It ended this Monday with the draws in Colón vs. Newell’s and Vélez vs. Platense the seventh date of the Professional League 2023 y at the top of the standings is San Lorenzo, who thrashed Gimnasia de La Plata 4-0 at the Nuevo Gasómetro and was favored by Defensa y Justicia’s draw against Talleres de Córdoba 1-1, which left them in third place just ahead of the ‘T’.
Rubén Darío Insúa’s team has 16 points thanks to five victories, one parda and a fall and is behind River, who beat Godoy Cruz 3-0 at the Monumental stadium and is the only shooting guard with 15 units. Lanús equalized against Belgrano and Huracán lost to Estudiantes de La Plata, but they remain among the protagonists.
Of the rest of the teams called ‘big’, only Racing smiled after beating Sarmiento de Junín 1-0 in the Avellaneda Cylinder. Thus, he reached with 11 units to Boca, who lost to Banfield 1-0. The one who couldn’t win either was Independiente and took a 1-1 match on his visit to Barracas Central. The set of Leandro Stillitano he is 22nd with seven points.
On matchday six, 28 goals were scored in 14 games, an average of 2 for each one. The particularity is that there were seven pardas 1 to 1. The top scorer of the contest is Mateo Retegui (Tiger) with six goals. It is followed, with five, by Nicolás Fernández (Defense and Justice). The podium is completed Luciano Gondou (Sarmiento), Bruno Sepúlveda (Central Tents), Michael Santos (Workshops) and Paul Vegetti (Belgrano) with three.
The eighth date will be held between Friday, March 17 and Tuesday, March 21. and the La Plata classic between Gimnasia and Estudiantes stands out. They will also face Union vs. Racing, Independent vs. Colon, Mouth vs. Institute, Newell’s v. San Lorenzo, Sarmiento vs. River and Lanús vs. Argentinos Juniors, among other parties.
28 clubs participate in the championship, among them Belgrano and Instituto de Córdoba who recently rose from the First National and joined Boca, River, Racing, San Lorenzo, Independiente, Vélez, Argentinos Juniors, Rosario Central, Defensa y Justicia, Huracán, Gimnasia and Estudiantes de La Plata; Arsenal, Tigre, Talleres, Central Córdoba de Santiago del Estero, Platense, Newell’s, Colón and Unión de Santa Fe; Lanús, Sarmiento de Junín, Atlético Tucumán, Barracas Central, Godoy Cruz and Banfield. Buenos Aires is the province with the most teams with 11, above the City of Buenos Aires, which has seven. Santa Fe has four and Córdoba, 3.
The teams face each other against each other in one wheel and, after 27 games, whoever scores the most points will be the champion and will qualify for the 2024 Copa Libertadores. Taking into account that the last day will be played on the first weekend of August, there are just over seven months of competition.
Various factors were taken into account to form the fixture: all the classics are between dates 3 and 25, that is to say that there are no historical duels in the first two or last two days; River and Boca will meet at 15, after overcoming the first half of the tournament, at the request of television; and both Huracán, Newell’s and Unión will be local in their classics against San Lorenzo, Rosario Central and Colón in the first semester to make up for the fact that they played as visitors the previous season.
Games are broadcast live on ESPN Premium and TNT Sports. In both cases it is necessary to contract the ‘football pack’ to access all the matches of the tournament on television or through the Star+ digital platform. Both can also be tuned online on Flow, DGO and Telecentro Play, although this also requires being a client of the cable operator.
After the Professional League, the Professional League Cup will be played. In both tournaments the teams add points for an annual table in which the first three will go to the Libertadores next year and the fourth to ninth, to the South American. The last one in that classification, meanwhile, will be relegated along with the two teams with the worst average. In the “below” table this season, they are added to the points achieved in the 2021 and 2022 seasons and divided by the number of games played in those three calendars.
The investment in the order of the tournaments -in 2022 the Professional League Cup was developed first and then the Professional League- is to make it easier for the teams that reach advanced stages of the Copa Libertadores and Sudamericana 2023 to compete with fewer calendar demands . The maximum continental championship will be played from the group stage by Boca, Racing, River, Argentinos Juniors and Patronato de Paraná as champion of the Argentine Cup (despite having fallen to the First National) while Huracán is in the third phase and faces Sporting Cristal from Peru -in the first leg, at home, tied 0-0-. The South American, meanwhile, will have Gymnastics and Estudiantes de La Plata; Defense and Justice, Tigre, Newell’s and San Lorenzo.
The intention of the AFA is to reach, in five years, having 22 teams in the highest category of Argentine soccer and deliver two promotions per season from the First National, the second division.
The most winner in the history of the national leagues, which have been played since 1891, is the Millionaire with 37 stars, two more than the xeneize who has 35. They are followed by Racing with 18, Independiente (16), San Lorenzo (15), Vélez (10), Newell’ and Estudiantes de La Plata (6); Hurricane (5), Rosario Central (4), Argentinos Juniors (3) and Lanús (2).
THE NATION
