Primera División Argentina
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Primera División Argentina | |
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 2006-2007 in Argentine football |
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| Sport | Football |
| Founded | 1931 |
| No. of teams | 20 |
| Country |  Argentina |
| Current champions | Estudiantes La Plata |
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 consistently 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), Bundesliga (Germany), and the Superliga (Portugal).
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[edit] 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 1990, and was at the time 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). Since then, many South and Central American leagues adopted the format, including Uruguay and Mexico.
[edit] Apertura 2006 Teams
[edit] 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.
Averaging was instituted in 1983, two years after San Lorenzo de Almagro were relegated in 1981. That year, River Plate finished 18th out of 19 teams and would have been relegated under the old system. Racing Club (which finished last and would have been relegated anyway) and Nueva Chicago were the first teams to be relegated on average.[1] Boca Juniors was also struggling at that time and had a dismal 1984 season. These facts have led some to speculate that the averaging system was instituted to minimize the chance of large clubs being relegated.
[edit] 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 1982.
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 favored River Plate) 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 increased since the mid-90s (though River Plate won its last title in 2004). Only one team from outside the Buenos Aires-Rosario axis has ever won a title (Estudiantes LP, 4 times), and a reversal of this trend is not likely to occur in the foreseeable future.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Champions of Argentine Football
1: During the 1990/91 season the Apertura and Clausura were won by Newell's Old Boys and Boca Juniors, respectively. The AFA decided prior to the start to decide the champion between the winner of each tournament in two finals. These finals were held at the same time the national team was in Chile playing that year's Copa America and each team was allowed to bring in new players to substitute those playing for the national team. Newell's won the home-and-away series on penalty kicks and was then crowned the only champion for that season. Due to the controversy that this generated (especially since Boca could've ended an 11-year drought) starting in the 1991/92 season each tournament crowned an official Champion. After the 91-92 season River Plate (Apertura Champion) beat Newell's Old Boys (Clausura Champion) in three matches but these games didn't decide the title, only who was the first team to qualify for the Libertadores Cup 1993 (Newell's Old Boys then beat Octogonal Tournament winner Vélez Sársfield for the second spot).[2]
[edit] Top-Three Finishes
| Club | Champions | Runners-up | Third Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| River Plate | 32 | 25 | 11 |
| Boca Juniors | 22 | 15 | 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 | 4 | 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 | 0 |
| Gimnasia y Esgrima LP | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| Lanús | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Banfield | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Talleres de Córdoba | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Colón de Santa Fe | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unión de Santa Fe | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Racing de Córdoba | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Deportivo Español | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Platense | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[edit] Topscorers
A full list of topscorers in the professional era of Argentine football can be found at; Primera División Argentina topscorers.
[edit] Records
- Paraguayan Arsenio Erico (C.A. Independiente) is the league's all-time top scorer with 293 goals in 332 matches between 1934 and 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.
- 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.
- Diego Armando Maradona is also the youngest ever top scorer in the Argentine top flight; he was only 17 when he topscored in 1978M.
- Sergio Agüero bacame the youngest player ever to appear in the Primera, taking the record previously held by Diego Maradona. On July 7, 2003 he appeared for San Lorenzo at the age of just 15 years and 35 days.
- Héctor Scotta scored the highest number of goals in a single calendar year (60 goals for San Lorenzo in 1975: 32 in 1975M and a further 28 in 1975N).
- The tournament with the highest goal average was in 1938, with 4.9 goals per match.
- Independiente hold the record for the most goals in a season, they scored 115 in 1938.
- Daniel Passarella is the league's top scoring defender with 99 goals in 238 matches.
- Carlos Dantón Seppaquercia scored the fastest goal ever in the Argentine First Division against Huracán for Gimnasia y Esgrima LP. he scored after only 5 seconds, on March 20, 1979.
- Eduardo Maglioni scored 3 goals in just 1 minute and 51 seconds, playing for Independiente against Gimnasia y Esgrima LP on March 18, 1973. This feat gave him the world record for the fastest ever hat trick.
- Paraguayan José Luis Chilavert is the league's top scoring goalkeeper with 36 goals playing for Vélez Sarsfield.
- The first ever goalkeeper to score in top flight Argentine football was Eduardo Alterio, he scored a penalty against Tigre for Chacarita Juniors in 1931.
- 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. This included a run of 10 conplete games without conceding a goal.
- Pedro Catalano, a goalkeeper for Deportivo Español holds the record for most consecutive matches, with run of 333 uninterrupted matches between July 27, 1986 and November 29, 1994.
- The record for the highest number of games in the league is held by Hugo Orlando Gatti, with 765 for Atlanta, River Plate, Gimnasia LP, Unión and Boca Juniors.
- The record for the highest number of games for a single club is held by Ricardo Bochini, who played 638 games for Independiente between 1972 and 1991.
- Boca Juniors set the record for the longest unbeaten run; they went 40 games without losing. The run started during Clausura 1998 and extended through Apertura 1998 and Clausura 1999. Boca won 1998A and 1999C under the management of Carlos Bianchi.
- Banfield hold the record for the longest unbeaten run in home games; they didn't lose in their own stadium for 49 matches between 1950 and 1953.
- San Lorenzo hold the record for the longest winning streak; they amassed 13 consecutive victories between Clausura 2001 and Apertura 2001.
- River Plate hold the record for the longest winning streak playing away from home; they won 11 consecutive matches on the road between 1937 and 1938.
- Racing Club hold the record for the longest sequence of tied matches; they drew 10 league games in a row between April 20 and October 14, 1990.
- River Plate are the most successful team in Argentine domestic football; they have been champions of Argentina 32 times in the professional era and once in the amateur era.
- Racing Club won the championship with the most points during the Campeonato de Primera División system (1931-1966), with 61 points in 1966.
- River Plate won the championship with the most points in the Nacional with 63 points in 1977.
- San Lorenzo won the championship with most points since the Apertura/Clausura scheme started, with 47 points in the Clausura 2001.
- 4 teams have won the championship without losing a game. San Lorenzo achieved it twice in Metro 1968 and Nacional 1972. Ferro Carril Oeste in Nacional 1982, River Plate in Apertura 1994 and Boca Juniors in Apertura 1998.
- Boca Juniors are the only team who have won at least one title in every decade.
- River Plate and Racing Club are the only clubs ever to win 3 back to back championships. Racing Club achieved the feat in 1949, 1950 and 1951. River Plate have achieved the feat 3 times. 1955, 1956 and 1957. 1979M, 1979N and 1980M. Apertura 1996, Clausura 1997 and Apertura 1997.
- River Plate are the only four times consecutive runner up from Nacional 1968 to Metropolitano 1970.
- The three teams never to have suffered relegation are River Plate, C.A. Independiente and Boca Juniors
- The worst campaign by a team was in 1939, when Argentino de Quilmes finished with 4 points in 34 matches without a single victory.
- Ferro Carril Oeste set the record for the longest run without scoring, they amassed 875 minutes without a goal between Apertura 1998 and Clausura 1999.
- Talleres de Córdoba were probably the best team ever to suffer relegation, they finished 3rd in the Clausura 2004 championship, but they were relegated by the points aggregate system, which relegates the teams with the worst points averages over the last 3 seasons.
- Roberto Trotta holds the record for the most sendings off, he received 17 red cards in total, playing for Estudiantes, Vélez Sársfield, River Plate, Racing Club and Unión.
- Platense set the record for the most number of managers in one season. They had 8 different managers in the 1966 championship.
- Atlanta set the record for the most number of players in a season, they used 62 different players in 1932.
- Only 2 managers have won 3 titles with 3 different teams. José Yudica won M1978 with Quilmes, 1985N with Argentinos Juniors and 1987/88 with Newell's Old Boys. Américo Gallego won Ap. 94 and Cl. 00 with River Plate Ap. 02 with C.A. Independiente and Ap. 04 with Newell's Old Boys.
- The two most successful managers have won 7 titles each. Angel Labruna won 7 titles with Rosario Central and River Plate. Carlos Bianchi won his 7 titles with Vélez Sársfield and Boca Juniors.
- The world record for the longest penalty shootout occurred in a league match when 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.
- The highest scoring games in the Argentine top flight were;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.
- The match between Banfield and Puerto Comercial (Bahía Blanca), also holds another 3 records: Juan Taverna scored 7 goals which is the most goals by a player in a single match. The most goals scored by a team in a single match with 13, and the Argentine the record for the largest margin of victory ever (12 goals).
- The match between Chacarita Juniors and Argentino de Quilmes in 1939 that Chacarita won 5-1, was the match with most headed goals, and the most headed goals 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 for the match.
- In 1941 Uruguayan goalkeeper Horacio Granero, who 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.
- Only one team won a championship in the same year that they had a promotion: Rosario Central in 1986/87
- The 6-6 draw between Atlanta and Estudiantes is the equal highest score draw ever, the only other time this score has occurred was in Clausura 2000, Gimnasia LP 6-6 Colón.
[edit] See also
| Primera División Argentina (2006/07) |
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| Argentinos Juniors | Arsenal de Sarandí | Banfield | Belgrano de Córdoba | Boca Juniors | Colón de Santa Fe | Estudiantes de La Plata | Gimnasia de La Plata | Gimnasia de Jujuy | Godoy Cruz | Independiente| Lanús | Newell's Old Boys | Nueva Chicago | Quilmes | Racing Club | River Plate | Rosario Central | San Lorenzo | Vélez Sársfield |
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Argentina | Bolivia | Brazil | Chile | Colombia | Ecuador | Paraguay | Peru | Uruguay | Venezuela |
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