2023 Copa de la Liga Profesional

The 2023 Copa de la Liga Profesional (officially the Copa Sur Finanzas 2023, starting from the 8th round, for sponsorship reasons)^[1] was the fourth edition of the Copa de la Liga Profesional, an Argentine domestic cup. It began on 17 August and ended on 16 December 2023.^[2]

2023 Copa de la Liga Profesional

Tournament details
Country	Argentina
Dates	17 August – 16 December 2023
Teams	28
Final positions
Champions	Rosario Central (1st title)
2024 Copa Libertadores	Rosario Central
Tournament statistics
Matches played	204
Goals scored	402 (1.97 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Lucas Passerini (10 goals)
← 2022 2024 →

The competition was contested by 28 teams, 26 returning from the 2022 season as well as 2 promoted teams from the 2022 Primera Nacional (Belgrano and Instituto).^[3] Boca Juniors were the defending champions but they were eliminated in the group stage.

Rosario Central won their first title after they defeated Platense 1–0 in the final.^[4] As champions, Rosario Central qualified for the 2024 Copa Libertadores and the 2023 Trofeo de Campeones.

Format

For the group stage, the 28 teams were drawn into two groups of fourteen teams each, playing on a single round-robin basis. Additionally, each team played one interzonal match against its rival team in the other zone. In each group, the top four teams advanced to the quarter-finals. The final stages (quarter-finals, semi-finals and final) were played on a single-legged basis.^[5]

Draw

The draw for the group stage was held on 3 November 2022, 13:00, at AFA Futsal Stadium in Ezeiza.^[6] The 28 teams were drawn into two groups of fourteen containing one team from each of the interzonal matches. As the draw was held before the identity of the second promoted team was known, the interzonal rivals of Godoy Cruz and Barracas Central were called Alternativa 1 and Alternativa 2, respectively. They were:

• Alternativa 1: a team between Gimnasia y Esgrima (M), Instituto and Sarmiento (J)
• Alternativa 2: a team between Defensores de Belgrano, Estudiantes (BA) and Sarmiento (J)

Interzonal matches

Team 1	Team 2
Argentinos Juniors Arsenal Atlético Tucumán Banfield Barracas Central Belgrano Boca Juniors Colón Estudiantes (LP) Godoy Cruz Huracán Independiente Newell's Old Boys Tigre	Platense Defensa y Justicia Central Córdoba (SdE) Lanús Alternativa 2 Talleres (C) River Plate Unión Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) Alternativa 1 San Lorenzo Racing Rosario Central Vélez Sarsfield

Group stage

In the group stage, each group was played on a single round-robin basis. Additionally, in the seventh round, each team played one interzonal match against its rival team in the other zone. Teams were ranked according to the following criteria: 1. Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss); 2. Goal difference; 3. Goals scored; 4. Fair play ranking; 5. Draw.^[5]

The top four teams of each group advanced to the quarter-finals.

Zone A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Huracán	14	8	2	4	19	11	+8	26	Advance to Quarter-finals
2	River Plate	14	7	3	4	24	16	+8	24
3	Banfield	14	6	5	3	11	6	+5	23
4	Rosario Central	14	6	5	3	17	13	+4	23
5	Independiente	14	6	5	3	15	11	+4	23
6	Vélez Sarsfield	14	6	4	4	17	14	+3	22
7	Instituto	14	4	8	2	11	7	+4	20
8	Colón	14	6	2	6	19	17	+2	20
9	Talleres (C)	14	4	5	5	15	15	0	17
10	Atlético Tucumán	14	4	5	5	9	12	−3	17
11	Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	14	4	3	7	13	21	−8	15
12	Argentinos Juniors	14	3	5	6	19	23	−4	14
13	Barracas Central	14	3	5	6	10	21	−11	14
14	Arsenal	14	3	4	7	10	15	−5	13

Source: AFA

Zone B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Racing	14	6	6	2	22	16	+6	24	Advance to Quarter-finals
2	Godoy Cruz	14	5	7	2	14	9	+5	22
3	Belgrano	14	5	6	3	20	18	+2	21
4	Platense	14	5	5	4	13	16	−3	20
5	Central Córdoba (SdE)	14	5	4	5	11	14	−3	19
6	Newell's Old Boys	14	5	3	6	14	10	+4	18
7	Boca Juniors	14	5	3	6	17	16	+1	18
8	San Lorenzo	14	3	9	2	11	11	0	18
9	Estudiantes (LP)	14	4	5	5	11	13	−2	17
10	Sarmiento (J)	14	3	7	4	8	8	0	16
11	Unión	14	3	7	4	10	13	−3	16
12	Defensa y Justicia	14	3	5	6	12	16	−4	14
13	Tigre	14	3	4	7	8	13	−5	13
14	Lanús	14	2	6	6	9	14	−5	12

Source: AFA

Results

Zone A

Home \ Away	ARG	ARS	ATU	BAN	BAR	COL	GLP	HUR	IND	INS	RIV	ROS	TAL	VEL
Argentinos Juniors			2–2					1–2	0–0	1–2	3–2		3–1	1–1
Arsenal	3–2			0–0		1–0	0–0			0–1		1–2
Atlético Tucumán		1–0			1–0			0–2	1–2	0–0			1–0
Banfield	0–1		0–0			2–1	2–0				1–1	3–0
Barracas Central	1–1	2–1		1–0		2–1	1–2					1–1
Colón	3–1		1–0				2–0				2–2	2–1	3–0
Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	3–2		1–2						1–2		1–2	2–1	0–3	2–1
Huracán		1–0		2–0	0–0	2–1	2–0			1–3				3–0
Independiente		0–0		0–0	3–0	0–1		1–0		0–0				2–1
Instituto				0–1	0–0	3–1	1–1					0–0		0–1
River Plate		3–1	1–0		5–1			1–2	3–0	0–0			1–0
Rosario Central	3–1		0–0					1–0	1–1		3–1		2–0	1–1
Talleres (C)		1–1		0–0	4–0			2–1	3–2	0–0
Vélez Sarsfield		2–1	3–1	0–1	1–0	3–1					2–0		1–1

Source: AFA
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Zone B

Home \ Away	BEL	BOC	CCO	DYJ	EST	GOD	LAN	NOB	PLA	RAC	SLO	SAR	TIG	UNI
Belgrano		4–3	1–1		2–1			1–1	3–0				0–3	4–1
Boca Juniors					0–0		1–1	1–0	3–1				0–1	2–1
Central Córdoba (SdE)		0–3		2–1	0–1		0–0		3–2				1–0	2–0
Defensa y Justicia	0–2	1–0				2–2				2–2	0–1	1–1	2–0
Estudiantes (LP)				2–1		0–1	1–1				0–0	2–1		1–3
Godoy Cruz	0–0	1–2	1–0						2–0	1–1	1–0
Lanús	2–0			0–2		2–2				0–2	0–1	0–0	2–1
Newell's Old Boys			2–0	3–0	0–1	0–2	1–0					0–1		1–1
Platense				0–0	2–1		2–1	0–0				1–0		1–0
Racing	4–1	2–1	1–1		2–1			2–1	1–2
San Lorenzo	2–2	1–1	2–0					0–3	1–1	1–1
Sarmiento (J)	0–0	1–0	0–1			0–0				1–1	0–0		2–0
Tigre					0–0	1–0		0–2	1–1	1–2	0–0
Unión				0–0		0–0	0–0			1–1	1–1	1–0	1–0

Source: AFA
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Interzonal matches

Home	Score	Away
Barracas Central	1–1	Sarmiento (J)
Colón	0–0	Unión
San Lorenzo	1–1	Huracán
Estudiantes (LP)	0–0	Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)
Rosario Central	1–0	Newell's Old Boys
Racing	0–2	Independiente
Boca Juniors	0–2	River Plate
Talleres (C)	0–0	Belgrano
Platense	0–0	Argentinos Juniors
Tigre	0–0	Vélez Sarsfield
Arsenal	1–0	Defensa y Justicia
Banfield	1–0	Lanús
Atlético Tucumán	0–0	Central Córdoba (SdE)
Godoy Cruz	1–1	Instituto

Source:AFA
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Final stages

Starting from the quarter-finals, the teams played a single-elimination tournament on a single-leg basis with the following rules:^[5]

• The quarter-finals and the semi-finals were played at a neutral venue, with the higher-seeded serving as the home team.
  • If tied, a penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winners.
• The Final was played at a neutral venue.
  • If tied, extra time would be played. If the score was still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the champions.

Bracket

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	River Plate	2
	Belgrano	1
					River Plate	0 (0)
					Rosario Central (p)	0 (2)
	Racing	2 (6)
	Rosario Central (p)	2 (7)
									Rosario Central	1
									Platense	0
	Godoy Cruz (p)	0 (5)
	Banfield	0 (3)
					Godoy Cruz	1 (5)
					Platense (p)	1 (6)
	Huracán	1 (2)
	Platense (p)	1 (4)

Quarter-finals

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Huracán	1–1 (2–4 p)	Platense
Racing	2–2 (6–7 p)	Rosario Central
River Plate	2–1	Belgrano
Godoy Cruz	0–0 (5–3 p)	Banfield

Matches

Huracán	1–1	Platense
Mazzantti 41'	Report	Ferreyra 87'
Penalties
Cóccaro Tobio Alfonso Torrent	2–4	Pellegrino Suso Servetto Díaz

2 December 2023 (2023-12-02)

18:30

Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario, Pocito

Referee: Pablo Echavarría

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Racing	2–2	Rosario Central
Martínez 80' Quintero 90+7' (pen.)	Report	Campaz 45+6' (pen.) Sández 60'
Penalties
Quintero Martínez Moreno Hauche Vecchio Almendra Mura Sigali	6–7	Lovera Campaz Mallo Sández Quintana Ortiz Bianchi Komar

3 December 2023 (2023-12-03)

21:30

Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena, Salta

Referee: Fernando Rapallini

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River Plate	2–1	Belgrano
Rondón 61' Colidio 90+3'	Report	Passerini 80'

3 December 2023 (2023-12-03)

18:30

Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Córdoba

Referee: Facundo Tello

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Godoy Cruz	0–0	Banfield
	Report
Penalties
D. Rodríguez Conechny S. Rodríguez Allende López	5–3	Bisanz Insúa Remedi Quirós

2 December 2023 (2023-12-02)

21:30

Estadio Único de Villa Mercedes, Villa Mercedes

Referee: Hernán Mastrángelo

Semi-finals

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Godoy Cruz	1–1 (5–6 p)	Platense
River Plate	0–0 (0–2 p)	Rosario Central

Matches

Godoy Cruz	1–1	Platense
S. Rodríguez 28'	Report	Martínez 17'
Penalties
D. Rodríguez Conechny Allende Larrosa López Fernández Arce Galdames Barrios Rasmussen	5–6	Pellegrino Suso Picco Díaz Ferreyra Cacciabue Morgantini Rius Vázquez Lozano

9 December 2023 (2023-12-09)

18:00

Estadio Único de San Nicolás, San Nicolás de los Arroyos

Referee: Leandro Rey Hilfer

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River Plate	0–0	Rosario Central
	Report
Penalties
E. Díaz Palavecino G. Martínez Lanzini	0–2	Lovera Campaz Malcorra

9 December 2023 (2023-12-09)

22:00

Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Córdoba

Referee: Yael Falcón Pérez

Final

Main article: 2023 Copa de la Liga Profesional final

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Rosario Central	1–0	Platense

Match

Rosario Central	1–0	Platense
Lovera 39'	Report

16 December 2023 (2023-12-16)

21:00

Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades, Santiago del Estero

Referee: Nicolás Ramírez

Season statistics

Top goalscorers Rank Player Club Goals 1 Lucas Passerini Belgrano 10 2 Luciano Gondou Argentinos Juniors 9 3 Miguel Merentiel Boca Juniors 7 Adam Bareiro San Lorenzo 5 Matías Cóccaro Huracán 6 Miguel Borja River Plate Salomón Rondón River Plate Jaminton Campaz Rosario Central Santiago Castro Vélez Sarsfield 10 Gabriel Ávalos Argentinos Juniors 5 Tomás Galván Colón Matías Giménez Rojas Independiente Adrián Martínez Instituto Ronaldo Martínez Platense Juan Fernando Quintero Racing Baltasar Rodríguez Racing Claudio Aquino Vélez Sarsfield Source: AFA

Top assists Rank Player Club Goals 1 Ulises Sánchez Belgrano 7 2 Agustín Ocampo Platense 5 3 Iván Tapia Barracas Central 3 Exequiel Zeballos Boca Juniors Adrián Martínez Instituto Pedro de la Vega Lanús Agustín Almendra Racing Emiliano Vecchio Racing Esequiel Barco River Plate Facundo Colidio River Plate Ignacio Fernández River Plate Jaminton Campaz Rosario Central Tomás O'Connor Rosario Central Alan Marinelli Sarmiento (J) Rodrigo Garro Talleres (C) Kevin Zenón Unión Claudio Aquino Vélez Sarsfield Source: AFA

Awards

Best Team

The best team was a squad consisting of the most impressive players at the tournament.^[7]

Pos. Player Team GK Jorge Broun Rosario Central DF Emanuel Coronel Banfield DF Paulo Díaz River Plate DF Gastón Suso Platense DF Thomas Galdames Godoy Cruz MF Nicolás de la Cruz River Plate MF Ulises Sánchez Belgrano MF Ignacio Malcorra Rosario Central FW Ignacio Pussetto Huracán FW Lucas Passerini Belgrano FW Jaminton Campaz Rosario Central Head coach Miguel Ángel Russo Rosario Central

Broun Díaz Suso Coronel Galdames Sánchez De la Cruz Malcorra Pussetto Campaz Passerini

Head coach Russo

Substitutes

Pos.	Player	Team
GK	Diego Rodríguez	Godoy Cruz
DF	Facundo Mallo	Rosario Central
DF	Fernando Tobio	Huracán
DF	Fernando Alarcón	Instituto
MF	Luis Advíncula	Boca Juniors
MF	Aníbal Moreno	Racing
MF	Hernán López	Godoy Cruz
MF	Claudio Aquino	Vélez Sarsfield
MF	Juan Fernando Quintero	Racing
FW	Tadeo Allende	Godoy Cruz
FW	Santiago Castro	Vélez Sarsfield
FW	Luciano Gondou	Argentinos Juniors

See also

• 2023 Argentine Primera División
• 2023 Copa Argentina