# 2021 Primera Nacional

The 2021 Argentine Primera Nacional, also known as the Campeonato de Primera Nacional 2021, was the 37th season of the Primera Nacional, the second tier of Argentine football. The season began on 12 March 2021 and ended on 21 December 2021. Thirty-five teams competed in the league, thirty returning from the 2020 season, two teams promoted from Torneo Federal A and three from Primera B Metropolitana.
Tigre were the champions, winning their first Primera Nacional title by beating Barracas Central by a 1–0 score in the final played on 22 November 2021 and earned promotion to the Argentine Primera División.

## Format

The 35 teams were split into two zones, one of 17 teams and another one of 18 teams, where they played against the other teams in their group twice: once at home and once away, with one team in Zone A having a bye in each round for a total of 34 rounds. Both zone winners played a final match on neutral ground to decide the first promoted team to the Liga Profesional for the 2022 season, while the teams placed from second to fourth place in each zone played a knockout tournament (Torneo Reducido) for the second promotion berth along with the loser of the final between the zone winners, which joined the Reducido in the semi-finals. No teams were relegated to either Primera B Metropolitana or Torneo Federal A this season. The draw to decide the groups and fixture was held on 25 February 2021.

## Club information
### Stadia and locations

| Club | City | Stadium |
| Agropecuario Argentino | Carlos Casares | Ofelia Rosenzuaig |
| All Boys | Buenos Aires | Islas Malvinas |
| Almagro | José Ingenieros | Tres de Febrero |
| Almirante Brown | Isidro Casanova | Fragata Presidente Sarmiento |
| Alvarado | Mar del Plata | José María Minella |
| Atlanta | Buenos Aires | Don León Kolbowsky |
| Atlético de Rafaela | Rafaela | Nuevo Monumental |
| Belgrano | Córdoba | Julio César Villagra |
| Barracas Central | Buenos Aires | Claudio Chiqui Tapia |
| Brown (A) | Adrogué | Lorenzo Arandilla |
| Chacarita Juniors | Villa Maipú | Chacarita Juniors |
| Defensores de Belgrano | Buenos Aires | Juan Pasquale |
| Deportivo Maipú | Maipú | Omar Higinio Sperdutti |
| Deportivo Morón | Morón | Nuevo Francisco Urbano |
| Deportivo Riestra | Buenos Aires | Guillermo Laza |
| Estudiantes (BA) | Caseros | Ciudad de Caseros |
| Estudiantes (RC) | Río Cuarto | Antonio Candini |
| Ferro Carril Oeste | Buenos Aires | Arquitecto Ricardo Etcheverry |
| Gimnasia y Esgrima (J) | Jujuy | 23 de Agosto |
| Gimnasia y Esgrima (M) | Mendoza | Víctor Legrotaglie |
| Güemes | Santiago del Estero | Arturo Miranda |
| Guillermo Brown | Puerto Madryn | Raúl Conti |
| Independiente Rivadavia | Mendoza | Bautista Gargantini |
| Instituto | Córdoba | Presidente Perón |
| Mitre (SdE) | Santiago del Estero | Doctores José y Antonio Castiglione |
| Nueva Chicago | Buenos Aires | Nueva Chicago |
| Quilmes | Quilmes | Centenario |
| San Martín (SJ) | San Juan | Ingeniero Hilario Sánchez |
| San Martín (SJ) | San Juan | Estadio del Bicentenario |
| San Martín (T) | Tucumán | La Ciudadela |
| San Telmo | Dock Sud | Osvaldo Baletto |
| Santamarina | Tandil | Municipal Gral. San Martín |
| Temperley | Temperley | Alfredo Beranger |
| Tigre | Victoria | José Dellagiovanna |
| Tristán Suárez | Tristán Suárez | 20 de Octubre |
| Villa Dálmine | Campana | El Coliseo de Mitre y Puccini |

## Zone A
### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Tigre | 32 | 17 | 9 | 6 | 50 | 25 | +25 | 60 | Advance to Final and qualification for Copa Argentina |
| 2 | Quilmes | 32 | 17 | 8 | 7 | 45 | 31 | +14 | 59 | Advance to Torneo Reducido and qualification for Copa Argentina |
| 3 | Almirante Brown | 32 | 17 | 8 | 7 | 40 | 32 | +8 | 59 | Advance to Torneo Reducido and qualification for Copa Argentina |
| 4 | San Martín (T) | 32 | 15 | 12 | 5 | 34 | 18 | +16 | 57 | Advance to Torneo Reducido and qualification for Copa Argentina |
| 5 | Agropecuario Argentino | 32 | 15 | 8 | 9 | 36 | 26 | +10 | 53 | Qualification for Copa Argentina |
| 6 | Belgrano | 32 | 15 | 7 | 10 | 35 | 24 | +11 | 52 | Qualification for Copa Argentina |
| 7 | Gimnasia y Esgrima (M) | 32 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 34 | 35 | −1 | 44 | Qualification for Copa Argentina |
| 8 | Alvarado | 32 | 12 | 6 | 14 | 32 | 30 | +2 | 42 | |
| 9 | Temperley | 32 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 29 | 34 | −5 | 41 | |
| 10 | Atlanta | 32 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 27 | 34 | −7 | 39 | |
| 11 | Estudiantes (BA) | 32 | 8 | 14 | 10 | 29 | 28 | +1 | 38 | |
| 12 | Mitre (SdE) | 32 | 9 | 10 | 13 | 37 | 44 | −7 | 37 | |
| 13 | Deportivo Maipú | 32 | 10 | 6 | 16 | 27 | 38 | −11 | 36 | |
| 14 | Estudiantes (RC) | 32 | 5 | 19 | 8 | 23 | 26 | −3 | 34 | |
| 15 | Deportivo Riestra | 32 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 30 | 36 | −6 | 34 | |
| 16 | Chacarita Juniors | 32 | 6 | 9 | 17 | 29 | 50 | −21 | 27 | |
| 17 | Nueva Chicago | 32 | 4 | 9 | 19 | 23 | 49 | −26 | 21 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | AGA | CAB | ALV | ATL | BEL | CHA | DMA | DRI | EBA | ERC | GEM | MIT | NCH | QUI | SMT | TEM | TIG |
| Agropecuario Argentino | — | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Almirante Brown | 2–1 | — | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 |
| Alvarado | 2–0 | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Atlanta | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Belgrano | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | — | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| Chacarita Juniors | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | — | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 2–2 |
| Deportivo Maipú | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | — | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–4 |
| Deportivo Riestra | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 |
| Estudiantes (BA) | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | — | 0–0 | 0–0 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| Estudiantes (RC) | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 |
| Gimnasia y Esgrima (M) | 2–0 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | — | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–4 |
| Mitre (SdE) | 1–2 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | — | 1–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 4–2 |
| Nueva Chicago | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–4 |
| Quilmes | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–4 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | — | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| San Martín (T) | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | — | 2–1 | 0–2 |
| Temperley | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | — | 0–2 |
| Tigre | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | — |

## Zone B
### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Barracas Central | 34 | 15 | 13 | 6 | 43 | 33 | +10 | 58 | Advance to Final and qualification for Copa Argentina |
| 2 | Ferro Carril Oeste | 34 | 15 | 12 | 7 | 49 | 28 | +21 | 57 | Advance to Torneo Reducido and qualification for Copa Argentina |
| 3 | Independiente Rivadavia | 34 | 14 | 14 | 6 | 47 | 39 | +8 | 56 | Advance to Torneo Reducido and qualification for Copa Argentina |
| 4 | Deportivo Morón | 34 | 16 | 5 | 13 | 36 | 34 | +2 | 53 | Advance to Torneo Reducido and qualification for Copa Argentina |
| 5 | Güemes | 34 | 13 | 13 | 8 | 38 | 31 | +7 | 52 | Qualification for Copa Argentina |
| 6 | Gimnasia y Esgrima (J) | 34 | 13 | 13 | 8 | 34 | 30 | +4 | 52 | Qualification for Copa Argentina |
| 7 | Brown (A) | 34 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 41 | 40 | +1 | 47 | Qualification for Copa Argentina |
| 8 | Tristán Suárez | 34 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 43 | 42 | +1 | 45 | Qualification for Copa Argentina |
| 9 | Almagro | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 41 | 40 | +1 | 43 | |
| 10 | Defensores de Belgrano | 34 | 9 | 15 | 10 | 27 | 32 | −5 | 42 | |
| 11 | Instituto | 34 | 8 | 16 | 10 | 33 | 39 | −6 | 40 | |
| 12 | All Boys | 34 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 39 | |
| 13 | San Martín (SJ) | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 37 | 39 | −2 | 38 | |
| 14 | Villa Dálmine | 34 | 7 | 17 | 10 | 25 | 30 | −5 | 38 | |
| 15 | Atlético de Rafaela | 34 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 34 | 37 | −3 | 37 | |
| 16 | Guillermo Brown | 34 | 7 | 16 | 11 | 25 | 32 | −7 | 37 | |
| 17 | San Telmo | 34 | 8 | 13 | 13 | 34 | 50 | −16 | 37 | |
| 18 | Santamarina | 34 | 6 | 15 | 13 | 23 | 34 | −11 | 33 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | ALL | ALM | ATR | BAC | BRO | DBE | DMO | FCO | GEJ | GÜE | GBR | IND | INS | SMA | STE | SAN | TRS | VDA |
| All Boys | — | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 |
| Almagro | 3–0 | — | 1–0 | 0–1 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 |
| Atlético de Rafaela | 2–0 | 4–1 | — | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 |
| Barracas Central | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | — | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 |
| Brown (A) | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | — | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| Defensores de Belgrano | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–3 | — | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–6 | 2–0 |
| Deportivo Morón | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 3–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| Ferro Carril Oeste | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 6–0 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 6–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 |
| Gimnasia y Esgrima (J) | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Güemes | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | — | 0–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Guillermo Brown | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | — | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Independiente Rivadavia | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | — | 2–1 | 1–1 | 4–3 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Instituto | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| San Martín (SJ) | 0–2 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | — | 5–0 | 0–2 | 4–0 | 1–0 |
| San Telmo | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | — | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| Santamarina | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | — | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| Tristán Suárez | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | 1–1 |
| Villa Dálmine | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | — |

## Final

The top-ranked teams of each zone played a match on neutral ground to decide the champions and the first team promoted to Primera División. The losing team advanced to the semi-finals of the Torneo Reducido.
Team details :
| Tigre | Barracas Central |
| GK | 1 | Gonzalo Marinelli |
| DF | 4 | Víctor Cabrera |
| DF | 2 | Fernando Alarcón |
| DF | 6 | Abel Luciatti |
| MF | 11 | Cristian Zabala | 75' |
| MF | 8 | Lucas Blondel |
| MF | 5 | Sebastián Prediger (c) | 80' |
| MF | 10 | Lucas Menossi | 85' |
| MF | 3 | Sebastián Prieto |
| FW | 7 | Pablo Magnín | 30' |
| FW | 9 | Ijiel Protti | 90' |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 12 | Manuel Roffo |
| DF | 13 | Francisco Oliver |
| MF | 14 | Agustín Cardozo | 75' |
| DF | 15 | Diego Sosa | 85' |
| MF | 16 | Francisco Metilli |
| FW | 17 | Gonzalo Flores |
| FW | 18 | Milton Céliz | 90' |
| DF | 19 | Martín Galmarini |
| FW | 20 | Tomás Fernández |
| Manager: ||
| Diego Martínez ||
| GK | 1 | Maximiliano Gagliardo |
| DF | 4 | Dylan Glaby | 80' |
| DF | 2 | Bruno Cabrera | 83' | 84' |
| DF | 6 | Fernando González |
| DF | 3 | Gonzalo Paz |
| MF | 8 | Juan Manuel Vázquez | 60' |
| MF | 5 | Carlos Arce | 23' | 84' |
| MF | 10 | Iván Tapia |
| FW | 11 | Lucas Colitto |
| FW | 7 | Fernando Valenzuela |
| FW | 9 | Leonel Buter | 45' |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 12 | Mariano Monllor |
| DF | 13 | Andrés Imperiale |
| MF | 14 | Jonathan Rivero |
| DF | 15 | Daniel Martínez |
| FW | 16 | Facundo Stable | 60' |
| FW | 17 | Valentín Viola | 84' |
| FW | 18 | Mauro Albertengo | 84' |
| FW | 19 | Germán Estigarribia | 45' |
| MF | 20 | Luciano Romero |
| Manager: ||
| Rodolfo de Paoli ||

## Torneo Reducido
### First round

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Deportivo Morón | 3–3 (4–5 p) | Quilmes | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| San Martín (T) | 2–3 | Ferro Carril Oeste | 1–3 | 1–0 |
| Independiente Rivadavia | 1–2 | Almirante Brown | 1–1 | 0–1 |

#### Second leg
### Semi-finals

The semi-finals were contested by the three winners from the previous stage, as well as the Final losers Barracas Central. In this round, the four teams were seeded according to their performance in the first stage of the competition, with the best-ranked teams being paired against the worst ranked ones in double-legged ties. The two winners advanced to the final.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Almirante Brown | 2–3 | Barracas Central | 0–0 | 2–3 |
| Ferro Carril Oeste | 1–2 | Quilmes | 1–1 | 0–1 |

#### Second leg
### Final

The semi-final winners played a match on neutral ground to decide the second team promoted to Primera División.
Team details :
Quilmes
Barracas Central
GK1 Rodrigo Saracho
DF4 Rafael Barrios
DF2 Pier Barrios
DF6 Agustín García Basso
DF3 Agustín Bindella
MF7 Julián Bonetto
MF5 Adrián Calello (c)
MF8 Facundo Silva
MF11 Camilo Machado
FW9 Mariano Pavone
FW10 Facundo Pons
Substitutes:
DF14 Martín Ortega
MF15 Tomás Bottari
MF17 Emanuel Moreno
FW19 Federico Anselmo
FW20 Tomás Blanco
Manager:
Facundo Sava
GK1 Maximiliano Gagliardo
DF4 Axel Bordón
DF2 Bruno Cabrera
DF6 Fernando González
DF3 Gonzalo Paz
MF7 Lucas Colitto
MF8 Dylan Glaby
MF5 Carlos Arce
MF11 Juan Manuel Vázquez
MF10 Iván Tapia (c)
FW9 Mauro Albertengo
Substitutes:
FW17 Carlos Valenzuela
FW18 Germán Estigarribia
FW19 Leonel Buter
Manager:
Rodolfo De Paoli :

## Copa Argentina qualification

Fifteen Primera Nacional teams qualified for the round of 32 of the 2021–22 Copa Argentina, which were the top seven teams of each zone at the end of the season and the best eighth-placed team, which was selected according to points earned per game, goal difference, and goals scored.

### Ranking of eighth-placed teams

| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | PPG | Qualification |
| 1 | B | Tristán Suárez | 34 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 43 | 42 | +1 | 45 | 1.32 | Qualification for Copa Argentina |
| 2 | A | Alvarado | 32 | 12 | 6 | 14 | 32 | 30 | +2 | 42 | 1.31 | |

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Pablo Magnín | Tigre | 22 |
| 2 | Pablo Vegetti | Belgrano | 17 |
| 3 | Facundo Bruera | Brown | 15 |
| 4 | Brian Fernández | Ferro Carril Oeste | 14 |
| 5 | Nicolás Servetto | Almagro | 13 |
| 5 | Claudio Bieler | Atlético de Rafaela | 13 |
| 7 | Facundo Suárez | Gimnasia y Esgrima (J) | 12 |
| 8 | Axel Rodríguez | All Boys | 11 |
| 8 | Felipe Cadenazzi | Alvarado | 11 |
| 10 | Santiago Vera | Almirante Brown | 10 |
| 10 | Ignacio Colombini | Atlanta | 10 |
| 10 | Tomás Molina | Ferro Carril Oeste | 10 |
| 10 | Diego Cardozo | Independiente Rivadavia | 10 |
| 10 | Ezequiel Cérica | Mitre (SdE) | 10 |