1971 Argentine Primera División

Primera División

Season	1971
Champions	Independiente (Metropolitano) Rosario Central (Nacional)
1972 Copa Libertadores	Rosario Central Independiente
← 1970 1972 →

The 1971 Primera División season was the 80th season of top-flight football in Argentina. The Campeonato Metropolitano championship was modified, returning to a double round-robin format, and four relegations. Nevertheless, the AFA interventor, Raúl D'Onofrio (the 4th interventor since the military dictatorship led by Juan Carlos Onganía removed Valentín Suárez from the Association),[1][2] reduced the number of relegated teams to two.[3]

The entire season ran from 5 March to 29 December. As champion of 1970 Primera B, Ferro Carril Oeste promoted to Primera División. Independiente (10th title) won the Metropolitano and Rosario Central (coached by Ángel Labruna, not only won the 1st league title for the club but the first for a team outside Buenos Aires) won the Nacional championship. Moreover, both clubs qualified for the 1972 Copa Libertadores (in the case of Independiente, after winning the first "Liguilla pre-Libertadores" edition v San Lorenzo).[3]

Los Andes and Platense were relegated.[4]

Metropolitano Championship

Final standings

Metropolitano

Independiente, Metropolitano champions
Season	1971
Dates	5 March – 3 October
Champions	Independiente (10th title)
Promoted	Ferro C. Oeste
Relegated	Los Andes Platense
Top goalscorer	Carlos Bianchi (36)
Biggest home win	Newell's 6–0 Colón (16 Jun)
Biggest away win	Platense 1–11 Independiente (11 Mar)
← 1970 1972 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Independiente	36	20	10	6	57	26	+31	50
2	Vélez Sársfield	36	20	9	7	77	42	+35	49
3	Chacarita Juniors	36	17	12	7	49	35	+14	46
4	Newell's Old Boys	36	18	8	10	74	47	+27	44
4	San Lorenzo	36	18	8	10	75	52	+23	44
6	River Plate	36	14	11	11	60	52	+8	39
7	Ferro Carril Oeste	36	15	8	13	49	49	0	38
8	Boca Juniors	36	16	4	16	59	52	+7	36
9	Huracán	36	12	11	13	46	54	−8	35
10	Rosario Central	36	11	12	13	48	51	−3	34
10	Racing	36	10	14	12	56	64	−8	34
10	Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	36	10	14	12	51	62	−11	34
13	Estudiantes (LP)	36	11	10	15	41	55	−14	32
14	Colón	36	10	11	15	58	73	−15	31
15	Atlanta	36	11	8	17	45	57	−12	30
16	Argentinos Juniors	36	9	11	16	43	56	−13	29
16	Banfield	36	6	17	13	36	54	−18	29
18	Los Andes	36	9	9	18	38	57	−19	27
19	Platense	36	6	11	19	42	66	−24	23

Source: ^[citation needed]

Top scorers

Rank.	Player	Team	Goals
1	Carlos Bianchi	Vélez Sarsfield	36
2	Alfredo Obberti	Newell's Old Boys	28
3	Rodolfo Fischer	San Lorenzo	20
4	Roberto Cabral	Platense	18
5	Oscar Más	River Plate	16

Nacional Championship

Nacional

Rosario Central, Nacional champions
Season	1971
Dates	8 October – 29 December
Champions	Rosario Central (1st title)
1972 Copa Libertadores	Rosario Central Independiente
Top goalscorer	José Luñiz Alfredo Oberti (10 goals each)
Biggest home win	Newell's 9–0 Huracán (CR) (20 Oct)
Biggest away win	Huracán (BB) 0–5 Atlanta (21 Nov)
← 1970 1972 →

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Independiente	14	10	4	0	31	13	+18	24	Semifinals
2	Newell's Old Boys	14	9	5	0	37	10	+27	23
3	Belgrano	14	9	3	2	28	13	+15	21
4	River Plate	14	8	5	1	26	13	+13	21
5	Argentinos Juniors	14	7	1	6	22	22	0	15
6	Ferro Carril Oeste	14	4	6	4	22	20	+2	14
7	Banfield	14	4	5	5	23	22	+1	13
8	Kimberley	14	4	5	5	22	21	+1	13
9	San Martín (M)	14	3	6	5	20	20	0	12
10	Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	14	3	3	8	22	30	−8	9
11	Huracán	14	3	3	8	19	27	−8	9
12	Juventud Antoniana	14	3	2	9	23	30	−7	8
13	Don Orione	14	4	0	10	16	34	−18	8
14	Huracán (CR)	14	1	1	12	11	55	−44	3

Source: [5]

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Rosario Central	14	9	3	2	27	13	+14	21	Semifinals
2	San Lorenzo	14	8	4	2	37	19	+18	20
3	Boca Juniors	14	8	4	2	34	17	+17	20
4	Gimnasia y Esgrima (M)	14	7	5	2	28	21	+7	19
5	Atlanta	14	6	4	4	25	17	+8	16
6	Vélez Sársfield	14	5	6	3	21	20	+1	16
7	Estudiantes (LP)	14	4	4	6	22	19	+3	12
8	Racing	14	4	4	6	20	21	−1	12
9	Chacarita Juniors	14	5	2	7	16	20	−4	12
10	Colón	14	3	6	5	21	26	−5	12
11	San Martín (T)	14	4	4	6	22	30	−8	12
12	Guaraní Antonio Franco	14	3	4	7	18	26	−8	10
13	Central Córdoba (SdE)	14	3	3	8	17	33	−16	9
14	Huracán (IW)	14	2	4	8	7	25	−18	8

Source: [6]

Semifinals

Played in neutral venue:[7]

Date	Team 1	Res.	Team 2	Venue	City
18 Dec	Independiente	2–2 (9–8, p)	San Lorenzo	River Plate	Buenos Aires
19 Dec	Rosario Central	1–0	Newell's Old Boys	River Plate	Buenos Aires

Final

Date	Team 1	Res.	Team 2	Venue	City
22 Dec	Rosario Central	2–1	San Lorenzo	Newell's O.B.	Rosario

Match details

1971 Campeonato Nacional Final[8]

22 December 1971

Rosario Central	2–1	San Lorenzo
Gramajo 17' Colman 23'	Report	Scotta 5'

Newell's Old Boys

Attendance: 31,915

Referee: Oscar Veiró

Rosario Central

San Lorenzo

GK 1 Norberto Menutti DF 4 José González DF 2 Aurelio Pascuttini DF 6 Alberto Fanessi DF 3 Mario Killer MF 8 Carlos Aimar MF 5 Ángel Landucci MF 10 Carlos Colman FW 7 Ramón Bóveda  70' FW 9 Aldo Poy FW 11 Roberto Gramajo Substitutes: MF Miguel Bustos  70' Manager: Ángel Labruna

GK 1 Agustín Irusta DF 4 Rubén Glaría DF 2 Ricardo Rezza DF 6 Ramón Heredia DF 3 Antonio Rosl MF 8 Enrique Chazarreta MF 5 Roberto Telch MF 10 Antonio G. Ameijenda FW 7 Héctor Scotta FW 9 Rodolfo Fischer  74' FW 11 Rubén Ayala Substitutes: FW Hugo Promanzio  74' Manager: Rogelio Domínguez

Liguilla pre-Libertadores

This qualifying method debuted in this season. It was contested by the Metropolitano champion and the Nacional runner-up.[3]

Date	Team 1	Res.	Team 2	Venue	City
29 Dec	Independiente	1–0	San Lorenzo	La Bombonera	Buenos Aires

Top scorers

Rank.	Player	Team	Goals
1	José Luñiz	Juventud Antoniana	10
	Alfredo Obberti	Newell's Old Boys
2	Carlos Morete	River Plate	9
	Eduardo Quiroga	Belgrano (C)
3	Héctor Scotta	San Lorenzo	8
4	Pablo Díaz	Central Córdoba (SdE)	7

References

1. River, la AFA y el ¿fin? de una maldición que arrancó on Clarín, 26 Mar 2020
2. A 51 años de uno de los más grandes golpes de la Selección argentina de fútbol on Grupo La Provincia, 30 Aug 2020
3. "Argentina: 1ra. División AFA 1971 Campeonato Metropolitano" by José Carluccio, 14 Jan 2010
4. Argentina 1971 by Pablo Ciullini on the RSSSF
5. https://www.historical-lineups.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/1971.pdf Nacional 1971. Page 146.
6. https://www.historical-lineups.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/1971.pdf Nacional 1971. Page 146.
7. https://www.historical-lineups.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/1971.pdf Nacional 1971. Page 145.
8. https://www.historical-lineups.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/1971.pdf Nacional 1971. Page 145.