Sunday, May 16, 2010

Argentinos Jrs Clausura 2010 Champions

On the final day of the Clausura there were two teams left fighting for the Championship, Argentinos Jrs and Estudiantes De La Plata. Argentinos held a one point lead over their rivals for the title, and in the end held on to that slim lead as both teams won their respective games,

Estudiantes beat Colon de Sante Fe at "El Cementerio de los Elefantes" 4-1, with Boselli scoring a hat trick. Colon had not lost a match at home during the Clausura until today, when the stadium's nickname may as well have been changed from "The Elephant's Graveyard" to "The Elephant's Stomping Ground."

Meanwhile, Argentinos did not have it so easy. Huracan put up a fight despite going down two men as Goltz and Jerez received second half red cards, yet they managed to score a late goal to make things interesting in a 2-1 loss.

Here are the weekend's full results:

May 14
Arsenal S. 1 - 2 Godoy Cruz Mza.
San Lorenzo 2 - 1 Newell's Old Boys
Banfield 3 - 0 Boca Juniors

May 15
Chacarita Juniors 1 - 2 Racing Club
Gimnasia La Plata 3 - 3 Atletico Tucuman
River Plate 1 - 5 Tigre
Independiente 1 - 0 Lanus
Rosario Central 0 - 0 Velez Sarsfield

May 16
Colon 1 - 4 Estudiantes
Huracan 1 - 2 Argentinos Juniors

Newell's Old Boys end the Clausura in 6th place, as Banfield beat Boca Jrs. Newell's did, however, manage to finish the over all standings in 4th place. Not bad at all. I would have never, honestly, predicted such a good season before it started. The top six teams, of course, qualified for the Copa Sudamericana. Here's how that finished up:

Argentinos & Banfield tied at 73
Estudiantes 71
Newell's 69
Independiente 68
Vélez Sarsfield 61

Each stage of the Sudamericana is a home-away knock out between two teams. All of Argentina's teams will start play in the second round, where, for some unknown reason, they are grouped against each other.

Banfield, due to their better goal difference over Argentinos, will play Vélez.
Argentinos face Independiente.
And Newell's get the task of facing Estudiantes.

I have yet to see when all this starts, but with the finals being scheduled as a home-away series for December 1st and 8th, I suspect the first round will begin very soon after the World Cup final.

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