Copa de la Liga Profesional

The Copa de la Liga Profesional (officially named "Copa Diego Armando Maradona" in its first edition)[1] is an official Argentine football cup competition. The cup was planned and organised by the "Liga Profesional de Fútbol", a body linked to the Argentine Football Association (AFA) that replaced the defunct Superliga Argentina.[2] This cup was conceived as a contingency competition after the schedule for a regular league season had been repeatedly delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Copa de la Liga Profesional
Organising bodyLiga Profesional de Fútbol (LPF)
Founded2020 (2020)
RegionArgentina
Qualifier forCopa Libertadores
Copa Sudamericana
Current championsBoca Juniors (2020)
Television broadcasters
  • Fox Sports Premium
  • TNT Sports
  • ESPN
  • TyC Sports
Websiteligaprofesional.ar
2021

After the passing of Diego Maradona in November 2020, the competition was named after him.[3] Nevertheless, the LPF executives decided to supress the "Diego Maradona" name to keep distance from the conflict between Maradona's heirs and lawyer Matías Morla, owner of the brand and former representative of Maradona.[4][5]

Boca Juniors was the first champion of the competition, after beating Banfield in the final.[6]

Format

The first edition was contested by the 24 teams that had took part in the 2019–20 Primera División championship, drawn into six groups of four teams each, playing on a double round-robin basis. In each zone, the top two teams advanced to the "Fase Campeón" while the bottom two teams advanced to the "Fase Complementación".[7]

In the Fase Campeón, the 12 qualified teams were split into two groups of six teams each, where they played a single round-robin tournament. The winners of each group played the final match at a neutral venue. The winner of the Fase Campeón final were crowned champion of the cup also qualifying for Copa Libertadores.[7]

On the other hand, teams in Fase Complementación played under the same format as in the Fase Campeón. The winners of the Fase Complementación final played a match against the Fase Campeón runners-up with the winners qualifying for the Copa Sudamericana.[7]

The second edition will have a similar format with a total of 26 teams including two promoted from Primera B Nacional. Teams will be drawn into two groups of 13 teams each, playing on a single round-robin a total of 13 rounds.[8]

List of champions
Year Champion Scores Runner-up
2020Boca Juniors
1–1 (5–3 p)
Banfield
2021

Titles by club
Club Titles Runners-up Seasons won Seasons runner-up
Boca Juniors1—2020—
Banfield01—2020

Top scorers
Player Club Goals
Ramón ÁbilaBoca Juniors
6
Miguel MerentielGodoy Cruz
6
Luis RodríguezColón
6

References
  1. "Copa Diego Maradona" (in Spanish). Liga Profesional de Fútbol. 25 November 2020.
  2. "Quién es quién en una AFA nueva que recupera los viejos poderes" (in Spanish). Clarín. 19 May 2020.
  3. "Hasta siempre, Diego" (in Spanish). Liga Profesional de Fútbol. 25 November 2020.
  4. El nombre "Diego Maradona" no va más on TyC
  5. La AFA, forzada a cambiar el nombre del torneo por el litigio de la herencia on La Nación, 1 Feb 2021
  6. "Boca es el campeón" (in Spanish). Liga Profesional de Fútbol. 17 January 2021.
  7. "REGLAMENTO DE LA COPA DE LA LIGA PROFESIONAL DE FUTBOL DE AFA 2020" (PDF) (in Spanish). AFA. 26 October 2020.
  8. El fixture completo de la Copa on Olé, 3 Feb 2021
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