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" ("opening") championship which opened the season and was contested in the second half of the calendar year, and "Clausura" ("closing") 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.

season	Apertura champions	Points	Clausura champions	Points
1991–92	River Plate	31	Newell's Old Boys	32
1992–93	Boca Juniors	27	Vélez Sarsfield	27
1993–94	River Plate	24	Independiente	26
1994–95	River Plate	31	San Lorenzo	30
1995–96	Vélez Sarsfield	41	Vélez Sarsfield	40
1996–97	River Plate	46	River Plate	41
1997–98	River Plate	45	Vélez Sarsfield	46
1998–99	Boca Juniors	45	Boca Juniors	44
1999–00	River Plate	43	River Plate	42
2000–01	Boca Juniors	41	San Lorenzo	47
2001–02	Racing	42	River Plate	43
2002–03	Independiente	43	River Plate	43
2003–04	Boca Juniors	39	River Plate	40
2004–05	Newell's Old Boys	36	Vélez Sarsfield	39
2005–06	Boca Juniors	40	Boca Juniors	43
2006–07	Estudiantes (LP)	44[1]	San Lorenzo	45
2007–08	Lanús	38	River Plate	40
2008–09	Boca Juniors	39[2]	Vélez Sarsfield	40
2009–10	Banfield	41	Argentinos Juniors	41
2010–11	Estudiantes (LP)	45	Vélez Sarsfield	39
2011–12	Boca Juniors	43	Arsenal	38

Number of Championships by team

Excluding 1990-91 which was won outright by Newell's Old Boys.

Club	Total	Half-year tournaments
		Torneo Apertura (1991–2012)	Torneo Clausura (1991–2012)
River Plate	12	6	6
Boca Juniors	9	7	2
Vélez Sarsfield	7	1	6
San Lorenzo	3	0	3
Independiente	2	1	1
Newell's Old Boys	2	1	1
Estudiantes (LP)	2	2	0
Racing	1	1	0
Lanús	1	1	0
Banfield	1	1	0
Argentinos Juniors	1	0	1
Arsenal	1	0	1

See also

• Argentine Primera División
• Metropolitano championship
• Nacional championship
• Football in Argentina

References

1. Estudiantes beat Boca Juniors in a championship decider, after the two teams finished level on points
2. Boca Juniors beat Tigre and San Lorenzo in a 3 way championship playoff

• Argentina 1990s by Osvaldo José Gorgazzi and Victor Hugo Kurhy at rsssf
• Argentina 2000s by Osvaldo José Gorgazzi at rsssf