No sooner does one season end than another begins. In fact, 2012-13 still isn’t over, since Newell’s Old Boys take on Atlético Mineiro in the Copa Libertadores semi-final first leg on Wednesday night. Anyway, on Tuesday evening the AFA confirmed two things: first, that Vélez Sarsfield’s ridiculous title would continue to count, and secondly, they released the full fixture list for the 2013 Torneo Inicial. In previous years, I’ve copied out the whole thing. I won’t do that here, but I will put up the first weekend fixtures below the line, as well as a rundown of which rounds all the clásicos take place in. You can see the list for the whole championship here.
The opening weekend will be the first one of August, and will feature the following clashes, with the exception of Boca’s game against Newell’s, which will be postponed to avoid any clash with a potential Copa Libertadores final appearance for Newell’s.
Club Atlético Boca Juniors v Club Atlético Newell’s Old Boys*
Club Atlético Rosario Central v Quilmes Atlético Club
Club Deportivo Godoy Cruz Antonio Tomba v Asociación Atlético Argentinos Juniors
Club Atlético Colón v Racing Club
Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata v Club Atlético River Plate
Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro v Club Olimpo
Club Atlético Tigre v Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield
Arsenal Fútbol Club v Club Estudiantes de La Plata
Club Atlético All Boys v Asociación Mutual Social y Deportiva Atlético de Rafaela
Club Atlético Lanús v Club Atlético Belgrano
Those clásico dates (all dates unless otherwise stated are for the Sunday of the weekend on which the match will be played, so not necessarily precise) are…
Racing v San Lorenzo in round 2 (a midweek round around Weds the 7th August)
San Lorenzo v River: round 5 (1st September)
Argentinos v All Boys: round 6 (8th September)
Quilmes v Arsenal (well, it’s the closest thing either side has to a clásico in the Primera): round 6 (8th September)
Boca v Racing: round 7 (15th September)
Estudiantes v Gimnasia: round 8 (22nd September)
River v Boca: round 10 (6th October)
Central v Newell’s: round 12 (20th October)
San Lorenzo v Boca: round 14 (3rd November)
Racing v River: round 17 (24th November)
The Torneo Final fixtures, as usual, will be the reverse of those for the Inicial – so round one of the Final will be as above but with sides playing in the stadium of the team who start the Inicial away.
Hasta El Gol Siempre 