Table heading into cup competitions classified as play-offs and relegation

Weekends for the 2025 season have been marked red on the calendar since the Professional Football League approved tournament rules for the 2025 season in January. November 15th and 16th Because there were many controversies at that time. Time has passed and we are approaching day 16, the last day of the zone phase. closing tournamentadvertising will be resolved upon request. direct exclusion The details of the tournament, the respective venues, the teams that will participate in the 2026 International Cup, and the two teams that will be relegated to the Primera Nacional. Something will be at stake in all 15 games.. Some are many.

There are unresolved issues on all three fronts, and the margins separating many candidates are very narrow. Therefore, situations may arise where points are equal in more than one case. In such situations, the tie-break criterion used will in turn be goal difference. The number of points has increased. Points won, goal difference, and number of goals scored considering only games between tied teams. and position on the fair play table. This applies to tie-breakers for qualification in playoffs or international tournaments, but not to tournaments resolving relegation.

Regarding the continuity of the Clausura tournament, from this weekend onwards, 16 teams (8 teams from each zone) will have direct access to the elimination stage. All rounds will consist of one match. In the round of 16, quarterfinals, and semifinals, the team with the best performance in the zone phase will be the home team, and the final match will be played at a neutral site. The Round of 16 will be played on the weekend of November 22nd and 23rd, with the exception of the match against Lanús, which will be played on Wednesday the 26th, as the Copa Sudamericana final against Atlético Mineiro will be played in Asunción on Saturday the 22nd.

Two teams in Zone A have already secured their place in the Round of 16: Boca (26 points, +14 goal difference) and Union (24 points, +7 goal difference). The remaining six spots won by this group so far belong to Central Córdoba (23 and +6), Tigre (22 and +3), Barracas Central (22 and +2), Lacín (22 and +2), Argentina Juniors (21 and +4) and Estudiantes de la Plata (21 and 0). Four other teams also have a chance to compete for a place in the playoffs: Banfield (20 and -6), Belgrano (19 and +2), Defensa y Justicia (19 and -3) and Huracán (19 and -5).

In Zone B, Rosario Central (31 and +11) has already secured the first place and will be able to win locally in all instances of appearing until the final final. Deportivo Riestra (27 and +7), Lanus (27 and +5), Vélez (25 and +7) and San Lorenzo (23 and +2) also reached the round of 16. At the moment, the remaining three spots are occupied by River (21 and +5), Talleres (20 and -3) and San Martín (19 and -1), but the San Juan team needs to guarantee its place first. Perpetuation regulations allow teams that are relegated, or teams that must play a tie-break to avoid relegation, to compete in the final stage, allowing them to remain in the first division. Sarmiento (19 and -4), Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata (19 and -5) and Atlético Tucuman (18 and -3) still have a chance to finish in the last eight of their group.

Over the weekend, several tournaments will be decided that will be classified as international tournaments for next year. In principle, six Argentine teams will participate in the 2026 Copa Libertadores, and Lanus could be included if they defeat Atlético Mineiro in the Sudamericana final. Apertura tournament champions Platense and Argentine Cup winners Independiente Rivadavia have already secured their spots. The team that won the Clausura tournament will be added.

Tickets will also be awarded to the top three teams in the general season table. The first two teams will advance to the group stage and the third team will advance to the second qualification phase. Rosario Central (66 and +25) and Boca (59 and +27) have already fallen into this route, and Argentinos Juniors (54 and +19) have also achieved this goal, but River (52 and +17) and Deportivo Riestra (51 and +13) have a chance to take their place. If the Clausura champions are one of the teams in the top three positions in the annual standings, the door will open for an addition to the fourth place in the standings.

The six teams ranked below the teams competing in the Libertadores in the annual overall standings will qualify for the 2026 Copa Sudamericana. At the moment, these positions belong to River (52 and +17), Deportivo Riestra (51 and +13), Racing (50 and +12), San Lorenzo (50 and +6), Tigre (49 and +9) and Barracas Central (48 and +4). Lanus (47 and +7) and Huracán (46 and +2) have a chance to play, but garnet If he becomes champion of the Sudamericana held in Asunción, he will also be able to compete in the Libertadores. This could help Independiente (44, +11), who can only dream that the champions of the Clausura Tournament will give an additional spot to the Libertadores and, as a result, also the Sudamericana.

Two relegations to First National could be decided this weekend, but a tiebreaker could be necessary. What is certain is that three teams are involved in this bid. Aldosivi and San Martín de San Juan, who were promoted last year and will play one-on-one in Mar del Plata this Saturday, and Godoy Cruz, who are used to competing at the top (both teams played in the 2024 Copa Libertadores and this year’s Sudamericana), are currently in a big hole.

The relegated team will be the team that finished last in the average standings and last in the annual overall standings. However, both locations may be occupied by the same group. In that case, as stipulated in Article 93 of the Argentine Football Association Statutes, the first to be relegated will be placed last in the average standings, and the other will be second to last in the annual overall standings.

Godoy Cruz can only hope for a tiebreaker. To do that, they must defeat Deportivo Riestra in Feliciano Gambarte and wait for the result of the match between Aldosibi and San Martín in José María Minera. A victory for the Mar del Plata team would automatically place blame on both San Martín (according to the average table) and Omar Assad’s team (according to the annual table). If the San Juan team wins, the Primera Nacional will be shark (according to the table of averages) and Godoy Cruz, but grave Win the match: In that case, you will have to play a tiebreaker. black green. In case of a draw in Minella, San Martín will be relegated (according to the average standings) and a head-to-head battle will take place between Mar del Plata and Mendoza. grocery store Defeated Deportivo Riestra.

There will also be a definition at First National this weekend as a rematch of the Reduced Semi-Finals takes place. The winner of this mini-contest will accompany the second division tournament winners Gimnasia y Esgrima de Mendoza on their trip to the Professional Football League next year.

Estudiantes de Rio Cuarto will host Estudiantes de Caseros on Saturday at 8 p.m. At the Antonio Candini Stadium. The Buenos Aires team won 1-0 in the first leg, so a win or a draw will qualify them for the final. However, if Cordoba somehow wins, they will go into the decisive battle with the advantage of having finished in a better position over the longer tournament period.

On Sunday at 5:15pm at the Abel Sastre Stadium, Deportivo Madryn will try to fight back against Deportivo Moron after losing 1-0 in the first leg. The panorama is similar to the other key panorama. The Patagonians (who lost in the final a month ago due to their first promotion to Gimnasia de Mendoza) will have to win no matter what to advance to the decider, which will be a two-legged match unlike previous years.

20.00 Lanus vs Atletico Tucuman (Zone B)

Assistant referee 1: Sebastian Rainelli

Assistant referee 2: Uriel Garcia

Fourth referee: Diego Ceballos

VAR: Gaston Monzon Brizuela

17.00 Aldosibi vs San Martin (SJ) (Interzone)

Referee: Nicolas Ramirez

Assistant referee 1: Pablo González

Assistant referee 2: Pablo Acevedo

Fourth referee: Brian Ferreira

17.00 Godoy Cruz vs Deportivo Riestra (Zone B)

Assistant referee 1: Ivan Nuñez

Assistant referee 2: Damian Espinoza

Fourth referee: Carlos Cordova

19.15 San Lorenzo vs Sarmiento (Zone B)

Referee: Nicholas Lamolina

Assistant referee 1: Javier Ujiga

Assistant referee 2: Lucas Ripoli

Fourth referee: Franco Acita

21.30 Independiente vs Rosario Central (Zone B)

Referee: Sebastian Zunino

Assistant referee 1: Pablo Gualtieri

Assistant referee 2: Carla Lopez

Fourth referee: Pablo Jimenez

17.00 Institute vs Workshop (Zone B)

Referee: Yael Falcon Perez

Assistant referee 1: Juan Pablo Verratti

Assistant referee 2: Facundo Rodriguez

Fourth referee: Julio Balassa

VAR: Hernan Mastrangelo

17.00 Velez vs Liber (Zone B)

Referee: Leandro Ray Hilfer

Assistant referee 1: Maximiliano del Yesso

Assistant Referee 2: Eric Granman

Fourth referee: Ariel Cruz

20.15 Estudiantes vs Argentina (Zone A)

Referee: Luis Lobo Medina

Assistant referee 1: Cristian Navarro

Assistant referee 2: Gerardo Lentina

Fourth referee: Joaquin Gil

20.15 Newells vs Racing (Zone A)

Referee: Sebastian Martinez

Assistant referee 1: Hugo Paes

Assistant referee 2: Mauro Ramos Erasti

Fourth referee: Cristian Cernadas

20.15 Boca vs Tigre (Zone A)

Assistant referee 1: Diego Bonfa

Assistant referee 2: Federico Cano

Fourth referee: Nahuel Viñas

20.15 Central Cordoba vs Banfield (Zone A)

Assistant referee 1: Miguel Savorani

Assistant referee 2: Matthias Bianchi

Fourth referee: Mario Ejalque

17.00 Barracas Central vs Huracan (Zone A)

Referee: Andres Gagliano

Assistant referee 1: Adrian Delbarva

Assistant referee 2: Walter Ferreira

Fourth referee: Mariano Negrete

17.00 Belgrano vs Union (Zone A)

Assistant referee 1: Marcelo Bistoko

Assistant referee 2: Ramon Ortiz

Fourth referee: Francisco Acosta

17.00 Defense and Justice vs. Independent Rivadavia (Zone A)

Assistant referee 1: Julio Fernandes

Assistant referee 2: Gisela Bosso

Fourth referee: Ignacio Cuicchi

19.30 Platense vs Gimnasia (Zone B)

Referee: Fernando Echenik

Assistant referee 1: Lucas Germanota

Assistant referee 2: Marcelo Erante

Fourth referee: Julián Beligoi