1981 Argentine Primera División

The 1981 Primera División season was the 90th season of top-flight football in Argentina. Boca Juniors won the Metropolitano (20th title) while River Plate (21st title) won the Nacional championship. League is Superliga Argentina.

Primera División

Season	1981
Dates	22 February – 20 December
Champions	Boca Juniors (Metropolitano) River Plate (Nacional)
1982 Copa Libertadores	Boca Juniors River Plate
← 1980 1982 →

Colón and San Lorenzo were relegated.

Metropolitano championship

Metropolitano

Boca Juniors, Metropolitano champions
Season	1981
Dates	22 February – 15 August
Champions	Boca Juniors (20th title)
Promoted	Instituto (C) Sarmiento (J)
Relegated	Colón San Lorenzo
1982 Copa Libertadores	Boca Juniors
Top goalscorer	Raúl Chaparro (20)
← 1980 1982 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Boca Juniors	34	20	10	4	60	27	+33	50
2	Ferro Carril Oeste	34	18	13	3	50	20	+30	49
3	Newell's Old Boys	34	14	11	9	58	44	+14	39
3	River Plate	34	14	11	9	62	50	+12	39
5	Racing	34	12	14	8	46	30	+16	38
6	Independiente	34	14	9	11	43	35	+8	37
7	Rosario Central	34	9	16	9	36	39	−3	34
8	Huracán	34	12	9	13	41	50	−9	33
9	Instituto	34	13	6	15	56	54	+2	32
9	Unión	34	11	10	13	39	37	+2	32
11	Vélez Sársfield	34	8	15	11	39	48	−9	31
11	Platense	34	10	11	13	39	49	−10	31
13	Sarmiento	34	9	12	13	46	52	−6	30
13	Estudiantes (LP)	34	11	8	15	35	43	−8	30
15	Talleres (C)	34	10	9	15	36	45	−9	29
15	Argentinos Juniors	34	9	11	14	44	57	−13	29
17	San Lorenzo	34	9	10	15	31	48	−17	28
18	Colón	34	6	9	19	26	59	−33	21

Source:

Nacional championship

Nacional

River Plate, Nacional champions
Season	1981
Dates	13 September – 20 December
Champions	River Plate (21st title)
1982 Copa Libertadores	River Plate
Top goalscorer	Carlos Bianchi (15 goals)
← 1980 1982 →

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Rosario Central	14	7	4	3	32	20	+12	18
2	Gimnasia y Esgrima (J)	14	6	4	4	19	16	+3	16
3	Argentinos Juniors	14	4	7	3	15	15	0	15
4	Huracán	14	5	4	5	20	20	0	14
4	Belgrano	14	5	4	5	16	16	0	14
4	Gimnasia y Esgrima (M)	14	4	6	4	15	16	−1	14
7	Racing	14	2	6	6	12	22	−10	10

Source:

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Ferro Carril Oeste	14	10	2	2	24	11	+13	22
2	River Plate	14	7	5	2	26	12	+14	19
2	Loma Negra	14	7	5	2	15	10	+5	19
4	Talleres (C)	14	2	6	6	9	16	−7	10
4	Guaraní Antonio Franco	14	3	4	7	16	24	−8	10
6	San Martín (T)	14	3	3	8	17	24	−7	9
6	Sarmiento	14	3	3	8	10	20	−10	9

Source:

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Independiente	14	9	3	2	29	10	+19	21
2	Vélez Sársfield	14	8	1	5	26	14	+12	17
3	Racing (C)	14	8	3	3	27	16	+11	19
4	Newell's Old Boys	14	4	4	6	23	24	−1	12
4	Platense	14	3	6	5	7	15	−8	12
6	Gimnasia y Tiro	14	1	5	8	9	26	−17	7
6	Huracán (SR)	14	1	5	8	14	34	−20	7

Source:

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Boca Juniors	14	8	3	3	28	12	+16	19
2	Instituto	14	6	4	4	18	14	+4	16
2	Estudiantes (LP)	14	5	6	3	16	13	+3	16
4	San Lorenzo	14	4	6	4	14	15	−1	14
4	Atlético Tucumán	14	6	2	6	14	17	−3	14
6	Unión	14	2	6	6	13	15	−2	10
7	San Lorenzo	14	3	3	8	13	30	−17	9

Source:

Quarterfinals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Rosario Central	1–2	River Plate	1–2	0–0
Ferro Carril Oeste	2–0	Gimnasia y Esgrima (J)	1–0	1–0
Instituto	1–2	Independiente	1–2	0–0
Boca Juniors	3–4	Vélez Sársfield	2–1	1–3

Semifinals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Independiente	1–1	River Plate	1–1	0–0
Vélez Sársfield	2–3	Ferro Carril Oeste	1–2	1–1

• River Plate advanced on away goals rule

Final

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
River Plate	2–0	Ferro Carril Oeste	1–0	1–0

• River Plate won 2–0 on aggregate.

First leg

1981 Campeonato Nacional Final

16 December 1981

First leg

River Plate	1–0	Ferro Carril Oeste
	Report

River Plate, Buenos Aires

---

Second leg

20 December 1981

Second leg

Ferro Carril Oeste	0–1	River Plate
	Report	Kempes 58'

Ferro C. Oeste, Buenos Aires

Attendance: 22,371

Referee: Teodoro Nitti

Ferro C.O.

River Plate

GK	1	Eduardo Basigalup
DF	4	Roberto M. Gómez
DF	2	Héctor Cúper
DF	6	Juan D. Rocchia
DF	3	Oscar Garré
MF	8	Carlos Arregui
MF	5	Gerónimo Saccardi
MF	10	Adolfino Cañete
FW	7	Claudio Crocco		54'
FW	9	Julio César Jiménez
FW	11	Miguel A. Juárez		60'
Substitutes:
FW		Alberto Márcico		54'
FW		Luis Andreuchi		60'
Manager:
Carlos Griguol

GK	1	Ubaldo Fillol
DF	4	Eduardo Saporiti
DF	2	Alberto Tarantini
DF	6	Daniel Passarella
DF	3	Julio Olarticoechea
MF	8	Enzo D. Bulleri
MF	5	Américo Gallego
MF	10	Emilio Commisso
FW	7	Jorge Tévez		45'
FW	9	Mario Kempes
FW	11	José M. Vieta		67'
Substitutes:
FW		Ramón Díaz		45'
MF		Reinaldo Merlo		67'
Manager:
Alfredo Di Stéfano