2007–08 Argentine Primera División


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

PositionPlayerTeamGoals
1Germán DenisIndependiente18
2José SandLanús15
3Martín PalermoBoca Juniors13
4Leandro LázzaroTigre10
5Néstor SilveraSan Lorenzo9
5José VizcarraRosario Central9
7Facundo SavaRacing8
8Fernando BelluschiRiver Plate7
8Néstor AyalaTigre7
8Álvaro PereiraArgentinos Juniors7
8Luis TonelottoSan Martín 7

Torneo Clausura

Table positions as of June 22, 2008.

Standings

Top scorers

Positions as of June 25, 2008
PositionPlayerTeamGoals
1 Darío CvitanichBanfield13
2 Martín PalermoBoca Juniors10
3 Martín BravoSan Martín 9
3 Germán DenisIndependiente9
3 Santiago SalcedoNewell's Old Boys9
3 Diego BuonanotteRiver Plate9
7 Rubén RamírezColón8
7 Luciano LeguizamónArsenal8
7 César CarranzaGimnasia 8
9 Daniel MontenegroIndependiente7
9 Santiago SilvaVélez Sársfield7
9 Gonzalo BergessioSan Lorenzo7
9 José SandLanús7

Relegation

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
Time
VenueHome TeamScoreAway TeamRefereeMatch Report
2008-06-25
17:00 ET
Estadio 15 de Abril,
Santa Fe
Unión
Serrizuela
1-1 Gimnasia
Carranza
Alejandro Sabino
2008-06-29
17:10 ET
Estadio 23 de Agosto,
San Salvador de Jujuy
Gimnasia
Arraya
1-0UniónDiego Abal

Gimnasia 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
Time
VenueHome TeamScoreAway TeamRefereeMatch Report
2008-06-25
20:10 ET
Estadio Córdoba,
Córdoba
Belgrano
Gigli
1-1Racing
Sava
Gustavo Bassi
2008-06-29
14:10 ET
Presidente Perón,
Avellaneda
Racing
Moralez
1-0BelgranoSergio Pezzotta

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 by
Gimnasia Francisco Maturana1st Julio Falcioni 2nd Guillermo Sanguinetti
Argentinos JuniorsRicardo Caruso LombardiNéstor Gorosito
HuracánAntonio Mohamed1st Osvaldo Ardiles 2nd Claudio Ubeda
Newell's Old BoysPablo Marini1st Ricardo Caruso Lombardi 2nd Fernando Gamboa
OlimpoGuillermo Rivarola1st Roberto Saporiti 2nd Daniel Florit
Rosario CentralCarlos IschiaLeonardo Madelón
Gimnasia Mario Gómez1st Carlos Ramaciotti 2nd Omar Labruna
Vélez SársfieldRicardo La VolpeHugo Tocalli
River PlateDaniel PassarellaDiego Simeone
RacingGustavo Costas1st Miguel Ángel Micó 2nd Juan Manuel Llop
EstudiantesDiego SimeoneRoberto Sensini
Boca JuniorsMiguel Ángel RussoCarlos Ischia
ColónLeonardo AstradaAntonio Mohamed
IndependientePedro Troglio1st Miguel Ángel Santoro 2nd Claudio Borghi
BanfieldJuan Manuel Llop1st Miguel Jerez 2nd Jorge Burruchaga
San LorenzoRamón DíazMiguel Ángel Russo
ArsenalGustavo AlfaroDaniel Garnero
LanúsRamón CabreroLuis Zubeldía

Transfers

See List of Argentine Primera División transfers.