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.
Club locations
Torneo Apertura
Standings
Top scorers
PositionPlayerTeamGoals1Germán DenisIndependiente182José SandLanús153Martín PalermoBoca Juniors134Leandro LázzaroTigre105Néstor SilveraSan Lorenzo95José VizcarraRosario Central97Facundo SavaRacing88Fernando BelluschiRiver Plate78Néstor AyalaTigre78Álvaro PereiraArgentinos Juniors78Luis TonelottoSan Martín (SJ)7
Torneo Clausura Table positions as of June 22, 2008.
Standings
Top scorers Positions as of June 25, 2008 PositionPlayerTeamGoals 1 Darío CvitanichBanfield132 Martín PalermoBoca Juniors103 Martín BravoSan Martín (San Juan)9 Germán DenisIndependiente Santiago SalcedoNewell's Old Boys Diego BuonanotteRiver Plate7 Rubén RamírezColón8 Luciano LeguizamónArsenal César CarranzaGimnasia (Jujuy)9 Daniel MontenegroIndependiente7 Santiago SilvaVélez Sársfield Gonzalo BergessioSan Lorenzo José SandLanús
Relegation Team Relegation1Boca Juniors8383702361142Estudiantes (LP)5281692021143River Plate6271661991144San Lorenzo5673641931145Vélez Sarsfield5856591731146Lanús5859561731147Independiente5557591711148Tigre005656389Argentinos Juniors50466115711410Arsenal44625115711411Huracán0052523812Banfield59395415211413Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)69403614511414Newell's Old Boys51385314211415Rosario Central 45524113811416Colón46464513711417Racing444940133114 Relegation Playoff Matches18Gimnasia y Esgrima (J)51433512911419Olimpo00424238 Relegated to the Primera B Nacional20San 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 Unión 1-1 Gimnasia (Jujuy) Alejandro Sabino Report 2008-06-29 17:10 ET Estadio 23 de Agosto, San Salvador de Jujuy Gimnasia (Jujuy) 1-0 Unión Diego Abal Report 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 Belgrano 1-1 Racing Gustavo Bassi Report 2008-06-29 14:10 ET Presidente Perón, Avellaneda Racing 1-0 Belgrano Sergio Pezzotta Report 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 byGimnasia (La Plata)Francisco Maturana1st Julio Falcioni 2nd Guillermo SanguinettiArgentinos JuniorsRicardo Caruso LombardiNéstor GorositoHuracánAntonio Mohamed1st Osvaldo Ardiles 2nd Claudio UbedaNewell's Old BoysPablo Marini1st Ricardo Caruso Lombardi 2nd Fernando GamboaOlimpoGuillermo Rivarola1st Roberto Saporiti 2nd Daniel FloritRosario CentralCarlos IschiaLeonardo MadelónGimnasia (Jujuy)Mario Gómez1st Carlos Ramaciotti 2nd Omar LabrunaVélez SársfieldRicardo La VolpeHugo TocalliRiver PlateDaniel PassarellaDiego SimeoneRacingGustavo Costas1st Miguel Ángel Micó 2nd Juan Manuel LlopEstudiantesDiego SimeoneRoberto SensiniBoca JuniorsMiguel Ángel RussoCarlos IschiaColónLeonardo AstradaAntonio MohamedIndependientePedro Troglio1st Miguel Ángel Santoro 2nd Claudio Borghi BanfieldJuan Manuel Llop1st Miguel Jerez 2nd Jorge BurruchagaSan LorenzoRamón DíazMiguel Ángel RussoArsenalGustavo Alfaro Daniel Garnero Lanús Ramón Cabrero Luis Zubeldía
Transfers See List of Argentine Primera División transfers (2007–08 season)
See also 2007–08 in Argentine football
References