Apertura and Clausura in Argentine football


The Apertura and Clausura system was a single round-robin tournament format used for the Argentine Primera División championships. Introduced in 1990-91, it lasted until the 2012-13 season when it was replaced by the "Inicial and Final", a similar tournament.

History

The top-flight of Argentine football had 20 teams, with seasons divided into two tournaments: "Apertura" championship which opened the season and was contested in the second half of the calendar year, and "Clausura" championship that closed the season and was played in the first half of the following year. Each Apertura or Clausura consisted of a single round robin of 19 rounds, and there were 10 matches per round.

1990-91 controversy

The first season saw the two champions play a championship decider to determine the overall champions. Newell's Old Boys beat Boca Juniors on penalties controversially denying Boca their first official league championship since 1981, when Boca had been clearly the best team of the season. Since the following season, both the champions of the Apertura and the Clausura have been recognized as official champions.

1991-92 onwards

Between the 1991-92 season and the 1994-95 seasons, the league used the old two points for a win system. From the 1995-96 season the Argentine Association adopted the 3 points for a win system.
seasonApertura championsPointsClausura championsPoints
1991-92River Plate31Newell's Old Boys32
1992-93Boca Juniors27Vélez Sarsfield27
1993-94River Plate24Independiente26
1994-95River Plate31San Lorenzo30
1995-96Vélez Sarsfield41Vélez Sarsfield40
1996-97River Plate46River Plate41
1997-98River Plate45Vélez Sarsfield46
1998-99Boca Juniors45Boca Juniors44
1999-00River Plate43River Plate42
2000-01Boca Juniors41San Lorenzo47
2001-02Racing42River Plate43
2002-03Independiente43River Plate43
2003-04Boca Juniors39River Plate40
2004-05Newell's Old Boys36Vélez Sarsfield39
2005-06Boca Juniors40Boca Juniors43
2006-07Estudiantes 44San Lorenzo45
2007-08Lanús38River Plate40
2008-09Boca Juniors39Vélez Sarsfield40
2009-10Banfield41Argentinos Juniors41
2010-11Estudiantes 45Vélez Sarsfield39
2011-12Boca Juniors43Arsenal38

Number of Championships by team

Apertura
Clausura