Soccer-Battaglia replaces Russo as Boca Juniors coach

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Former Boca Juniors midfielder Sebastian Battaglia was appointed the club’s new coach on Tuesday, replacing Miguel Angel Russo after a string of bad results left the Buenos Aires side a point off the bottom of the Argentine league.

Boca last won in May, before embarking on a 10-game winless run that included three consecutive matches without a shot on goal.

Battaglia took over on Tuesday and led his first training session in the afternoon. The 40-year-old won 18 trophies with the club as a player between 1999 and 2011.

His only previous first-team coaching experience was a short spell in charge of second division Almagro. He has been reserve team coach at Boca since last year.

(Reporting by Ramiro Scandolo in Buenos Aires; writing by Andrew Downie; Editing by Toby Davis)