The 2013–14 Primera División season was the 123rd season of top-flight professional football in Argentina. It started on August 2, 2013 and ended on May 24, 2014. Twenty teams competed in the league, seventeen returning from the 2012–13 season and three promoted from the Primera B Nacional Championship (Championship winners Rosario Central, runners-up Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) and 3rd place Olimpo). For first time Independiente did not compete in the Primera División championship.
In the first half of the season San Lorenzo became champion of the 2013 Torneo Inicial "Nietos Recuperados", winning the “Miguel Benancio Sánchez” League Cup. The winner of the 2014 Torneo Final "Nietos Recuperados", River Plate, won the "Presidente Raúl Alfonsín" League Cup. In the Superfinal, River Plate won the Campeonato Cup after a 1–0 victory over San Lorenzo in La Punta, San Luis.
Argentinos Juniors and All Boys were relegated to the Primera B Nacional Championship. The third relegated team was Colón, who lost a playoff match against Atlético de Rafaela.
Format There was two champions in the season. The champions (Torneo Inicial and Torneo Final winners) met in a season ending championship final to determine the super champion. The format for each tournament remained the same as in previous seasons.
As in the previous season the last three teams on the relegation (average) table were directly relegated.
Teams The relegated teams of 2012–13 season were San Martín (SJ), Independiente and Unión. They played in the 2013–14 Primera B Nacional Championship. At the same time the 2012–13 Primera B Nacional Championship winners Rosario Central, runners-up Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) and 3rd place Olimpo were promoted at the end of the season.
Stadia and locations
ClubCityStadiumCapacityAll Boys Buenos Aires Islas Malvinas 21,000Argentinos Juniors Buenos Aires Diego Armando Maradona 24,800Arsenal Sarandí Julio H. Grondona 16,300Atlético de Rafaela Rafaela Nuevo Monumental 16,000Belgrano Córdoba Julio César Villagra 28,000Boca Juniors Buenos Aires Alberto J. Armando 49,000Colón Santa Fe Brigadier General Estanislao López 33,500Estudiantes (LP) La Plata Ciudad de La Plata 53,000 Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) La Plata Juan Carmelo Zerillo 24,544Godoy Cruz Godoy Cruz Malvinas Argentinas 40,268Lanús Lanús Ciudad de Lanús - Néstor Díaz Pérez 46,619 Newell's Old Boys Rosario Marcelo Bielsa 38,095 Olimpo Bahía Blanca Roberto Natalio Carminatti 20,000Quilmes Quilmes Centenario 30,200Racing Avellaneda Presidente Juan Domingo Perón 55,389River Plate Buenos Aires Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti 64,624 Rosario Central Rosario Dr. Lisandro de la Torre 41,654San Lorenzo Buenos Aires Pedro Bidegain 39,494Tigre Victoria José Dellagiovanna 26,282Vélez Sarsfield Buenos Aires José Amalfitani 45,540
Personnel and kits Club ManagerKit manufacturerMain sponsor All Boys Ricardo RodríguezBalonpieLácteos Barraza Argentinos Juniors Claudio BorghiJomaLiderar Seguros Arsenal Martín PalermoLottoLa Nueva Seguros Atlético de Rafaela Jorge BurruchagaReuschSanCor Belgrano Ricardo ZielinskiLottoTersuave Boca Juniors Carlos BianchiNikeBBVA Banco Francés Colón Diego OsellaUmbroFlecha Bus Estudiantes (LP) Mauricio PellegrinoAdidasDirecTV Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) Pedro TroglioPenaltyLiderar Seguros Godoy Cruz Jorge AlmirónLottoMendoza Espíritu Grande Lanús Guillermo Barros SchelottoKDYCerámicas Lourdes Newell's Old Boys Ricardo LunariTopperMotomel Olimpo Walter PerazzoKappaBingo Bahía Quilmes Ricardo Caruso LombardiLottoQuilmes Racing Fabio RadaelliOlympikusBanco Hipotecario River Plate Ramón DíazAdidasBBVA Banco Francés Rosario Central Miguel Ángel RussoOlympikusIngeconser San Lorenzo Edgardo BauzaLottoBanco Ciudad Tigre Fabián AlegreKappaBanco Macro Vélez Sarsfield José Oscar FloresTopperSamsung
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table Pre-season changes Quilmes Omar De Felippe Resigned June 22, 2013 Nelson Vivas June 24, 2013 N/A All Boys José Romero Contract terminated June 23, 2013 Julio César Falcioni June 24, 2013 N/A Colón Pablo Morant Replaced June 29, 2013 Rubén Forestello June 29, 2013 N/A Tigre Néstor Gorosito Resigned July 6, 2013 Diego Cagna July 8, 2013 N/A Newell's Old Boys Gerardo Martino Contract terminated July 10, 2013 Alfredo Berti July 10, 2013 N/A Torneo Inicial changes Racing Luis Zubeldía Resigned August 24, 2013 Carlos Ischia August 30, 2013 20th Tigre Diego Cagna Sacked September 10, 2013 Fabián Alegre September 10, 2013 19th Racing Carlos Ischia Resigned October 7, 2013 Reinaldo Merlo October 10, 2013 20th Colón Rubén Forestello Resigned October 7, 2013 Mario Sciacqua October 8, 2013 17th Quilmes Nelson Vivas Resigned October 21, 2013 Blas Giunta October 22, 2013 16th All Boys Julio César Falcioni Resigned November 16, 2013 Ricardo Rodríguez November 19, 2013 17th Inter-tournament changes Godoy Cruz Martín Palermo Contract terminated December 6, 2013 Jorge Almirón December 9, 2013 N/A Argentinos Juniors Ricardo Caruso Lombardi Mutual agreement December 10, 2013 Claudio Borghi December 29, 2013 N/A San Lorenzo Juan Antonio Pizzi Resigned December 20, 2013 Edgardo Bauza December 26, 2013 N/A Vélez Sarsfield Ricardo Gareca Contract terminated December 23, 2013 José Oscar Flores December 26, 2013 N/A Colón Mario Sciacqua Replaced January 1, 2014 Diego Osella January 1, 2014 N/A Torneo Final changes Quilmes Blas Giunta Sacked February 16, 2014 Ricardo Caruso Lombardi February 18, 2014 20th Newell's Old Boys Alfredo Berti Resigned April 11, 2014 Ricardo Lunari April 11, 2014 14th Arsenal Gustavo Alfaro Sacked April 14, 2014 Martín Palermo April 15, 2014 20th Racing Reinaldo Merlo Resigned May 6, 2014 Fabio Radaelli May 7, 2014 17th
Interim Managers Torneo Inicial 1. Fabio Radaelli was interim manager in the 5th round. 2. Interim manager, but later promoted to full-time manager. 3. Ignacio Carlos González was interim manager in the 11th round. 4. Interim manager. Torneo Final 5. Interim manager. 6. Roberto González was interim manager in the 14th round. 7. Interim manager.
Torneo Inicial The Torneo Inicial was the first tournament of the season. It began on August 2 and ended on December 15, 2013. Originally the tournament should finish on December 8, but AFA decided to postpone two matches of the last round (Vélez Sarsfield-San Lorenzo and Newell's Old Boys-Lanús) one week as Lanús had to play the 2013 Copa Sudamericana final against Ponte Preta of Brazil. San Lorenzo won the title with a 0–0 draw at Vélez Sarsfield as outgoing champions Newell's Old Boys were held 2–2 in Rosario. San Lorenzo topped the Torneo Inicial with 33 points from 19 matches, two more than Vélez Sarsfield, Newell's Old Boys and Lanús. It was San Lorenzo's 12th league title in the professional era and first since the 2007 Clausura championship. Also in this tournament Colón were deducted six points after their denial to pay the fee that was agreed upon with Mexican side Atlante over Juan Carlos Falcón back in 2007. Atlante decided to take this issue to FIFA and they won the case. Colón lost the appeal and were forced to pay US$600.000. Additionally, on November 18 (16th round) the Colón players refused to participate in the match against Atlético de Rafaela, due to a failure to pay the squad's wages. Finally, on December 10, AFA gave the victory to Atlético de Rafaela (0−1), but they did not deduct any points from Colón.
Standings
Results
Top goalscorers Rank Name Nationality Club Goals 1César PereyraBelgrano 10 2Mauro MatosAll Boys 9 3Emanuel GigliottiBoca Juniors 8Ignacio PiattiSan Lorenzo 8Diego VeraAtlético de Rafaela 8 6Lucas PrattoVélez Sarsfield 7Santiago SilvaLanús 7 8Hernán BoyeroArgentinos Juniors 6Julio FurchArsenal 6Facundo PereyraGimnasia y Esgrima (LP) 6Maxi RodríguezNewell's Old Boys 6
Attendances
The Boca Juniors drew the highest average home attendance in the 2013-14 Torneo Inicial edition of the Argentine top-flight football league, followed by Rosario Central.
Torneo Final The Torneo Final was the second and final tournament of the season. It began on February 7 and ended on May 19, 2014. Colón was leader of the Torneo Final until the 11th round, then Estudiantes (LP), Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) and River Plate started to fight for the lead of the tournament until the last round. In the last round River Plate trashed Quilmes 5-0 as Estudiantes (LP) and Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) were beaten 2–1 by Tigre and 0–1 by Boca Juniors respectively. Finally River Plate won the Torneo Final with a five-point margin over Boca Juniors, Estudiantes (LP) and Godoy Cruz in joint second place. One of the fundamental moments in the title of River Plate was the victory 1–2 to Boca Juniors in the 10th round with a head goal of Ramiro Funes Mori in the last minutes of the match. This was their first away victory over Boca Juniors in 10 years. With Argentinos Juniors and All Boys relegated previously, the third relegation place had a dramatic final in the last round after Colón and Atlético de Rafaela scored injury-time winners to win their games, at home to Olimpo and away to Arsenal respectively, forcing a play-off match between them.At the end of the season Juan Sebastián Verón and Gabriel Heinze, captains of Estudiantes (LP) and Newell's Old Boys, finished their professional careers.
Standings
Results
Top goalscorers Rank Name Nationality Club Goals 1Mauro ZárateVélez Sarsfield 13 2Guido CarrilloEstudiantes (LP) 9 3Fernando CavenaghiRiver Plate 8Emanuel GigliottiBoca Juniors 8 5José Adolfo ValenciaOlimpo 7 6Lucas AlbertengoAtlético de Rafaela 6Carlos CarboneroRiver Plate 6Mariano EcheverríaArsenal 6Teófilo GutiérrezRiver Plate 6 10Gabriel GracianiColón 5Lucas PrattoVélez Sarsfield 5Juan Román RiquelmeBoca Juniors 5Diego VeraAtlético de Rafaela 5
Attendances
River Plate drew the highest average home attendance in the 2013-14 Torneo Final edition of the Argentine top-flight football league, followed by Rosario Central.
Superfinal The 2013-14 Superfinal was played between San Lorenzo, winners of the 2013 Torneo Inicial, and River Plate, winners of the 2014 Torneo Final. River Plate did not count on defender Éder Álvarez Balanta nor striker Teófilo Gutiérrez, as both players were called up by José Néstor Pekerman for the Colombia national team to train for the 2014 World Cup. San Lorenzo did not count on defender Carlos Valdés, who also was training with the Colombia national team, and Ignacio Piatti, who was recovering from an injury. River Plate defeated San Lorenzo 1–0 and as Super Champions they qualified to 2014 Copa Sudamericana and 2014 Supercopa Argentina. The only goal came from Germán Pezzella in the 73rd minute, a header after a free-kick from the left.
Details
GK 12 Sebastián TorricoDF 7 Julio Buffarini DF 29 Fabricio Fontanini DF 6 Santiago Gentiletti DF 21 Emmanuel Más MF 15 Héctor VillalbaMF 5 Juan Mercier MF 20 Néstor OrtigozaMF 10 Leandro Romagnoli (c) FW 11 Ángel CorreaFW 26 Mauro MatosSubstitutes:GK 1 Cristian ÁlvarezDF 14 Walter KannemannDF 4 Gonzalo PrósperiMF 8 Enzo KalinskiMF 19 Leandro Navarro MF 24 Juan Cavallaro FW 9 Martín Cauteruccio Manager: Edgardo Bauza
GK 1 Marcelo BaroveroDF 25 Gabriel Mercado DF 2 Jonathan Maidana DF 6 Ramiro Funes Mori DF 21 Leonel VangioniMF 7 Carlos CarboneroMF 28 Cristian LedesmaMF 16 Ariel RojasMF 10 Manuel LanziniFW 30 Daniel Villalva FW 9 Fernando Cavenaghi (c) Substitutes:GK 19 Leandro ChichizolaDF 20 Germán Pezzella MF 5 Matías Kranevitter MF 11 Osmar FerreyraMF 18 Augusto SolariFW 8 Juan Carlos MenseguezFW 35 Giovanni Simeone Manager: Ramón Díaz
Assistant referees: Hernán Maidana Juan Belatti Fourth official: Mauro ViglianoMatch rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Seven named substitutes. Maximum of three substitutions. Buffarini (San Lorenzo) and Barovero (River Plate) finished the match as captains.
Relegation