With two rounds left in the Torneo Clausura, eight clubs can still win Argentina’s league title, and the next round includes the Superclásico, the derby between Boca Juniors and River Plate, on Nov. 1 at La Bombonera.
The title is decided by a separate table that adds a club’s points from the year’s two tournaments, the Apertura and the Clausura. Its winner is crowned Campeón de Liga and, with the next two finishers, gets a place in next year’s Copa Libertadores, South America’s top club competition. Belgrano already has a place as Apertura champion, and the Copa Argentina winner and the Clausura champion also qualify, so a cup run can be a route in.
Boca, coached by Rodolfo Arruabarrena, is chasing the league title, the Clausura, a Copa Argentina semifinal against Banfield and the Copa Sudamericana, South America’s second-tier club tournament, final against Atlético Mineiro on Nov. 21. Olé counts one defeat in its last 21 matches, and a win over River would keep it at the top of the combined table. River, under interim coach Leonardo Ponzio, must win both remaining games, at Boca and at Aldosivi, and hope the clubs above it slip. Its other routes are winning the Clausura, or a spare place that opens if Boca wins either the Clausura or the Sudamericana.
The other contenders have home games to finish: Argentinos Juniors against Huracán, Rosario Central against Estudiantes de Río Cuarto, and Boca against Defensa y Justicia. Estudiantes de Río Cuarto has already been relegated on the multi-season averages table.
The second relegation place is between Aldosivi, of Mar del Plata, and Deportivo Riestra. Aldosivi must win both of its remaining games, at Racing and at home against River, while Riestra, facing Talleres and Independiente, needs three points to be safe.
On the sidelines, Tigre’s Diego Dabove resigned on Oct. 23 after a home defeat, the eighth coach to leave during the Clausura, after River’s Eduardo Coudet, Talleres’ Jorge Sampaoli and five others. Juan Carlos Blengio is in charge of Tigre for now.
Round 15 runs from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2. Olé reported that the league wants to play the final round between Nov. 4 and 6, because match security services are not expected to be available from Nov. 6 to 11 around the Pope’s arrival on Nov. 8. The league is due to announce the final schedule on Thursday.