2007–08 Argentine Primera División Explained

Competition:Primera División
Season:2007–08
Winners:Apertura: Lanús (1st title)
Relegated:Olimpo
San Martín (SJ)
Continentalcup1:2008 Copa Sudamericana
Continentalcup1 Qualifiers:Estudiantes
San Lorenzo
Argentinos Juniors
Independiente
Continentalcup2:2009 Copa Libertadores
Continentalcup2 Qualifiers:Lanús
River Plate
League Topscorer:Apertura: Germán Denis (18 goals)
Prevseason:2006–07
Nextseason:2008–09

The Apertura 2007 saw much success for the smaller teams in Argentine football. The eventual champions Lanús won the title for the first time in their history, the first maiden champions since Argentinos Juniors in 1984.

Second place went to Tigre, a club playing their first season in the Argentine Primera since 1980 and making their best finish ever in the top flight.

Third place went to Banfield, completing an extremely unlikely top three.

Another small club, Arsenal won the 2007 Copa Sudamericana, the first major title in their history, making them the first Argentine club other than Boca Juniors to win an international competition since San Lorenzo won the Copa Sudamericana 2002.

Another feature of the Apertura was the number of managerial changes, by the end of the Apertura there had been 12 managerial changes.

The Clausura 2008 was won by River Plate, their first title since 2004.

For the first time the 380 games of the season were broadcast live on television.

Torneo Apertura

Top scorers

PositionPlayerTeamGoals
1Germán DenisIndependiente18
2José SandLanús15
3Martín PalermoBoca Juniors13
4Leandro LázzaroTigre10
5Néstor SilveraSan Lorenzo9
5José VizcarraRosario Central9
7Facundo SavaRacing8
8Fernando BelluschiRiver Plate7
8Néstor AyalaTigre7
8Álvaro PereiraArgentinos Juniors7
8Luis TonelottoSan Martín (SJ)7

Torneo Clausura

Table positions as of June 22, 2008.

Top scorers

Positions as of June 25, 2008

PositionPlayerTeamGoals
1 Darío CvitanichBanfield13
2 Martín PalermoBoca Juniors10
3 Martín BravoSan Martín (San Juan)9
Germán DenisIndependiente
Santiago SalcedoNewell's Old Boys
Diego BuonanotteRiver Plate
7 Rubén RamírezColón8
Luciano LeguizamónArsenal
César CarranzaGimnasia (Jujuy)
9 Daniel MontenegroIndependiente7
Santiago SilvaVélez Sársfield
Gonzalo BergessioSan Lorenzo
José SandLanús

Relegation

width=28
width=185Teamwidth=50width=50width=50width=50width=50width=50
Relegation
1Boca Juniors838370236114
2Estudiantes (LP)528169202114
3River Plate627166199114
4San Lorenzo567364193114
5Vélez Sarsfield585659173114
6Lanús585956173114
7Independiente555759171114
8Tigre00565638
9Argentinos Juniors504661157114
10Arsenal446251157114
11Huracán00525238
12Banfield593954152114
13Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)694036145114
14Newell's Old Boys513853142114
15455241138114
16Colón464645137114
17Racing444940133114Relegation Playoff Matches
18Gimnasia y Esgrima (J)514335129114
19Olimpo00424238Relegated to the Primera B Nacional
20San Martín (SJ)00353538

Promotion playoff

Teams and schedules will be decided based on average after the end of the Closing tournament.The first and second legs of the final are scheduled to be played on June 25 and June 29, respectively.

Date
VenueHome TeamScoreAway TeamRefereeMatch Report(s)
2008-06-25
17:00 ET
Estadio 15 de Abril,
Santa Fe
1-1Alejandro SabinoReport
2008-06-29
17:10 ET
Estadio 23 de Agosto,
San Salvador de Jujuy
1-0Unión Diego AbalReport
Gimnasia (Jujuy) wins 2-1 and stays in the Argentine First Division, while Unión de Santa Fe does not get promoted and remains in Argentine Nacional B.
Date
VenueHome TeamScoreAway TeamRefereeMatch Report(s)
2008-06-25
20:10 ET
Estadio Córdoba,
Córdoba
1-1Report
2008-06-29
14:10 ET
Presidente Perón,
Avellaneda
1-0Belgrano Sergio PezzottaReport
Racing wins 2-1 and stays in the Argentine First Division, while Belgrano does not get promoted and remains in Argentine Nacional B.

International qualification

Copa Sudamericana

Qualification for the 2008 Copa Sudamericana is determined from an aggregate table of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments. The top four teams in the aggregate table qualify; Boca Juniors and River Plate are invited regardless of their standings in the season, this season Arsenal was also invited as defending champions.

Aggregate table

Managerial Changes

This is a list of the managerial changes in the Argentine Primera during the 2007-2008 season.

ClubManager outReplaced by
Gimnasia (La Plata)Francisco Maturana1st Julio Falcioni 2nd Guillermo Sanguinetti
Argentinos JuniorsRicardo Caruso LombardiNéstor Gorosito
HuracánAntonio Mohamed1st Osvaldo Ardiles 2nd Claudio Ubeda
Newell's Old BoysPablo Marini1st Ricardo Caruso Lombardi 2nd Fernando Gamboa
OlimpoGuillermo Rivarola1st Roberto Saporiti 2nd Daniel Florit
Rosario CentralCarlos IschiaLeonardo Madelón
Gimnasia (Jujuy)Mario Gómez1st Carlos Ramaciotti 2nd Omar Labruna
Vélez SársfieldRicardo La VolpeHugo Tocalli
River PlateDaniel PassarellaDiego Simeone
RacingGustavo Costas1st Miguel Ángel Micó 2nd Juan Manuel Llop
EstudiantesDiego SimeoneRoberto Sensini
Boca JuniorsMiguel Ángel RussoCarlos Ischia
ColónLeonardo AstradaAntonio Mohamed
IndependientePedro Troglio
BanfieldJuan Manuel Llop1st Miguel Jerez 2nd Jorge Burruchaga
San LorenzoRamón DíazMiguel Ángel Russo
Arsenal
LanúsRamón CabreroLuis Zubeldía

Transfers

See List of Argentine Primera División transfers (2007–08 season).

See also