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Primera División (first division) is the top category of Argentine football (soccer), and it's organized by the Argentine Football Association. Currently, there are 20 teams in the first division.
The Argentine league has been ranked among the top 5 (1999-2003) and is consistantly in the top 10 in the world a statistic provided by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics. It is one of the most prolific sources of players for the world's other top leagues such as La Liga (Spain), Serie A (Italy), FA Premier League(England), and the Bundesliga (Germany).
The league tournament
The 20 teams play two single-round tournaments each year: the Clausura (February to June), and the Apertura (August to December). Thus, there are two champions each season. Unlike most European countries, Argentina has no official Cup competition.
The names of the tournaments (Closing and Opening, respectively) reflect Northern Hemisphere sports seasons. This scheme was introduced in the 1980s, and is alien to Argentines - who live in the Southern Hemisphere and are used to sports seasons that span a single calendar year (for example 2004, as opposed to 2004/05).
Relegation and Promotion
Relegation is based on an averaging system. At the end of each season, the two teams with the worst three-year averages are relegated, and the best two teams in the second division are promoted. The teams placed 17th and 18th in the averages table play a best-of-three playoff (called "promoción") with the 4th and 3rd second division teams, respectively. Thus, the number of teams promoted each year varies between two and four. Newly-promoted teams only average the seasons since their last promotion.
It is commonly believed that averaging was instituted in the 1980s to minimize the chance of large clubs being relegated, after San Lorenzo de Almagro was relegated in 1981, Racing Club was teetering on the brink, and Boca Juniors had a dismal 1984 season.
History
Professionalism was instituted in 1931. In the early years, only teams from Buenos Aires, Greater Buenos Aires (notably Avellaneda) and La Plata were affiliated to the national association. Teams from Rosario and Santa Fé joined in later years.
A single tournament was played each year, and the team with the most points was crowned as champion. This arrangement lasted until 1966 (in 1936 only, the winners of Copa de Honor and the Campeonato played a match for the championship title).
Starting in 1967, two championships were played each year: the Metropolitano, with the same structure as the old tournament, and the Nacional, which was open to teams from the provinces.
This change brought about a revolution in Argentine football, as small teams (first Estudiantes, then Vélez Sársfield, Chacarita and others) broke down the hegemony of the five clubs who had won all the championships up to that date.
Originally, the Nacional was a regular one-group championship, from which the six best teams would advance to the Metropolitano. In 1970 the tournaments were separated; the Metropolitano had its own qualifying groups, and the Nacional two groups and play-offs. In 1977 the Metropolitano became a one-group, two-round league championship.
The Metropolitano was always played first, until the order of the tournaments was reversed in 1983.
Following the advice of Argentina national football team's then coach Carlos Salvador Bilardo, the structure of play was modified in 1985. That year, after the Nacional was played, the new single tournament (1985/86) was played for the first time. Five years later, it was split into two single-round tournaments, giving birth to the current arrangement. In 1991 the two champions played winner-take-all matches. This practice was very controversial, especially since one of the biggest teams Boca Juniors lost the finals against Newell's Old Boys after an unbeaten run in the Clausura. In 1992 the game was held as well (This time between Newell's Old Boys and River Plate, but regardless of the result (which in the end favored Newell's Old Boys again) both teams were awarded the title of Champion. After 1992, the practice was quickly abandoned, so that two champions (on equal footing) are crowned every season and no deciding game is played.
Even though the current structure provides provincial teams a road to promotion, the dominance of Boca Juniors and River Plate has only increased since the mid-90s. Only one team from outside the Buenos Aires-Rosario axis has ever won a title (Estudiantes LP, 3 times), and a reversal of this trend is not likely to occur in the foreseeable future.
International Competition
Traditionally, two teams from Argentina have played in the Copa Libertadores each year. Since 1987, CONMEBOL sponsors other competitions (first the now-extinct Supercopa, Copa CONMEBOL,Copa Mercosur), all replaced by actual Copa Sudamericana, and the number of Argentine teams playing the Libertadores has gone up to five. Thus, at least five teams have an international schedule in addition to their league compromises.
The Copa Libertadores remains the most prestigious competition in South America; Independiente has a record seven wins, followed by Boca with five, Estudiantes with three, River Plate with two, and Racing Club, Argentinos Juniors and Vélez Sársfield with one apiece.
Champions of Argentine Football
Top-Three Finishes
| Club | Times Champion | Times Second | Times Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| River Plate | 32 | 25 | 10 |
| Boca Juniors | 22 | 14 | 10 |
| Independiente | 14 | 14 | 6 |
| San Lorenzo | 9 | 11 | 9 |
| Racing Club | 7 | 6 | 10 |
| Vélez Sársfield | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Newell's Old Boys | 5 | 2 | 3 |
| Rosario Central | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Estudiantes LP | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Ferro Carril Oeste | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Argentinos Juniors | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Huracán | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Quilmes | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Chacarita Juniors | 1 | 0 | |
| Gimnasia y Esgrima LP | 5 | 3 | |
| Lanús | 3 | 3 | |
| Banfield | 2 | 1 | |
| Talleres (C) | 1 | 2 | |
| Colón (SF) | 1 | 1 | |
| Unión (SF) | 1 | 1 | |
| Racing (C) | 1 | 0 | |
| Deportivo Español | 3 | ||
| Platense | 1 |
Records
- Paraguayan Arsenio Erico (C.A. Independiente) is the league's all-time top scorer with 293 goals in 332 matches from 1934 to 1947. He also holds the record for most goals in one season; 47 in 1937. (See:Top 10 scorers of Argentina)
- Bernabé Ferreyra is the scorer with the highest goal average: 206 goals in 197 matches, averaging 1.04 goals per match. Moreover, he holds the record for highest goal average in a single tournament, with 43 goals in 32 matches (averaging 1,34 goals per match) in 1932.
- Paraguayan José Luis Chilavert is the goalkeeper who scored most goals in the league with 36 goals –and so far also holds the world record, with 58 goals–, playing for Vélez Sarsfield.
- Daniel Passarella is the defender which scored most goals with 99 in 238 matches.
- Goalkeeper Carlos Barisio holds the record for a clean sheet. Playing for Ferro Carril Oeste in 1981 he didn't concede a goal for 1075 minutes.
- The player with most matches played is Hugo Orlando Gatti, with 775.
- Pedro Catalano holds the record for most consecutive matches played, with 333 matches played uninterruptedly between July 27, 1986 and November 29, 1994.
- Diego Armando Maradona was top scorer in five tournaments (1978M, 1979M, 1979N, 1980M, 1980N), all of them with Argentinos Juniors. He is followed by Luis Artime and Carlos Bianchi who were top scorers 4 times.
- Boca Juniors holds the longest streak being undefeated with 40 games in the Clausura 1998, Apertura 1998 and Clausura 1999, winning the last 2 under Carlos Bianchi's management.
- Huracán 10 - 4 Rosario Central in 1945, Racing Club 11 - 3 Rosario Central in 1960, and Banfield 13 - 1 Puerto Comercial (Bahía Blanca) in Nacional 1974, with 14 goals, are the matches with most scored goals.
- River Plate is the only four times consecutive runner up from Nacional 1968 to Metropolitano 1970.
- The match between Banfield and Puerto Comercial (Bahía Blanca), also holds another 3 records: Juan Taverna made 7 goals –most goals by a player in a single match record–, most goals scored by a team in a single match with 13, and the Argentine record of score difference between 2 teams of the same division; 12 goals.
- The match between Chacarita and Argentino de Quilmes in 1939 that Chacarita won 5 to 1, was the match with most goals scored with headers, and most goals scored with the head by a player in a single match. Fabio Juan Cassán headed 4 goals, and Argentino de Quilmes also scored with a header, totaling 5 goals.
- San Lorenzo holds the winning streak record with 13 victories between Clausura 2001 and Apertura 2001.
- Boca Juniors is the only team who has won at least one title in every decade.
- River Plate holds the winning streak record playing away with 11 matches, between 1937 and 1938.
- Banfield holds the longest streak being undefeated in homegrounds with 49 matches between 1950 and 1953.
- Racing Club is the champion with most points during the Campeonato de Primera División system (1931-1966), with 61 points in 1966.
- River Plate is the champion with most points in the Nacional with 63 points in 1977.
- San Lorenzo is the champion with most points since the Apertura/Clausura scheme started, with 47 points in the Clausura 2001.
- The tournament with the highest goal average was in 1938, with 4.9 goals per match.
- Carlos Dantón Seppaquercia scored the fastest goal of the Argentine First Division against Huracán with Gimnasia y Esgrima LP. He scored after 5 seconds, on March 20, 1979.
- Eduardo Maglioni scored for Independiente 3 goals to Gimnasia y Esgrima LP in just 1 minute and 51 seconds, on March 18, 1973 (also a world record).
- The worst campaign by a team was in 1939, when Argentino de Quilmes finished with 4 points in 34 matches without a single victory.
- In 1941 Uruguayan goalkeeper Horacio Granero, which had been hired by Atlanta was fired after 3 matches: Atlanta lost 5-0 to River Plate, 7-2 to Boca Juniors, and drew 6-6 with Estudiantes, totaling 18 goals conceded and an average of 6 goals per match.
- Argentinos Juniors beat Racing Club 20:19 on a penalty shootout after 44 penalties were taken in 1988. The rules of the time granted an extra point for the winner on penalties after a tied match.
See also
Argentine football competitions | National football (soccer) premier leagues
Primera División (Argentinien) | Primera División Argentina | Championnat d'Argentine de football | Campionato di calcio argentino | Primera División Argentinië | アルゼンチンプロサッカーリーグ | Primera División (Argentyna) | Primera División Argentina
"Primera División Argentina"