The concepts of the game are universally renowned at every level, from watching our stars dazzle the pitch through a flash of virtuosity on our TVs or simply playing five-a-side down the local pitch with our friends. The ultimate objective? To be triumphant through scoring as many as goals as possible and thereby beating the opposition. So how can two football leagues, the English Premiership and Argentina’s Primera División, be so diverse?
The Premiership is based on the northern hemisphere in England and widely recognised as the greatest league in existence, further supported by the fact that it attracts half a billion people to watch its matches worldwide. The Primera División Argentina is on the other side of the world, but not only in geographical terms. It is regarded as one of the world’s strongest leagues and qualification for elite continental competitions is possible, similar to Europe’s Champions League and UEFA Cup. There are many differences, but can one be considered structurally ‘better’ than the other?
The format of the Premiership sees every season begin in the month of August, lasting a total of nine months until its close in May. 38 matches take place with an equal split of home and away games for each club. Subject to changes from the UEFA Coefficients, four Champions League slots are available and three for the UEFA Cup. It is relatively straightforward as I have followed this format for many years and being a Manchester City supporter it is one I recognise the most so it is simple to understand. Not that the Argentinians would agree…
So we switch our attentions to Argentina’s top-flight division and immediately it is clear to recognise the dissimilarities. Rather than one season stretching the period of one year as it is in England and the majority of European leagues, ‘one season’ only lasts half a year. This is because they have two single robin-round tournaments each year, the Clausera (the “Closing tournament) and the Apertura (the “Opening” tournament”) meaning there are two champions in each season. Winning the championship is achieved by finishing first in either the Clausera or the Apertura, whereas relegation is based on the average points you have received over the past three years. The two teams with the worst three-year averages are relegated (19th and 20th) while the next two worst teams are involved in a relegation/promotion playoff against clubs from the second-tier. The motives behind the averaging system is unclear, rumours have previously suggested that it was implemented in 1983 to protect the nation’s biggest teams from relegation. Boca Juniors almost got relegated based on the points tally of one season, but over three-years they went from close-relegation to mid-table. Additionally, Boca Juniors and River Plate automatically qualify for the Copa Sudamericana (equivalent of the UEFA Cup) as they are officially invited from CONMEBOL every season, regardless of their results in the league. Even though there is a strong predictability of Man United and Chelsea qualifying for the Champions League on an annual basis, there is never any guarantee and they are certainly not invited by UEFA.
The English and Argentine format could not be any more different, the objective for each team remains the same – to win the title – but the structure in attempting to do this is not alike. In the Premiership, the success or failure is determined on one season but in Argentina it can be based on half a season for winning the title, for relegation three seasons. How difficult would it be to calculate how many points your team would need to survive relegation! One format cannot be considered better than the other, personally the Premiership is easier to understand but the Argentine Primera Division is an interesting insight into how football differs throughout the world.
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