The 2017–18 Superliga Argentina or Campeonato de Primera División Superliga 2017/2018 (officially the Superliga Quilmes Clásica for sponsorship reasons) was the 128 season of top-flight professional football in Argentina. The season began on 25 August 2017 and ended on 14 May 2018.
For the first time since 1893, the AFA did not organise the championship, now being administrated by the Superliga Argentina de Fútbol.
Twenty-eight teams competed in the league, twenty-six returning from the 2016–17 season and two promoted from the 2016–17 Primera B Nacional (Argentinos Juniors and Chacarita Juniors). Four teams (Aldosivi, Atlético de Rafaela, Quilmes and Sarmiento) were relegated to the Primera B Nacional Championship in the previous tournament.
Boca Juniors, who were the defending champions, won their thirty-third league title with one match to spare after a 2–2 draw against Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) on 9 May 2018. As a result, Boca Juniors qualified for both the 2019 Copa Libertadores and the 2018 Supercopa Argentina.
Competition format The tournament was contested by 28 teams. Each team played the other 27 teams in a single round-robin tournament. The additional match against the main rival team in the so-called "Fecha de Clásicos" was not played in this season.
Club information Stadia and locations
ClubCityStadiumCapacity Argentinos Juniors Buenos Aires Diego Armando Maradona 25,000 Arsenal Sarandí Julio Humberto Grondona 16,300 Atlético Tucumán Tucumán Monumental José Fierro 32,700 Banfield Banfield Florencio Solá 34,901 Belgrano Córdoba Julio César Villagra 28,000 Mario Alberto Kempes 57,000 Boca Juniors Buenos Aires Alberto J. Armando 49,000 Chacarita Juniors Villa Maipú Chacarita Juniors 25,000 Colón Santa Fe Brigadier General Estanislao López 40,000 Defensa y Justicia Florencio Varela Norberto "Tito" Tomaghello 12,000 Estudiantes (LP) La Plata Ciudad de La Plata 53,000 Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) La Plata Juan Carmelo Zerillo 24,544 Godoy Cruz Godoy Cruz Malvinas Argentinas 40,268 Huracán Buenos Aires Tomás Adolfo Ducó 48,314 Independiente Avellaneda Libertadores de América 52,853 Lanús Lanús Ciudad de Lanús - Néstor Díaz Pérez 46,619 Newell's Old Boys Rosario Marcelo Bielsa 38,095 Olimpo Bahía Blanca Roberto Natalio Carminatti 20,000 Patronato Paraná Presbítero Bartolomé Grella 22,000 Racing Avellaneda Presidente Perón 55,389 River Plate Buenos Aires Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti 61,321 Rosario Central Rosario Dr. Lisandro de la Torre 41,654 San Lorenzo Buenos Aires Pedro Bidegain 39,494 San Martín (SJ) San Juan Ingeniero Hilario Sánchez 19,000 Estadio del Bicentenario 25,286 Talleres (C) Córdoba Mario Alberto Kempes 57,000 Temperley Temperley Alfredo Beranger 13,800 Tigre Victoria José Dellagiovanna 26,282 Unión Santa Fe 15 de Abril 22,852 Vélez Sarsfield Buenos Aires José Amalfitani 45,540
Personnel ClubManagerKit manufacturerMain sponsor Argentinos Juniors Alfredo BertiReuschAutocrédito Arsenal Sergio RondinaLyonNone Atlético Tucumán Ricardo ZielinskiUmbroSecco Banfield Julio César FalcioniPenaltyPlan Chevrolet Belgrano Pablo LavallénKappaTersuave Boca Juniors Guillermo Barros SchelottoNikeBBVA Chacarita Juniors Sebastián PenaMacronAutocrédito Colón Eduardo DomínguezBurrda SportSecco Defensa y Justicia Juan Pablo VojvodaLyonPlanes ESCO Estudiantes (LP) Leandro BenítezUmbroDirecTV Sports Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) Darío OrtizLe Coq SportifNone Godoy Cruz Diego DaboveMacronCATA Internacional Huracán Gustavo AlfaroTBSBanco Ciudad Independiente Ariel HolanPumaCorreo OCA Lanús Ezequiel CarboniMacronYamaha Newell's Old Boys Omar De FelippeAdidasBanco Municipal Olimpo Darío BonjourMacronBingo Bahía Patronato Juan Pablo PumpidoLyonNuevo Banco Entre Ríos Racing Eduardo CoudetKappaRCA River Plate Marcelo GallardoAdidasBBVA Rosario Central José ChamotNikeBanco Municipal San Lorenzo Claudio BiaggioNikeBanco Ciudad San Martín (SJ) Walter CoyetteMitreSan Juan Talleres (C) Frank Darío KudelkaPenaltyBBVA Temperley Gastón EsmeradoLyonCetec Sudamericana Tigre Cristian LedesmaJomaBanco Macro Unión Leonardo MadelónTBSOSPAT Vélez Sarsfield Gabriel HeinzeUmbroHitachi
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Pre-season changes Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) Leandro Martini Replaced 24 June 2017 Mariano Soso 26 June 2017 Estudiantes (LP) Leandro Benítez 27 June 2017 Gustavo Matosas 28 June 2017 Newell's Old Boys Juan Pablo Vojvoda 27 June 2017 Juan Manuel Llop 28 June 2017 Defensa y Justicia Sebastián Beccacece End of contract 28 June 2017 Nelson Vivas 29 June 2017 Patronato Rubén Forestello 3 July 2017 Juan Pablo Pumpido 6 July 2017 Huracán Juan Manuel Azconzábal Sacked 4 July 2017 Gustavo Alfaro 12 July 2017 Godoy Cruz Lucas Bernardi 5 July 2017 Mauricio Larriera 12 July 2017 Unión Eduardo Magnín Replaced 6 July 2017 Leonardo Madelón 6 July 2017 Argentinos Juniors Gabriel Heinze End of contract 30 July 2017 Alfredo Berti 4 August 2017 Tournament changes Estudiantes (LP) Gustavo Matosas Resigned 19 September 2017 Lucas Bernardi 26 September 2017 San Lorenzo Diego Aguirre 22 September 2017 Claudio Biaggio 23 September 2017 Defensa y Justicia Nelson Vivas 24 September 2017 Juan Pablo Vojvoda 6 October 2017 Belgrano Sebastián Méndez 17 October 2017 Pablo Lavallén 23 October 2017 Olimpo Mario Sciacqua 17 October 2017 Rubén Forestello 19 October 2017 Temperley Gustavo Álvarez 5 November 2017 Gastón Esmerado 9 November 2017 Vélez Sarsfield Omar De Felippe 6 November 2017 Gabriel Heinze 12 December 2017 Rosario Central Paolo Montero 10 November 2017 Leonardo Fernández 11 November 2017 Racing Diego Cocca 27 November 2017 Eduardo Coudet 17 December 2017 Chacarita Juniors Walter Coyette 3 December 2017 Sebastián Pena 16 December 2017 Lanús Jorge Almirón 4 December 2017 Ezequiel Carboni 6 December 2017 Godoy Cruz Mauricio Larriera 5 December 2017 Diego Dabove 28 December 2017 Tigre Ricardo Caruso Lombardi Mutual agreement 8 December 2017 Cristian Ledesma 18 December 2017 Arsenal Humberto Grondona End of contract 9 December 2017 Sergio Rondina 15 December 2017 Olimpo Rubén Forestello Resigned 12 December 2017 Christian Bassedas 20 December 2017 Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) Mariano Soso 28 December 2017 Facundo Sava 5 January 2018 Newell's Old Boys Juan Manuel Llop Sacked 19 February 2018 Omar De Felippe 5 March 2018 San Martín (SJ) Néstor Gorosito Mutual agreement 17 March 2018 Walter Coyette 19 March 2018 Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) Facundo Sava 21 April 2018 Darío Ortiz 22 April 2018 Rosario Central Leonardo Fernández Resigned 28 April 2018 José Chamot 30 April 2018 Olimpo Christian Bassedas Mutual agreement 2 May 2018 Darío Bonjour 2 May 2018 Estudiantes (LP) Lucas Bernardi Resigned 6 May 2018 Leandro Benítez 6 May 2018
Interim Managers 1. Néstor Apuzzo was interim manager in the 2017 Copa Sudamericana second stage first leg. 2. Leandro Benítez was interim manager in the 4th round. 3. Interim manager, but later promoted to manager. 4. Manuel Fernández was interim manager in the 5th round and the 2016–17 Copa Argentina round of 16. 5. Marcelo Gómez was interim manager in the 9th–12th rounds. 6. Juan Ramón Fleita was interim manager in the 11th and 12th rounds. 7. Luis Marabotto was interim manager in the 12th round. 8. Fabián Garfagnoli was interim manager in the 17th and 18th rounds. 9. Interim manager until the end of the tournament. 10. Interim manager in the 26th and 27th rounds and the 2018 Copa Sudamericana first stage second leg.
Foreign players
Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Player 6 Argentinos Juniors Javier Cabrera Beto da Silva Juan Camilo Saiz Jonathan Sandoval Arsenal Diego Chaves Gonzalo González Rodrigo Pollero Atlético Tucumán Mauricio Affonso Gonzalo Freitas Rafael García Andrés Lamas Banfield Iván Arboleda Danilo Ortiz Belgrano Epifanio García Mauro Guevgeozián Santiago Martínez Jonathan Ramis Hansell Riojas Boca Juniors Wílmar Barrios Edwin Cardona Frank Fabra Nahitan Nández Sebastián Pérez Chacarita Juniors Hernán Petryk Facundo Rodriguez Colón Alexander Domínguez Marcelo Estigarribia Diego Vera Defensa y Justicia Christian Almeida Estudiantes (LP) Christian Alemán Andrés Ramiro Escobar Jacob Murillo Juan Ferney Otero Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) Omar Alderete Brahian Alemán Nicolás Dibble Godoy Cruz Cristian Báez Leonardo Burián Santiago García Diego Riolfo Felipe Rodríguez Diego Viera Huracán Saúl Salcedo Independiente Fernando Amorebieta Martín Campaña Fernando Gaibor Diego Rodríguez Gastón Silva Lanús Rolando García Guerreño Matías Rojas Newell's Old Boys Luís Leal Olimpo Michael Covea Gonzalo Porras Renzo Ramírez Emiliano Tellechea Patronato Adrián Balboa Blas Cáceres Alberto Contrera Darwin González Sebastián Ribas Racing River Plate Rafael Santos Borré Nicolás de la Cruz Jorge Moreira Juan Fernando Quintero Marcelo Saracchi Rosario Central Óscar Cabezas Washington Camacho Alfonso Parot San Lorenzo Paulo Díaz Robert Piris Da Motta San Martín (SJ) Facundo Barceló Camilo Cándido Álvaro Fernández Maxi Rodríguez Talleres (C) Junior Arias Lucas Olaza Joao Rojas Santiago Silva Samuel Sosa Temperley Williams Riveros Mathías Villasanti Tigre Mathías Abero Carlos Rodríguez Unión Matías Castro Yeimar Gómez Guillermo Méndez José Ariel Núñez Diego Zabala Vélez Sarsfield Luis Abram Luis Amarilla
Players holding Argentinian dual nationality
Lucas Barrios (Argentinos Juniors) Dylan Gissi (Defensa y Justicia) David Depetris (Olimpo) Camilo Mayada (River Plate) Rodrigo Mora (River Plate) Marcelo Larrondo (River Plate) Néstor Ortigoza (Rosario Central) Joel Soñora (Talleres (C))
League table
Results Teams played every other team once (either at home or away) completing a total of 27 rounds.
Season statistics
Top goalscorers Rank Player Club Goals1 Santiago GarcíaGodoy Cruz172 Lautaro MartínezRacing13 Sebastián RibasPatronato4 Franco SoldanoUnión115 Ramón ÁbilaHuracán / Boca Juniors10 Javier Marcelo CorreaGodoy Cruz / Colón Fernando Andrés MárquezDefensa y Justicia Ignacio ScoccoRiver Plate8 Darío BenedettoBoca Juniors9 Nicolás BlandiSan Lorenzo Darío CvitanichBanfield Ignacio PussettoHuracán Source: AFA
Top assists RankPlayerClubAssists1 Cristian PavónBoca Juniors112 Matías VargasVélez Sarsfield103 Brahian AlemánGimnasia y Esgrima (LP)7 Lucas GambaUnión Leonardo GilRosario Central Pablo MoucheBanfield7 Luciano AbecasisGodoy Cruz6 Ramón ÁbilaHuracán / Boca Juniors Fernando BelluschiSan Lorenzo Federico CarrizoRosario Central Ricardo CenturiónRacing Alexis Mac AllisterArgentinos Juniors Augusto SolariRacing Source: AFA
Relegation Relegation at the end of the season is based on coefficients, which take into consideration the points obtained by the clubs during the present season and the three previous seasons (only seasons at the top-flight are counted). The total tally is then divided by the total number of games played in the top flight on those four seasons and an average is calculated. The four teams with the worst average at the end of the season were relegated to the Primera B Nacional.