The First National returns with a new format: 37 teams, 670 games and several familiar faces, after the dream of two promotions

Thirty-seven teams, two zones, 10 months of competition, 670 games, trips of more than 2,000 kilometers, two tickets to the Professional League

at stake and three descents that everyone will try to avoid.

With novelties in its format, reinforcements with a past from the

and a representative who will simultaneously play the

, this Friday the

tournament will begin , the main promotion contest and the most competitive in Argentine soccer.

The clashes between

and

at the Nuevo Francisco Urbano (at 9:10 p.m. on DirecTV Sports) and between

and

at the Antonio Candini (at 9:30 p.m. on TyC Sports) will open a day that will have as a dish The classic between

and

will be strong on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. in Floresta and in which only half of the teams in the category will compete.

If that happens, it will be as a consequence of one of the main changes in the structure of the tournament: unlike what happened in 2022, when the 37 participants faced each other in a single round,

.

Thus, the number of games will not be the same for everyone: the 19 teams from zone A (the one that will start this Friday) will play 36 games, while the 18 from zone B (which will start next week) will star in 34.

tournament

and with such a diverse geographical representation (teams from the City of Buenos Aires and 11 provinces will participate), the extra-sports requirement will be huge.

Here too the burden will not be the same for everyone.

.

For the teams in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area, the campaign will require, in all cases, less than 20,000 kilometers of travel.

Patronato, current champion of the Argentine Cup, returns to the First National after seven years.

Photo: Argentina Cup Press.

This journey on wheels (because the vast majority of transfers are made by bus) will grant two

.

The first will be resolved between the winners of both zones in a match that will be played on a neutral field.

The second will correspond to the winner of a

that also changed its format.

In the first round, the 14 teams that have finished between second and eighth place in each zone will meet.

The seven winners of that instance will be joined by the loser of the final for the first promotion in order to set up the quarterfinal table.

The first phase of the Reduced will be settled

in the stadium of the best-placed team during the season (in the case of the cross between the fifth of both zones, the one that has achieved the best average points in the tournament will be local).

The quarterfinals and the semifinals will be resolved in roundtrip duels.

The best positioned team will define the local team and will advance in case of equal points and goal difference in the two matches.

.

The descent comes recharged

The war of nerves at the bottom of the table will also come renewed this year:

.

The bottom teams of each zone will fall to Primera B or Federal A (depending on whether they are directly or indirectly affiliated with the Argentine Football Association), while the penultimate ones will meet in a match on neutral ground to decide which will be the third descended.

The novelties for this season are not limited to the structure, but also to the

.

After seven years, it will return to the Board of Trustees category.

But the Paraná team will return with a double peculiarity: they will do so as champion of the Argentine Cup and with a ticket in their pocket to play the

starting in April.

A similar situation lived in the 2019/20 Tigre season, after winning the Super League Cup and being relegated.

Aldosivi will also return to the division after four and a half years.

To try to return to the Professional League as soon as possible, Aldosivi bets on Fernando Quiroz, the coach with whom he was promoted in 2014. Photo: Aldosivi Press.

When it comes to laps,

had to wait 17 years: after beating Villa Miter on penalties in the Federal A final, the Nueva Italia team will be the only representative of the provincial capital after the promotions of Belgrano and Institute.

Nor will the descendants Sacachispas and Ramón Santamarina be present.

And from Primera B the only one of the 37 clubs that never participated in a national competition will join: Defensores Unidos de Zárate.

The 11 weeks since the end of last season have been prolific with roster changes.

Not only because

, but also because most have reconfigured their player pool with more than a dozen new additions.

It was not just a matter of quantity.

Several footballers with proven experience chose to join teams in the category.

Among them, two with a background in the national team.

At 38 years old and after two decades,

will play again in the Argentine second division (he did it with Platense): the former striker for San Lorenzo, Racing, Sampdoria, Catania and Saint-Etienne, among others, will wear the shirt of Tristán Suárez, one of the clubs that moved a lot and well in this transfer market.

The Lautaro brothers (left) and Mauro Formica (right) will be teammates in Defensores de Belgrano.

Photo: Belgrano Defenders Press.

Mauro Formica

, another man with a past in the National Team (he played a friendly against Poland in 2011, during the Sergio Batista cycle) and an extensive career in the country and abroad, will play for Defensores de Belgrano.

The midfielder trained at Newell's and who also played for Blackburn Rovers, Cruz Azul, Pumas de la UNAM, Palermo and Colón, will be a teammate with his brother Lautaro.

Another veteran with a very long journey abroad will also spend his last cartridges in the First National:

.

The 39-year-old from Neuquén ended his 13-season experience in Mexico to play for Deportivo Maipú de Mendoza.

Trained in the River as Sambueza,

, last passing through Banfield, will try to bring the Professional League back to the Board of Trustees.

Ferro added former Boca midfielder

, former San Lorenzo and Racing defender

and former Ciclón and Independiente striker

.

, starter in the Red goal for a good part of the last season, will guard the Quilmes fence.

Just as these experienced players arrived, several footballers departed from this market who, catapulted by their good performances in 2022, were recruited by First Class or foreign institutions.

The most notorious case was that of the youthful

, barely 18 years old, who signed a contract with Barcelona for three and a half years that includes a termination clause of 400 million euros.

Ferro, the club in which Pocho played since he was seven, will charge 1.2 million euros (he could add another 3.5 million in variables) and will keep 15% of the left-handed player's record, who this week trained with him Barça's top squad.

A great season at Ferro earned Lucas Román a transfer to Barcelona: Photo: Sara Gordon / FC Barcelona.

In addition, there were a few who jumped to teams in the Professional League: on the first date of that tournament, which was held last weekend,

gave the present , including They are Matías Giménez (from San Martín de San Juan to Independiente), Octavio Bianchi (from All Boys to Rosario Central), Maximiliano Centurión (from Defensores de Belgrano to Arsenal), Facundo Castelli (from Estudiantes to Central Córdoba) and Nicolás Servetto ( from Almagro to Platense).

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