1979 Argentine Primera División

88th season of top-tier football league in Argentina

Football league season

Primera División
Season	1979
Champions	River Plate (Metropolitano and Nacional)
← 1978 1980 →

The 1979 Primera División season was the 88th season of top-flight football in Argentina. River Plate won both the Metropolitano and Nacional championship, achieving 19 titles total.

There were three teams relegated, Atlanta, Chacarita Juniors and Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP).^[1]

Metropolitano Championship

Football league season

Metropolitano
River Plate, Metropolitano champions
Season	1979
Champions	River Plate (18th title)
Promoted	Ferro Carril Oeste
Relegated	Atlanta Chacarita Juniors Gim. y Esgrima LP
1980 Copa Libertadores	River Plate
Top goalscorer	Sergio Fortunato Diego Maradona (14 goals each)
← 1978 1980 →

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	River Plate	18	9	6	3	28	19	+9	24
2	Vélez Sársfield	18	10	3	5	27	20	+7	23
2	Argentinos Juniors	18	10	3	5	34	26	+8	23
4	Newell's Old Boys	18	8	6	4	27	14	+13	22
4	Racing	18	8	6	4	31	20	+11	22
6	Unión	18	6	7	5	23	20	+3	19
7	Quilmes	18	6	5	7	23	20	+3	17
8	Huracán	18	6	4	8	24	31	−7	16
9	Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	18	3	2	13	11	28	−17	8
10	Platense	18	2	2	14	15	45	−30	6

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

2nd place playoff

Vélez Sársfield 4-0 Argentinos Juniors

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Rosario Central	18	10	6	2	37	17	+20	26
2	Independiente	18	11	2	5	36	25	+11	24
3	Estudiantes (LP)	18	8	6	4	34	27	+7	22
4	Boca Juniors	18	7	6	5	27	19	+8	20
5	Colón	18	6	7	5	24	23	+1	19
5	Ferro Carril Oeste	18	6	7	5	24	28	−4	19
7	San Lorenzo	18	4	9	5	28	25	+3	17
8	All Boys	18	5	5	8	17	28	−11	15
9	Atlanta	18	0	9	9	10	23	−13	9
9	Chacarita Juniors	18	2	5	11	15	37	−22	9

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Semifinals

Club	-	Club	1st leg	2nd leg
River Plate	-	Independiente	4-3	2-1
Rosario Central	-	Vélez Sársfield	0-1	0-0

Final

Club	-	Club	1st leg	2nd leg
Vélez Sársfield	-	River Plate	0-2	1-5

Nacional Championship

Football league season

Nacional
River Plate, Nacional champions
Season	1979
Champions	River Plate (19th title)
1980 Copa Libertadores	Vélez Sársfield
Top goalscorer	Diego Maradona (12 goals)
← 1978 1980 →

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Vélez Sársfield	14	7	5	2	26	15	+11	19
2	Unión	14	6	5	3	20	13	+7	17
2	Ferro Carril Oeste	14	6	5	3	22	17	+5	17
2	San Martín (T)	14	5	7	2	20	18	+2	17
5	Independiente	14	7	1	6	26	22	+4	15
6	Alianza Juventud Pringles^[a]	14	3	5	6	15	21	−6	11
7	Ledesma	14	0	4	10	12	33	−21	4

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

^ From San Luis Province

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Talleres (C)	14	8	4	2	31	20	+11	20
2	River Plate	14	7	4	3	26	14	+12	18
3	Huracán	14	6	5	3	29	22	+7	17
4	Newell's Old Boys	14	6	4	4	29	20	+9	16
5	Quilmes	14	4	2	8	14	18	−4	10
5	Kimberley	14	4	2	8	19	29	−10	10
7	Gimnasia y Tiro	14	1	3	10	10	37	−27	5

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Racing	14	6	5	3	24	17	+7	17
1	Atético Tucumán	14	6	5	3	22	15	+7	17
3	Argentinos Juniors	14	5	5	4	20	14	+6	15
3	Colón	14	5	5	4	19	17	+2	15
5	All Boys	14	4	4	6	12	18	−6	12
6	Independiente Rivadavia	14	3	5	6	13	20	−7	11
7	Altos Hornos Zapla	14	2	5	7	13	24	−11	9

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Instituto	14	7	4	3	24	11	+13	18
1	Rosario Central	14	7	4	3	25	15	+10	18
3	Boca Juniors	14	5	7	2	15	11	+4	17
4	San Lorenzo	14	6	4	4	23	11	+12	16
5	Estudiantes (LP)	14	7	0	7	24	21	+3	14
6	Chaco For Ever	14	4	2	8	13	30	−17	10
7	Cipolletti	14	2	3	9	11	34	−23	7

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Quarterfinals

Club	-	Club	1st leg	2nd leg
Instituto	-	Atético Tucumán	3-2	0-3
Unión	-	Talleres (C)	3-0	0-2
Vélez Sársfield	-	River Plate	1-0	0-1 (PK 3-4)
Racing	-	Rosario Central	1-3	0-3

Semifinals

Club	-	Club	1st leg	2nd leg
River Plate	-	Rosario Central	4-0	3-1
Atético Tucumán	-	Unión	0-2	0-2

Final

Club	-	Club	1st leg	2nd leg
Unión	-	River Plate	1-1	0-0

River Plate won on goal away rule

First leg

1979 Campeonato Nacional Final

19 December 1979

First leg

Unión (SF)	1–1	River Plate
Mazzoni	Report	Alonso 88'

Estadio 15 de Abril, Santa Fe

Second leg

23 December 1979

Second leg

River Plate	0–0	Unión (SF)
	Report

Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires

Attendance: 32,735

Referee:

Jorge Romero

River Plate

Unión (Santa Fe)


GK	1	Ubaldo Fillol
DF	4	Eduardo Saporiti
DF	2	Daniel Leonardi
DF	6	Daniel Passarella
DF	3	Héctor López
MF	8	Juan José López
MF	5	Reinaldo Merlo
MF	10	Norberto Alonso
FW	7	Pedro A. González
FW	9	Leopoldo Luque
FW	11	Emilio Commisso
Substitutes:
FW		Ramón Díaz
Manager:
Ángel Labruna


GK	1	Nery Pumpido
DF	4	Hugo I. López
DF	2	Carlos Mazzoni
DF	6	Pablo Cárdenas
DF	3	Oscar Regenhardt
MF	8	Mario E. Alberto
MF	5	Roberto Telch
MF	10	Héctor Pitarch
FW	7	Arsenio Ribeca
FW	9	Juan G. Paz
FW	11	Fernando H. Alí
Substitutes:
MF		Víctor H. Arroyo
FW		Eduardo Stehlik
Manager:
Reynaldo Volken