The definition of the Apertura Tournament, don't try to understand it: the 19th in the annual table can be champion

The final result of the 2025 Apertura Tournament of the Professional League has one certainty: for the first time in the history of Argentine football , a team that finished eighth in its group, with more losses than wins, with more goals conceded than scored, can be crowned champion . There's no other competition that can match this one. Besides, the last time there was a round of 16, after the group stage, to decide the title was 40 years ago, in another unique tournament. There have been other "strange" tournaments as well. The organization of Argentine football has always been like this... don't try to understand it.

A good thing about the playoffs is that 16 of the 30 teams remain in contention for the top prize . However, after Monday, only eight will remain. Since the playoffs were played in two groups, the top eight teams from each advanced, but in the standings, Instituto de Córdoba is 19th . Above them are Newell's , Defensa y Justicia , and Central Córdoba de Santiago del Estero , who have already been eliminated. La Gloria 's performance report shows they played 16 games, won five and lost eight, scored 16 goals, and conceded 20.

But Instituto isn't alone in reaching the round of 16 with a negative record . The only team in Zone A with an unfavorable statistic is Estudiantes , with 5 wins, 6 draws and 5 losses, 18 goals scored and 19 conceded, that is, minus one. In Zone B, Instituto is alone in the red because Lanús won and lost the same amount (4) but 13 goals scored and 10 conceded. If the Cordoba team wins the tournament, it will set an unprecedented record. Of course, it won't be easy, since they will always play as visitors.

It wouldn't be surprising either. If you look back at the last few League Cup competitions, in which the top four teams from each group qualified and the finals began in the quarterfinals, four of the last eight finalists secured the last qualifying spot in their group, i.e., fourth place.

In the 2021 League Cup, Colón was the champion, finishing first in Zone A and beating Racing , fourth in Zone B, in the final. In 2022, the finalists were both from Zone B, Boca , the champion, who finished second, and Tigre , third. In 2023, both came fourth. The champion was Central , who played 14 games in the group stage, won 6, drew 5, lost 3, scored 17 goals and conceded 13. The runner-up was Platense , who had 5 wins and 4 losses, but 13 goals for and 16 against. And in 2024, Estudiantes were the champions, finishing second in Zone B, and Vélez , fourth in Zone A, with a balance in their favor of wins (7 to 3) and goals (14 to 13).

In all cases, it was the League Cup and not the First Division Tournament . This year, it was decided to play both tournaments (Apertura and Clausura) in the same format. And there are several precedents. The first was in 1913, when a first phase was played with a round-robin format, followed by the first 11 teams divided into two zones, then a final, which Racing won. There was another similar experience in 1929, with a zone of 17 teams, another of 18, a semifinal, and a final that crowned Gimnasia as champion.

We can also count the Metropolitans of 1967, 1968, 1969, 1974 and 1979 - only the first two from each group qualified -, the Nationals of 1970, 1971, 1972 and from 1976 to 1985 - in the last three there was a round of 16, as now - and the last precedent was the 2016 First Division tournament, with two groups and the final between the first of each group, with Lanús who achieved the Olympic lap.

The 1985 National Championship was the last tournament to have a round of 16 after the group stage. It was played using an atypical double knockout system . The top two teams from each of the eight groups advanced to the winners' round, while the other two went to the losers' round . Fifteen of the 16 teams advanced to the round of 16 with a winning record, except for Unión , which finished second to River Plate with one win and two losses. They were eliminated in the next phase by Ferro .

Argentinos Juniors , who won their group stage (3 wins and 3 draws), had to play three finals, all against Vélez . First, the winners' group stage (2-0, 0-2, and 4-2 on penalties), then a match with the winners' group stage, Vélez, who won on penalties 4-3 after a 1-1 draw. If Bicho had won that match, they would have won. That's why another final, the decisive one, was played at River Plate's stadium, and José Yudica 's team, Piojo , won 2-1. September 4th will mark 40 years.

The 1976 Metropolitano final drew attention to these situations, in which the team with the most points wasn't crowned champion . There were 22 teams in the First Division, and the tournament was played in two zones of eleven. The top six in each group then played in the Championship Zone . The bottom five played in the Relegation Zone (only one went down to First Division B). Huracán finished undefeated in Zone A, with 37 points from 15 wins and 7 draws. Rosario Central finished sixth with 21 points, a record of 6 wins, 9 draws, and 7 losses. El Canalla could have turned things around, but ended up eighth.

But the champion was Boca Juniors, fourth in Zone A with 25 points, 12 less than Globo . In the Championship Zone, which was played on a single-round, neutral field, round-robin basis, they finished first with 19 points, three more than the team from Parque de los Patricios. Overall, Huracán had 53 points, while Boca Juniors only managed 44.

River Plate won Group B with 27 points and finished fifth in the final stretch with 13 points (40 points total). Sixth was Newell's, with 24 points and more wins than losses. The difference in this tournament, of course, is that there was no tie after the round of 16. But it's also difficult to understand almost 50 years after the tournament began .

The chances of a shock are minimal. But football always produces surprises. Maybe not now. If this format of two annual tournaments is maintained for a few more seasons, perhaps the champion will be like that old movie Alien, the eighth passenger, and devour them all.