Daniel Avellaneda
02/03/2021 21:50
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 02/03/2021 21:50
Behind closed doors, without television or journalists.
It was an exclusive act for the leaders.
"As in the old days,"
boasted one who combs gray hair and was dressed in a rigorous suit.
This is how the draw for the fixture of the 2021 Professional Football League Cup was developed, which, after several twists and turns, will be a national trophy and not a championship.
It will begin on Friday, February 12 and will end on Sunday, May 30.
The zones.
13 teams on each side, separated by classic pairing.
There will be averages, but no declines and interzonal classics.
Boca-River, the game with the greatest impact in Argentine soccer, will be played on March 14.
It will be in the Bombonera, just as it happened in the Diego Maradona Cup.
It will correspond to the 5th date.
A week before, San Lorenzo and Huracán will meet at the Nuevo Gasómetro and on April 11th, Racing and Independiente will do so at the Cilindro.
Marcelo Tinelli, president of the League, was the host of the event,
as if he were in front of the TV camera at the Bailando.
The strong man from San Lorenzo spoke to the audience of directors and stressed that everything developed normally despite the pandemic.
The showman celebrated that no match had to be suspended due to Covid-19 cases.
Later, the one who spoke was Cristian Malaspina.
The head of Argentinos is in charge of the Tournament Commission and explained the dispute system.
Ciborium and chinstrap.
The leaders were protected.
Cristian Malaspina (back in the photo) explained the dispute system.
(Photo @LigaAFA)
The contest will have a Cup format.
Divided into two zones of 13 teams each, the first four of each group will be eliminated in the
playoffs
.
From the quarters to the final, which will be a single match.
The 13 matches of the first phase will count towards the averages and will be added to the 25 dates of the championship that will be played after the Copa América.
Even so, there will be no relegation and next
year there will be a championship of ... 28 teams!
That table will also define the quotas for the Libertadores and Sudamericana in 2022. It will be more competitive, it is clear.
The first phase will end on May 9.
The quarterfinals will be played a week later, the semis on the weekend of the 23rd and the decisive duel, on a neutral court, will be played on May 30.
The authorities have already warned that there will be no stop for the Qualifiers.
Tinelli introduced the directors, who approached the ciboriums to remove the balls, guarded by Luis Silva, from the AFA tournament management.
He was the only representative of Viamonte street;
Claudio Tapia was not there.
What was being raffled, in short, was the area that each one was going to integrate.
And
believe it or not, the first team was ... San Lorenzo
, which aroused smiles because the TV host is its president.
In
Zone A
are Aldosivi, Argentinos, Arsenal, Banfield, Central Córdoba, Colón, Estudiantes, Godoy Cruz, Platense, Racing, River, Rosario Central and San Lorenzo.
In
Zone B
, Atlético Tucumán, Boca, Defensa y Justicia, Gimnasia, Huracán, Independiente, Lanús, Newell's, Patronato, Sarmiento, Talleres, Unión and Vélez.
Platense and Sarmiento will not play the first date, since their leaders asked for a week of extension because they had just finished defining the Reduced of the First National.
It will be the classic, despite the fact that the biggest rival of Vicente López's club is Argentinos Juniors, who will face Vélez.
Even so, the duel between the
Squid
and the
Bug
will be played on the second date.
Regarding the brown, before the draw its leaders received a plaque as a tribute for their return to the top category after 22 years in the depths of the Ascent.
Another detail:
so that it could be a National Cup, since it was not possible to lower the averages regime, a
"regulatory exception" was made.
And while looking for a sponsor for the naming, the idea of re-calling it the Diego Maradona Cup was truncated due to a strictly legal issue.
The complete fixture
Additional classic.
On the second date, Argentinos-Platense.
The Superclásico.
It will be on the fifth date at the Bombonera.
Avellaneda burns.
In the ninth they will play Racing-Independiente in the Cylinder.
It closes in Santa Fe. On dates 12 and 13 Central-Newell's and Colón-Unión play.