Apertura 2011 - Round 12

Only 7 rounds left in Apertura and it's almost safe to say there's not a team that can take the championship away from the undefeated Boca.
They passed a big test in this round, playing without their 3 attacking players: playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme, and strikers Cvitanich and Viatri (torn ACL, out for 6-8 months), and they did it without any sweat. Colon was a lousy rival and Boca took an easy win to keep their 6 points advantage at the top.

The 2nd placed team is Atletico Rafaela, who finally played again a solid match after some irregular performances, beating last placed Argentinos Juniors 3-1.

Next round Boca and Atletico Rafaela meet.
Will the leaders take a bigger difference, or will Rafaela take the 3 points and open the race for the title ?

Racing is definitely a curious case. They are still undefeated and have conceded only 4 goals, but they just can't play as they are expected to and after 5 consecutive draws it seems like their championship dreams are gone, even though they still have to play against Boca.

Clausura champion Velez recently woke up. They won the last 4 games, but it's probably too late for them as well because the 8 points difference with Boca and their main goal for this semester is Copa Sudamericana where they've advanced to the Quarterfinals and will meet Santa Fe from Colombia.

Even though there are still 8 more months until relegations are decided, the fight in the lower places of the Averages table has been really hard.
San Martin, Tigre, Olimpo, All Boys, Union, San Lorenzo and Arsenal are fighting to avoid the relegations and promotion playoffs, and it promises to be a tough finish when the season ends.

Round 13 will be played this weekend but we have a postponed match because San Lorenzo and All Boys won't be played.
San Lorenzo crisis got even worst this week as some "hooligans" went on a fight with defender Jonathan Botinelli during Wednesday's practice and that ended with the security committee suspending the game.

Round 13 schedule :

Saturday October 29
15.05—Argentinos Juniors-Vélez Sarsfield
19.15—Newell’s Old Boys-Olimpo de Bahía Blanca
21.15—Independiente-Arsenal

Sunday October 30
14.00—Lanús-Godoy Cruz Antonio Tomba
18.10—Boca Juniors-Atlético Rafaela
20.20—Belgrano de Córdoba-Colón de Santa Fe

Monday October 31
17.00—Unión de Santa Fe-Tigre
19.05—Estudiantes de La Plata-Racing Club
21.15—San Martín de San Juan-Banfield

Standings:



Averages Table (http://www.argentinapreviews.com/2010/05/how-are-relegations-decided.html) :