Argentinos Juniors on verge of title

By foxsports
Published

Argentinos Juniors is one victory away from winning its first Argentine league title for 25 years.

Known as the "Red Bugs," Argentinos, which was the first professional club of Diego Maradona, on Sunday play at Huracan on the final day of the regular season.

Anything less than a victory and Estudiantes, which has 37 points - one less than Argentinos, can claim the title with a win at Colon.

There will be a one-game playoff next week to decide the title if both teams finish level on points.

"We know if we win we can clinch the title, but if we lose there will be no drama," said Argentinos coach Claudio Borghi. "We are anxious about it but it's only a football match."

A title win would be an historic achievement for Borghi, who played with Maradona in Argentina's World Cup-winning team in 1986 and was a member of the Argentinos side in 1985 - the last time the club won the league. Borghi would become the first person at the club to win titles as both a player and a coach.

The strength of Argentinos is its midfield, led by Nestor Ortigoza and Juan Mercier. Both players are looking forward to the World Cup in South Africa - Ortigoza is in Paraguay's preliminary 30-man list for the World Cup and Mercier is in Argentina's enlarged squad.

Huracan trails Argentinos by 12 points in the standings and has little to lose.

"We don't want them to run the victory lap at our stadium," Huracan coach Hector Rivoira said. "So we'll be playing very tough against them."

Estudiantes is going for the double, having reached the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores, a tournament in which it is the defending champion. It faced Brazilian club Internacional on Thursday in the first-leg of the quarterfinals.

Estudiantes will on Sunday be without arguably its best player, Juan Sebastian Veron, who was sent off last week in a goalless draw with Rosario.

Argentina's so-called "big clubs" have had seasons to forget. Independiente, which was the league leader for much of the season, has slipped to fourth place with 31 points. Others are even further behind - Racing (26), River Plate (22), Boca Juniors (20) and San Lorenzo (17).

Chacarita Juniors and Atletico Tucuman will be relegated to the second division, while Rosario Central and Gimnasia La Plata face a playoff with the No. 3 and No. 4 clubs in the second division.