme, who strolled around for the last 25 minutes before picking up the trophy. Also on Sunday, there were two 1-1 draws; Independiente v Newell’s, and Belgrano v Godoy Cruz. All those goals are right here.
Independiente 1 – 1 Newell’s Old Boys
Belgrano 1 – 1 Godoy Cruz
Boca Juniors 3 – 0 Banfield
A nice coincidence: this was Julio César Falcioni’s second league title as a manager. The first was won with Banfield, after they lost to Boca in La Bombonera (thanks to Newell’s also losing on the same day) two years ago. Today, with Boca beating Banfield in La Bombonera… Falcioni won the title again.
Boca’s celebrations
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Congrats to Boca ! Undefeated in 27 consecutive matches, and to this point have allowed only 4 goals in the tournament. They won it with defense, and the additions in the off season of Schiavi and Orion were huge. Kudos to Falcioni for weathering all the needless management questioning and corporate horse manure. Also, must point out the better clubhouse atmosphere without the perpetual Palermo/Riquelme squabbling. Now, if Boca can retain the defenders they have and tune up the attack they’ll continue to be a force to be reckoned with. I hope they can discover a forward or two to help out a very resourceful Cvitanich. Mouche stunk it up after a few impressive late appearances early in the tournament and Viatri wasn’t doing much before he tore up his knee. So, add in a few at least half talented, intelligent strikers, send Mouche packing, and possibly another title in the next tournament.
Interesting and understandable to see Darío Cvitanich’s minimalistic goal celebrations