2002–03 Argentine Primera División

The 2002–03 Argentine Primera División was the 112th season of top-flight football in Argentina. The season ran from 26 July 2002 to 6 July 2003.[1] Olimpo (Bahía Blanca) (champion of 2001–02 Primera B Nacional, making its debut in Primera)[2] and Arsenal (winner of "Torneo Reducido" after beating Gimnasia y Esgrima de Concepción del Uruguay in a two-legged series)[3][4] were promoted from Primera B Nacional.

Primera División
Season2002–03
Dates26 July 2002 – 6 July 2003
Champions
2004 Copa LibertadoresBoca Juniors
Independiente
River Plate
Rosario Central
Vélez Sarsfield
2003 Copa SudamericanaBoca Juniors
Colón
Independiente
River Plate
Rosario Central
San Lorenzo
Vélez Sarsfield
Matches played380

Independiente won the Apertura (16th. title) while River Plate won the Clausura (33rd. title).[5] On the other hand, Talleres de Córdoba and Nueva Chicago played the promotion playoff v San Martín de Mendoza and Argentinos Juniors respectively, in order to define which team would remain in (or promote to) Primera División. As teams in Primea División beat their rivals, teams relegated were Unión de Santa Fe and Huracán).[6][7]

Torneo Apertura

Final standings
Apertura
Season2002
Dates26 July – 1 December
ChampionsIndependiente (16th. title)
Promoted
Top goalscorerArgentina Andrés Silvera (16)
Biggest home winIndependiente 7–1 Colón (6 Sep)
Estudiantes (LP) 6–0 Olimpo (13 Oct)
Biggest away winEstudiantes (LP) 0–6 River Plate (24 Aug)
Highest scoringChacarita 2–6 Independiente (13 Sep)

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Independiente 19 13 4 2 48 19 +29 43
2 Boca Juniors 19 12 4 3 32 15 +17 40
3 River Plate 19 11 3 5 35 23 +12 36
4 Chacarita Juniors 19 9 3 7 19 21 −2 30
5 Vélez Sársfield 19 8 4 7 23 19 +4 28
6 Racing 19 8 4 7 28 28 0 28
7 Colón 19 7 7 5 26 26 0 28
8 Arsenal 19 7 6 6 29 25 +4 27
9 San Lorenzo 19 7 6 6 28 25 +3 27
10 Newell's Old Boys 19 7 6 6 23 22 +1 27
11 Lanús 19 6 8 5 21 24 −3 26
12 Banfield 19 6 7 6 21 17 +4 25
13 Rosario Central 19 7 4 8 36 34 +2 25
14 Unión 19 6 5 8 26 28 −2 23
15 Talleres (C) 19 5 8 6 23 27 −4 23
16 Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) 19 4 8 7 18 24 −6 20
17 Olimpo 19 5 5 9 20 30 −10 20
18 Nueva Chicago 19 3 6 10 20 29 −9 15
19 Estudiantes (LP) 19 4 3 12 21 36 −15 15
20 Huracán 19 2 5 12 17 42 −25 11
Source:

Top scorers
Rank. Player Team Goals
1
Argentina Andrés SilveraIndependiente
16
2
Argentina César CarignanoColón
11
3
Argentina Luciano FigueroaRosario Central
10

Torneo Clausura
Clausura
Season2003
Dates14 February – 6 July
ChampionsRiver Plate (33rd. title)
Relegated
Top goalscorerArgentina Luciano Figueroa (17)
Biggest home winR. Central 7–2 Boca Jrs. (6 July)
Biggest away winHuracán 0–6 River Plate (23 Mar)

Final standings

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 River Plate 19 13 4 2 43 18 +25 43
2 Boca Juniors 19 12 3 4 36 23 +13 39
3 Vélez Sársfield 19 12 2 5 27 12 +15 38
4 Rosario Central 19 10 7 2 40 18 +22 37
5 Colón 19 7 8 4 19 14 +5 29
6 San Lorenzo 19 8 5 6 27 28 −1 29
7 Estudiantes (LP) 19 7 7 5 24 18 +6 28
8 Olimpo 18 8 4 6 21 17 +4 28
9 Nueva Chicago 19 7 5 7 29 33 −4 26
10 Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) 19 7 5 7 21 26 −5 26
11 Racing 19 6 7 6 26 24 +2 25
12 Lanús 19 7 4 8 27 29 −2 25
13 Banfield 19 6 5 8 18 20 −2 23
14 Arsenal 19 4 10 5 12 13 −1 22
15 Newell's Old Boys 19 5 7 7 21 26 −5 22
16 Talleres (C) 19 5 6 8 23 26 −3 21
17 Independiente 19 4 6 9 13 25 −12 18
18 Unión 19 4 5 10 18 29 −11 17
19 Chacarita Juniors 19 2 5 12 11 24 −13 11
20 Huracán 18 1 3 14 12 45 −33 6
Source:

Top scorers
Rank Player Team Goals
1
Argentina Luciano FigueroaRosario Central
17
2
Argentina Roberto NanniVélez Sársfield
15
3
Argentina Fernando CavenaghiRiver Plate
12

Tournament review

River Plate, Boca Juniors and Velez Sarsfield were the teams who kept the league's lead for most of the tournament (except for Round 4, when the temporary leader was Rosario Central, who finished fourth), and those three teams were the ones who arrived at the last rounds with possibilities of winning the tournament.

Velez Sarsfield started the tournament with three wins in a row, obtaining the lead at the end of Round 3. Boca Juniors went on a winning streak from rounds 3 to 7, winning five consecutive games, taking the lead at the end of Round 5.

On May 4, 2003, during Round 11, Velez Sarsfield got a home win against leaders Boca Juniors[8] and after three more consecutive wins, regained the top position in the league.

On June 1, during Round 14, Boca Juniors and River Plate confronted each other in the Superclásico at Boca Juniors stadium. The game ended 2-2 and allowed Velez, who won their match, to be the sole leaders of the league.

However, an unexpected home loss to Olimpo on Round 15, made Velez lose the first position[9] as Boca and River won their matches against Huracán and San Lorenzo respectively. At the end of the matchday, Boca Juniors were the new leaders.

On June 15, during Round 16, River Plate defeated Lanús and because Velez and Boca tied their games, finished the match day as sole leaders.[10]

On June 29, during Round 18, River defeated Olimpo in Bahía Blanca and won the championship, by getting a difference of 4 points to rivals Boca Juniors, with only 1 round to go.[11]

This table shows the evolution of the league table, showing team result, overall points and position on the table at the end of each round for the three teams that fought for the championship until the last rounds.

Position by round
Team ╲ Round12345678910111213141516171819
River Plate61398542111122321111
Boca Juniors1863111111211212322
Vélez Sarsfield1113653333322133233
Source: www.rsssf.com
Points by round
Team ╲ Round12345678910111213141516171819
River Plate1147101316192225262730313437404343
Boca Juniors3369121518192225252831323536363939
Vélez Sarsfield3699101316192222252831343435383838
Source: www.rsssf.com
Result by round
Team ╲ Round12345678910111213141516171819
River PlateDLWWWWWWWWDDWDWWWWL
Boca JuniorsWLWWWWWDWWLWWDWDLWL
Vélez SarsfieldWWWLDWWWWLWWWWLDWLL
Source: www.rsssf.com

Relegation

Relegation table
Team Average Points Played 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03
River Plate 2.114 241 114 78 84 79
Boca Juniors 1.912 218 114 71 68 79
San Lorenzo 1.702 194 114 81 57 56
Vélez Sársfield 1.491 170 114 56 48 66
Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) 1.447 165 114 55 64 46
Racing 1.439 164 114 40 71 53
Colón 1.421 162 114 49 56 57
Estudiantes (LP) 1.342 153 114 56 54 43
Newell's Old Boys 1.298 148 114 48 51 49
Olimpo 1.289 49 38 N/A N/A 49
Arsenal 1.289 49 38 N/A N/A 49
Lanús 1.272 145 114 43 51 51
Independiente 1.263 144 114 42 41 61
Banfield 1.263 96 76 N/A 48 48
Chacarita Juniors 1.263 144 114 56 47 41
Rosario Central 1.254 143 114 41 40 62
Talleres (C) 1.184 135 114 61 30 44
Nueva Chicago 1.171 89 76 N/A 48 41
Unión 1.096 125 114 46 39 40
Huracán 1.026 117 114 55 44 18
  •   Played the relegation playoff
  •   Relegated to Primera B Nacional

Promotion Playoffs

*   Winner of the series; teams currently playing in Primera División are listed first

Series Team 1 (1st div) Team 2 (2nd div) 1st. leg Venue 1 City 1 2nd. leg Venue 2 City 2 Agg.
1
Nueva ChicagoArgentinos Juniors
1–0
Pedro BidegainBuenos Aires
2–0
Pedro BidegainBuenos Aires
3–0
2
Talleres (C)San Martín (M)
1–0
Malvinas ArgentinasMendoza
1–0
Chateau CarrerasCórdoba
2–0

Nueva Chicago and Talleres (C) remained in Primera División.

See also

References
  1. Argentina 2002/03 by Javier Roimiser on the rsssf.org
  2. A 18 años del debut en Primera División on Solo Ascenso, 28 Jul 2020
  3. A 18 AÑOS DEL HISTÓRICO ASCENSO DE ARSENAL A PRIMERA, 18 May 2020
  4. "Argentina: 1ra. "B" Nacional AFA 2002/03 - Torneo Reducido por el 2do. Ascenso" by José Carluccio, 2 Dec 2012
  5. "Argentina: 1ra. División AFA - Torneo Apertura 2002" by José Carluccio, 25 Apr 2013
  6. "Argentina: 1ra. División AFA - Torneo Clausura 2003" by José Carluccio, 25 Apr 2013
  7. La promoción se pone en marcha on ESPN, 8 July 2003
  8. "En el "ballottage" del Clausura, Vélez les hace frente a River y a Boca - 06/05/2003 - Clarín.com". Archived from the original on 2018-04-23. Retrieved 2018-02-22. "In the "ballottage" of the Clausura, Vélez faces River and Boca" (in Spanish)
  9. "Sorpresa en Liniers: Olimpo derrotó a Vélez 1 a 0 - LA NACION". Archived from the original on 2018-04-23. Retrieved 2018-02-22. "Surprise in Liniers: Olimpo defeated Vélez 1-0" (in Spanish)
  10. "Trepada: River, a la punta con goles y decisión - LA NACION". Archived from the original on 2018-04-23. Retrieved 2018-02-22. "Rise: River, to the top with goals and decision" (in Spanish)
  11. "River gritó campeón en Bahía Blanca y se escuchó en todo el país". Archived from the original on 2018-02-19. Retrieved 2018-02-22. "River declared Champions in Bahia Blanca and it was heard throughout the country" (in Spanish)
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