The sixteenth round of the Torneo Clausura begins today with the title race as close as ever going into the home stretch. On Friday evening, Vélez Sarsfield will be aiming to cut short a run which now stretches to four games without victory (no wonder Ricardo Gareca’s upset) when they host Tigre, and Godoy Cruz will be hoping to keep their title hopes alive whilst simultaneously dooming Chacarita Juniors. Up at the top, Estudiantes host River and Independiente visit Huracán on Saturday, and Argentinos Juniors are at home to Gimnasia on Sunday. It has no bearing on the title race, but the weekend’s clásico is the last match on Sunday, with San Lorenzo visiting Boca Juniors. There’s also been an interesting announcement from Julio Grondona about future ticket sales.
All kick off times are local. Add four hours for British Summer Time.
Primera División Torneo Clausura 2010, sixteenth round:
Vélez Sarsfield vs Tigre (Fri, 19:00)
Godoy Cruz Antonio Tomba vs Chacarita Juniors (Fri, 21:10)
Lanús vs Arsenal Fútbol Club (Sat, 14:00)
Newell’s Old Boys vs Colón (Sat, 16:10)
Estudiantes de La Plata vs River Plate (Sat, 18:10)
Huracán vs Independiente (Sat, 20:15)
Argentinos Juniors vs Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata (Sun, 14:00)
Racing Club vs Banfield (Sun, 16:10)
Atlético Tucumán vs Rosario Central (Sun, 18:10)
Boca Juniors vs San Lorenzo de Almagro (Sun, 21:15)
AFA President Julio Grondona has provided Friday’s biggest headline by announcing that the AFA are going to change the way in which tickets are sold for football matches in the country. The wording was pretty vague, but the idea is to move ticket sales from the ticket offices at the stadia – where the barra bravas have some control over who gets what, and resales are made very easy – to banks in the city centres. The fine details of this are unclear and indeed Olé seem to think it might have some difficulty getting through the courts. Nonetheless, the AFA are trying to set some wheels in motion…
You can follow the Clausura and the Argentine sides in the 2010 Copa Libertadores via HEGS on Twitter (including updates during and between matches and similar stories that might not go up on the site until later). I’m slowly gaining followers, but if you’ve not signed up yet you can do so here.
Hasta El Gol Siempre 