The 2008-09 Primera División season was the 118th season of top-flight professional football in Argentina and the nineteenth season in which the Apertura and Clausura system is used.
Boca Juniors won the Apertura championship for their 29th national title after a three team playoff with Tigre and San Lorenzo. The Clausura championship was won by Vélez Sársfield for their 7th national title. Gimnasia y Esgrima (J) and San Martín (T) were relegated to the Primera B Nacional.
Format The format for the 2008-09 season remained unchanged. The season was split into two tournaments called Apertura and Clausura. Each tournament was contested by the same 20 teams in a single round-robin format. The champions of each tournament is determined by points. If the tops teams would be tied at points at the end of each tournament, a playoff would be held at a neutral site. Relegation was determined at the end of the season.
Club information
Promotion and relegation Olimpo and San Martín (SJ) were relegated at the end of the 2007–08 Primera División season. They were replaced by Godoy Cruz and San Martín (T), both of whom were promoted from the Primera B Nacional.
Gimnasia y Esgrima (J) and Racing played the relegation/promotion playoffs against Unión and Belgrano, respectively. Both Gimnasia and Esgrima (J) and Racing won their playoff matches and retained their status in top-flight football.
Club City Stadium Capacity Argentinos Juniors Buenos Aires Diego Armando Maradona 24,800 Arsenal Sarandí Julio H. Grondona 16,300 Banfield Banfield Florencio Sola 40,500 Boca Juniors Buenos Aires Alberto J. Armando 49,000 Colón Santa Fe Brigadier General Estanislao López 32,500 Estudiantes (LP) La Plata Jorge Luis Hirschi 23,000 Gimnasia y Esgrima (J) San Salvador de Jujuy 23 de Agosto 24,000 Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) La Plata Juan Carlos Zerillo 24,544 Godoy Cruz Godoy Cruz Malvinas Argentinas 40,268 Huracán Buenos Aires Tomás Adolfo Ducó 48,314 Independiente Avellaneda Libertadores de América 52,823 Lanús Lanús Ciudad de Lanús - Néstor Díaz Pérez 46,619 Newell's Old Boys Rosario Newell's Old Boys 38,095 Racing Avellaneda Presidente Perón 51,000 River Plate Buenos Aires Antonio V. Liberti 65,645 Rosario Central Rosario Dr. Lisandro de la Torre 41,824 San Lorenzo Buenos Aires Pedro Bidegain 43,494 San Martín (T) Tucumán La Cuidadela 35,000 Tigre Victoria Monumental de Victoria 26,282 Vélez Sársfield Buenos Aires José Amalfitani 49,540
Personnel and kits ClubManagerKit manufacturerMain sponsor Argentinos Juniors Claudio BorghiDiadoraLiderar Seguros Arsenal Jorge BurruchagaMitreLiderar Seguros Banfield Julio César FalcioniNanqueBingo Lomas Boca Juniors Abel AlvesNikeMegatone Colón Antonio MohamedPumaFlecha Bus Estudiantes (LP) Alejandro SabellaTopperRCA Gimnasia y Esgrima (J) Héctor ArzubialdeDunlopBanco Macro Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) Leonardo MadelónPuma/KappaLa Nueva Seguros Godoy Cruz Diego CoccaAthixMendoza Huracán Ángel CappaKappaMotomel Independiente Américo GallegoUmbroGrupo Marquez Lanús Luis ZubeldíaSigniaBingo Lanús Newell's Old Boys Roberto SensiniTopperFrigorífico Paladini Racing Ricardo Caruso LombardiPenaltyBanco Macro River Plate Néstor GorositoAdidasPetrobras Rosario Central Miguel Ángel RussoKappaFrigorífico Paladini San Lorenzo Diego SimeoneLottoWalmart San Martín (T) Carlos RoldánKappaRefinor Tigre Diego CagnaDiadoraBanco Macro Vélez Sarsfield Ricardo GarecaPenaltyTarjeta Shopping
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner ofdeparture Date ofvacancy Replaced by Date ofappointment Positionin table Apertura changes Huracán Claudio Úbeda Resigned Sep. 14, 2008 Héctor Martínez Sep. 15, 2008 20th Estudiantes (LP) Roberto Sensini Resigned Sep. 17, 2008 Leonardo Astrada Sep. 20, 2008 18th Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) Guillermo Sanguinetti Resigned Sep. 29, 2008 Leonardo Madelón Oct. 2, 2008 12th Independiente Claudio Borghi Resigned Oct. 5, 2008 Miguel Ángel Santoro Oct. 6, 2008 15th Rosario Central Pablo Sánchez Sacked Oct. 6, 2008 Gustavo Alfaro Oct. 10, 2008 19th Godoy Cruz Daniel Oldrá Resigned Oct. 28, 2008 Diego Cocca Oct. 29, 2008 18th Huracán Héctor Martínez End of contract Nov. 3, 2008 Ángel Cappa Nov. 4, 2008 15th River Plate Diego Simeone Resigned Nov. 9, 2008 Gabriel Rodríguez Nov. 10, 2008 20th Vélez Sarsfield Hugo Tocalli Resigned Dec. 3, 2008 Pedro Larraquy Dec. 4, 2008 6th Inter-tournament changes Argentinos Juniors Néstor Gorosito Resigned Dec. 14, 2008 Claudio Vivas Dec. 27, 2008 11th Vélez Sarsfield Pedro Larraquy End of contract Dec. 15, 2008 Ricardo Gareca Dec. 16, 2008 9th River Plate Gabriel Rodríguez End of contract Dec. 15, 2008 Néstor Gorosito Dec. 23, 2008 20th Newell's Old Boys Fernando Gamboa Resigned Dec. 16, 2008 Roberto Sensini Dec. 22, 2008 5th Clausura changes Racing Juan Manuel Llop Sacked Feb. 21, 2009 Ricardo Caruso Lombardi Feb. 24, 2009 20th Rosario Central Gustavo Alfaro Sacked Feb. 28, 2009 Reinaldo Merlo Mar. 2, 2009 18th Gimnasia y Esgrima (J) Omar Labruna Resigned Mar. 10, 2009 Héctor Arzubialde Mar. 11, 2009 19th Estudiantes (LP) Leonardo Astrada Resigned Mar. 11, 2009 Alejandro Sabella Mar. 15, 2009 18th Independiente Miguel Ángel Santoro Resigned Mar. 21, 2009 Américo Gallego Mar. 27, 2009 8th Banfield Jorge Burruchaga Resigned Mar. 22, 2009 Julio César Falcioni Mar. 23, 2009 9th San Lorenzo Miguel Ángel Russo Resigned Apr. 9, 2009 Diego Simeone Apr. 16, 2009 10th Rosario Central Reinaldo Merlo Resigned Apr. 14, 2009 Miguel Ángel Russo Apr. 16, 2009 9th Arsenal Daniel Garnero Sacked Apr. 25, 2009 José Rizzo Apr. 26, 2009 16th Arsenal José Rizzo End of contract May 4, 2009 Jorge Burruchaga May 5, 2009 18th Argentinos Juniors Claudio Vivas Resigned May 23, 2009 Claudio Borghi Jun. 2, 2009 20th Boca Juniors Carlos Ischia Resigned Jun. 16, 2009 Abel Alves Jun. 17, 2009 15th
Transfers
Torneo Apertura The Torneo Apertura () was played between August 6 to December 14, 2008. The champions earned a spot in the 2009 Copa Libertadores.
Standings
Results
Championship playoff
Since San Lorenzo, Tigre and Boca Juniors ended the tournament with the same number of points, a three-way playoff was played to determine the champions.
Top Goalscorers Pos Player Team Goals1 José SandLanús152 Martín MorelTigre133 Esteban FuertesColón114 Alejandro GómezArsenal8 Mauro BoselliEstudiantes (LP)6 Rubén RamírezColón7 Lucas ViatriBoca Juniors Pablo BarrientosSan Lorenzo Leonel NúñezIndependiente Carlos LunaTigre Source: Scorer Stats
Torneo Clausura The Torneo Clausura () began on February 6, 2009 and ended on July 5, 2009. The champions earned a spot in the 2010 Copa Libertadores.
Standings
Results
Top Goalscorers Pos Player Team Goals1 José Sand Lanús132 Daniel Montenegro Independiente12 Esteban Fuertes Colón4 Hernán López Vélez Sarsfield11 Carlos Luna Tigre6 Santiago Silva Banfield97 Leandro Caruso Godoy Cruz8 Radamel Falcao River Plate Gonzalo Bergessio San Lorenzo10 Javier Pastore Huracán7 Martín Palermo Boca Juniors Source: AFA
Relegation Relegation from the Primera Division was determined on the basis of performance over the last three seasons. Every club had its points earned divided by the number of matches played and an average () was determined. The clubs who finished in 17th and 18th played a relegation play-off against the 3rd and 4th placed clubs in Primera B Nacional. The clubs who finished in 19th and 20th were directly relegated to Primera B Nacional. Team Relegation1Boca Juniors8370612141141.8772Estudiantes (LP)8169572071141.8153San Lorenzo7364632001141.7544Lanús5956751901141.6665Vélez Sarsfield5659661811141.5876River Plate7166411781141.5617Tigre—5662118761.5528Huracán—5258110761.4479Arsenal6251461591141.39410Independiente5759391551141.35911Colón4645571481141.29812Godoy Cruz——4949381.28913Argentinos Juniors4661381451141.27114Newell's Old Boys3556521431141.25415Racing4940521411141.23616Banfield3954461391141.21917Rosario Central5241401331141.166 Relegation Playoff Matches18Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)4036551311141.14919San Martín (T)——4040381.052 Relegation to Primera B Nacional20Gimnasia y Esgrima (J)4335381161141.017 Source:AFA
Relegation/promotion playoffs
!colspan="5"|Relegation/promotion playoff 1
!colspan="5"|Relegation/promotion playoff 2
Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) remained in the Argentine First Division after a 3–3 aggregate tie by virtue of a "sports advantage". In case of a tie in goals, the team from the First Division gets to stay in it. Rosario Central won 2–1 and stayed in the Argentine First Division, while Belgrano does not get promoted and remains in Argentine Nacional B.
International qualification
Copa Libertadores The Apertura champions qualified for the 2009 Copa Libertadores and the Clausura champions qualified to the 2010 Copa Libertadores. The last two Argentina spots for the 2009 Copa Libertadores were determined by the sum of all points obtained in the past three tournaments.
Copa Sudamericana Qualification for the 2009 Copa Sudamericana was determined from an aggregate table of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments. The top four teams in the aggregate table qualified; Boca Juniors and River Plate were invited every year till this season, regardless of their standings in the season.
See also 2008–09 in Argentine football
External links Asociación del Fútbol Argentino (AFA) website Season regulations