It is again played for points in Argentine soccer.
This Thursday the curtain will rise with four of the 14 matches of the first round of the
League Cup
that will be spread over four days.
Yes, the 28 teams continue.
A unique spectacle, since there is almost no other league in the world with so many participants in the same tournament - the United States MLS has 29, but with a different dispute system.
An organization that is praised and applauded by its creators - the leaders, of course - but that inevitably goes against competitiveness and the quest to raise standards.
The fact is that no matter how fertile the inferiors and the pastures are in this soil, it is impossible for there to be 700 footballers - at an average of 25 per squad - at First Division level.
And even less so in a country that exports - often loses - talents - bleeds - because of an economy that today does not even compete with the poorest neighboring countries.
It's not just a matter of players,
the raw material of the show
.
There are also not so many top referees to direct so many demanding matches and many times there is not even a time grid so that the matches do not overlap.
Despite their decreasing level, the tournaments - and it happened in 2023 - have been very close.
The proof is that
there were three different champions
between the League, the League Cup and the Argentine Cup (River, Rosario Central and Estudiantes de La Plata) and that the fights to enter international competitions and to avoid relegation were more than exciting.
It seems like a contradiction, but it was like that.
And will continue to be...
In 2024
the calendar turned around
.
It will start with the Professional League Cup and end with the Professional League.
At the end of the second semester, the relegations will be defined - for now two, one by average and another by table - and the tickets for the
Libertadores
and the
Sudamericana
.
The tournament that begins this Thursday will be the same as the one that crowned Rosario Central a little over a month ago.
The 28 teams will be divided into two zones.
There will be 14 dates - including the classic or interzonal matches - and the four best in each zone will go to the playoffs from the quarterfinals.
They will be single matches and on a neutral court.
The champion will be known on May 5.
Yes, it will be an express tournament.
It will be the 100-day Cup
, with the peculiarity that in the first 27 days, 6 dates -84 games- will be played.
And there's more: on May 12, with the Olympic return very cool, the Professional League will start, the second tournament of the year.
The winner will almost not be able to toast at the celebrations.
Why the rush?
Because 2024 is a Copa América year.
In fact, the winter break will only arrive on June 12.
So, with five dates of the 27-day long tournament played, the ball will stop until July 21 and play will continue until the weekend of December 15.
But that will be another story.
The transfer market and the candidates
The transfer market, which will only close on Friday, February 2, was marked by austerity.
Most clubs had more downs than ups and that doesn't require much explanation.
The
economic uncertainty
that threatens Argentines is also a matter of concern for leaders.
And, above all, for the players.
The exodus to neighboring - or not so neighboring - leagues is increasing, in which salaries are much more competitive.
In this panorama,
River and Boca continue to be the most powerful
, although they were far from doing crazy things with their treasuries.
However, Millonario has so far only made one addition (the Uruguayan Nicolás Fonseca) and Xeneize has made just two (Cristian Lema and Kevin Zenón).
Demichelis's team had many starts - with Nicolás De La Cruz and Enzo Pérez at the helm - and they will aim their guns at the Libertadores.
He had too large a squad.
Diego Martínez's men, on the other hand, will hardly miss Valentín Barco and will seek to make a strong impression in the consolation that will be the Sudamericana and in the local tournament.
They have what.
Cristian Lema and Kevin Zenón, the two new faces of Boca 2024.
Behind them is
Racing
, which will also play in the Sudamericana and is one of the teams that strengthened the most and
the one that invested the most money
in this transfer market.
It has a logical explanation: it has been one of the ones that has raised the most in recent months.
The current image of the brand new coach Gustavo Costas with his eight reinforcements, which could be nine if the arrival of midfielder Agustín Urzi is completed, is directly related to the postcards of departures of different footballers.
In the last year and a half, the Academy sold more than 40 million dollars
.
Independiente
and
San Lorenzo
were not far behind
, adding six reinforcements each, but they were a little more concerned about being more surgical when choosing role players to strengthen the teams.
El Ciclón will have a double agenda because the Libertadores must also play and Rojo will aim all its guns to win a local title, something it has not achieved since 2002 while trying to consolidate its average.
Gabriel Ávalos takes his goals from La Paternal to Avellaneda.
Outside of the big ones, we have to see how
Rosario Central
and
Estudiantes
were stopped , the other two champions of 2023 in addition to River, who will also think about the Libertadores.
The Santa Fe team maintained their base and strengthened themselves, while those from the capital of Buenos Aires lost several historic players -Mariano Andújar and Mauro Boselli- and their best player -Benjamín Rollheiser-, but they repatriated Enzo Pérez.
And we must not take our eyes off
Talleres, Belgrano and Godoy Cruz
, who will also go out for drinks while seeking to maintain their good level in 2023.
Lanús
and
Vélez
, once regular entertainers, will have the obligation to be protagonists to inflate their ultra-low averages and acted accordingly in the transfer market to add experience.
However, the two that will have the most complicated time are the debutants
Independiente Rivadavia
and
Deportivo Riestra
, who were the ones that moved the most in the market with 13 and 11 additions for the moment to make the leap in quality necessary to not be far from their new contenders.