The 2015
Argentine Primera División
The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...
or Torneo de Primera División 2015 "Julio H. Grondona" was the 125th season of top-flight professional
football in Argentina
Association football is the most popular sport in Argentina and part of the culture of Argentina, culture in the country. It is the one with the most players (2,658,811 total, 331,811 of which are registered and 2,327,000 unregistered; with 3,37 ...
. 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 (Aldosivi, Argentinos Juniors, Colón, Crucero del Norte, Huracán, Nueva Chicago, San Martín (SJ), Sarmiento, Temperley and Unión). 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 2016 Copa Sudamericana () was the 15th edition of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary club association football, football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.
The 2016 Copa Sudamericana Finals, finals were originally to be played be ...
. 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
Personnel and kits
Managerial changes
Interim Managers
:1. Interim manager, but later promoted to full-time manager.
:2. Interim manager, but later promoted to full-time manager.
:3.
Gustavo Tognarelli was interim manager in the 9th round.
:4.
Alejandro Giuntini was interim manager in the 10th.
:5.
Nelson Vivas
Nelson David Vivas (born 18 October 1969) is an Argentine former professional association football, footballer and manager who played as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, right-back. Vivas played for clubs Quilmes Atlético Club, Quil ...
was interim manager in the 10th round.
:6.
Roberto Santiago González was interim manager in the suspended 7th round and 11th–12th rounds.
:7.
Miguel Ángel Salinas was interim manager in the 11th round.
:8.
Fernando Berón was interim manager in the 14th and 15th rounds.
:9.
Carlos Picerni was interim manager in the 15th round.
:10. Interim manager.
:11. Interim manager in the suspended 22nd round and 27th–30th rounds.
Notable occurrences
* On January 25,
Juan Román Riquelme announced his retirement from professional football, just one month after leading first club
Argentinos Juniors
Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its association football, football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was reco ...
back to the Primera División. Riquelme made his debut in 1996 and until his retirement played for
Boca Juniors
Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...
,
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
,
Villarreal and Argentinos Juniors.
* On March 15, A
San Lorenzo supporter died from injuries sustained at the end of the derby against
Huracán
Huracán (; ; , "one legged"), often referred to as ''U Kʼux Kaj'', the "Heart of Sky", is a Kʼicheʼ Maya god of wind, storm, fire and one of the creator deities who participated in all three attempts at creating humanity. He also caused th ...
(3–1, 5th round) 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 (SJ)–
Boca Juniors
Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...
a tackle by Boca Juniors goalkeeper
Agustín Orión resulted in a broken tibia and fibula in the right leg (from six to eight-month recovery) 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
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
and
Aldosivi (0–1) 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 (
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
) 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 May 21, The AFA's Disciplinary Tribunal gave the victory to
Newell's Old Boys
Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football.
A ...
over
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
(0−1) 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 (9th round).
* 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 club
Paraná, who died after collapsing on the pitch during a game.
League table
Results
Teams play every other team once (either at home or away), and play one additional round against their
local derby
A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes, affecting participants, management, and supporters all to varying degrees.
One of the first known sports rivalries occurred in the Roman Empire between the Blues and th ...
rival (or assigned match by
AFA if a club doesn't have derby), 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
The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...
, with the winners gaining a place in the 2016 tournament and the runners-up playing in the
Copa Sudamericana
The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...
. 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
The 2016 Copa Sudamericana () was the 15th edition of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary club association football, football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.
The 2016 Copa Sudamericana Finals, finals were originally to be played be ...
.''
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
The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...
, plus the two losing semi-finalists from the Liguilla Pre Libertadores. The four winners of the finals qualify for the
2016 Copa Sudamericana
The 2016 Copa Sudamericana () was the 15th edition of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary club association football, football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.
The 2016 Copa Sudamericana Finals, finals were originally to be played be ...
.
Semi-finals
----
----
----
----
----
Finals
Match 1
----
Match 2
----
Match 3
----
Match 4
----
''The four sides who won their ties on aggregate qualified for
2016 Copa Sudamericana
The 2016 Copa Sudamericana () was the 15th edition of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary club association football, football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.
The 2016 Copa Sudamericana Finals, finals were originally to be played be ...
.''
Season statistics
Top goalscorers
Top assists
Source
AFA
Relegation
Source
AFA
See also
*
2015 Primera B Nacional
The 2015 Argentine Primera B Nacional season was the 30th season of Argentine second division, with a total of 22 competing teams. It began 14 February and ended 14 November 2015. Although there was some use of a different name earlier in the yea ...
References
External links
Full fixture listsoccerway.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:2015 Argentine Primera Division season
1
Argentine Primera División seasons