"It's tougher here than in Europe, defenders are smart, they don't let you move," said Boca captain Riquelme, who has had spells in Spain's La Liga with Barcelona and Villarreal.
The Argentina 2006 World Cup midfielder defended Boca's pragmatic, counter-attacking style which has been criticised in local media for lacking sparkle despite their runaway victory in the Apertura championship in the first half of the season.
"Boca are the best in Argentina, it's not Velez [Sarsfield] nor Lanus, and for six months we'll carry on being the best," he told Fox Sports in an interview on Wednesday before the start of the Clausura championship.
"Champions must be respected and valued... we won the title by 12 points [from the nearest challengers]," he told ESPN.
Velez, Clausura champions last June and Argentina's shrewdest operators in the transfer market, are Boca's chief challengers while Racing Club could be a good outside bet if they gel under former Argentina coach Alfio Basile.
Argentinos Juniors have asked for his move from Mexico's Queretaro to be blocked while the Saints still owe them money from the June transfer of Paraguay World Cup midfielder Nestor Ortigoza.
Estudiantes are at home to Newell's Old Boys, now under former Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino, on Saturday. Velez host Godoy Cruz and Racing entertain Tigre on Sunday.
The biggest move in the transfer window belonged to the Primera B Nacional, where Boca's relegated arch rivals River Plate signed former France striker David Trezeguet.
Argentina's second tier has one 38-match season-long championship which second-placed River have lit up with their attacking football but found very tough as all their rivals play them as if it was the match of their lives.
