2015 Argentine Primera División
The 2015 Argentine Primera División or Torneo de Primera División 2015 "Julio H. Grondona" was the 125th season of top-flight professional football in Argentina. The season began on February 13 and ended on December 6. Thirty teams competed in the league, twenty returning from the 2014 Torneo de Transición and ten promoted from the 2014 Primera B Nacional. No teams were relegated to the Primera B Nacional Championship in the previous tournament.
Competition format
Each of the 30 teams plays the other sides once, along with an extra derby game, for a total of 30 matches for each side.The winners and runners-up of the first division qualified for the 2016 Copa Libertadores. Additionally, the winner of the 2015 Copa Argentina earned the Argentina 3 berth to the Copa Libertadores. The teams that place third to sixth in the league table advanced to the Liguilla Pre-Libertadores. The winner of this Liguilla earned the fourth berth to the Copa Libertadores, with the runner-up entering the 2016 Copa Sudamericana. The teams that place seventh to eighteenth in addition to the losing semifinalists of the Liguilla Pre-Libertadores advanced to the Liguilla Pre-Sudamericana, to determine the six berths for the 2016 Copa Sudamericana.
Club information
Stadia and locations
Club | City | Stadium | Capacity |
Aldosivi | Mar del Plata | José María Minella | 35,354 |
Argentinos Juniors | Buenos Aires | Diego Armando Maradona | 25,500 |
Arsenal | Sarandí | Julio Humberto Grondona | 16,300 |
Atlético de Rafaela | Rafaela | Nuevo Monumental | 16,000 |
Banfield | Banfield | Florencio Solá | 34,901 |
Belgrano | Córdoba | Julio César Villagra | 28,000 |
Belgrano | Córdoba | Mario Alberto Kempes | 57,000 |
Boca Juniors | Buenos Aires | Alberto J. Armando | 49,000 |
Colón | Santa Fe | Brigadier General Estanislao López | 40,000 |
Crucero del Norte | Garupá | Comandante Andrés Guacurarí | 15,000 |
Crucero del Norte | Garupá | Centenario "Campeones del Mundo" | 25,000 |
Defensa y Justicia | Florencio Varela | Norberto "Tito" Tomaghello | 12,000 |
Estudiantes | La Plata | Ciudad de La Plata | 53,000 |
Gimnasia y Esgrima | 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 |
Nueva Chicago | Buenos Aires | Nueva Chicago | 28,500 |
Olimpo | Bahía Blanca | Roberto Natalio Carminatti | 20,000 |
Quilmes | Quilmes | Centenario | 30,200 |
Racing | Avellaneda | Presidente Juan Domingo 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 | San Juan | Ingeniero Hilario Sánchez | 19,000 |
San Martín | San Juan | Estadio del Bicentenario | 25,286 |
Sarmiento | Junín | Eva Perón | 22,000 |
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 |
Managerial changes
Interim ManagersNotable occurrences
- On January 25, Juan Román Riquelme announced his retirement from professional football, just one month after leading first club Argentinos Juniors back to the Primera División. Riquelme made his debut in 1996 and until his retirement played for Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Villarreal and Argentinos Juniors.
- The match between Gimnasia y Esgrima and Nueva Chicago initially scheduled on March 14 was postponed to March 17. Gimnasia y Esgrima should play their home match behind close doors as they were punished for disturbances in the derby against Estudiantes but they appealed and the match must be rescheduled due the impossibility of implemente a police security operation in the initial date.
- On March 15, A San Lorenzo supporter died from injuries sustained at the end of the derby against Huracán after he lost his balance and fell from the highest point of the uncovered home stand behind the goal.
- On March 22, during the match San Martín –Boca Juniors a tackle by Boca Juniors goalkeeper Agustín Orión resulted in a broken tibia and fibula in the right leg for San Martin's Carlos Bueno. Orión received a straight red card and got four-match ban.
- On March 30, the referee Ariel Penel suspended after 30 minutes the match between Arsenal and Aldosivi due to disturbances outside the Estadio Julio Humberto Grondona. The match was finished on April 25 with final score 0–3.
- On April 4, the referee Germán Delfino awarded a penalty to Vélez Sarsfield after Daniel Rosero was adjudged to have handled the ball in the area and showed his second booking of the game. As the penalty was about to be taken Delfino was told over his intercom that the handball was by Vélez Sarsfield striker Mariano Pavone and proceeded to overturn his decision and call Rosero back onto the field. Apparently the decision was overturned after linesman Iván Núñez caught a replay of the incident on a nearby cameraman's monitor and informed Delfino via his earpiece. Despite the correct decision was awarded by the referee, the video technology is not allowed in Argentine football and Delfino was banned one round.
- On April 5, Matías Fritzler was punched in the face by a Lanus fan while signing autographs after 0–1 defeat to Argentinos Juniors. Fritzler finished with a bleeding cut by his left eye. The assailant was identified and initially banned from the stadium for life but finally was banned 2 years.
- On May 14, all professional football matches in Argentina were called off out of respect for Emanuel Ortega, a fourth-division player, who died after fracturing his skull on May 3 when he was pushed by an opponent and struck his head on a concrete pillar which was being used to anchor a fence.
- On May 21, The AFA's Disciplinary Tribunal gave the victory to Newell's Old Boys over Arsenal for fielding an ineligible player. Arsenal were charged after they played the suspended midfielder Leandro Godoy in their 3−0 win over Newell's Old Boys on April 13.
- On May 24, AFA suspended the match between Tigre and River Plate because of the death of Cristian Gómez, a player of second division football Paraná, who died after collapsing on pitch during a game for his club.
League table
Results
Teams play every other team once, and play one additional round against their local derby rival, completing a total of 30 rounds.Liguilla Pre Libertadores
The Liguilla Pre Libertadores is contested by the four best placed teams from the league that have not already qualified for the Copa Libertadores, with the winners gaining a place in the 2016 tournament and the runners-up playing in the Copa Sudamericana. The losing semi-finalists play in the Liguilla Pre Sudamericana.Semi-finals
----Final
First leg
Second leg
Racing won 3–2 on aggregate and qualified to 2016 Copa Libertadores.Independiente qualified to 2016 Copa Sudamericana.
Liguilla Pre Sudamericana
The Liguilla Pre Sudamericana is contested by the twelve best placed teams from the league that have not already qualified for the Copa Libertadores, plus the two losing semi-finalists from the Liguilla Pre Libertadores. The four winners of the finals qualify for the 2016 Copa Sudamericana.Semi-finals
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Finals
Match 1
----Match 2
----Match 3
----Match 4
----The four sides who won their ties on aggregate qualified for 2016 Copa Sudamericana.