The Copa Libertadores remains the most prestigious competition in South America for clubs, and the Primera División Argentina was the most successful league in the cup's history, having won the competition 24 times; Independiente has a record seven wins, followed by Boca Juniors with six, Estudiantes (LP) and River Plate with four, while Racing Club, Argentinos Juniors, Vélez Sarsfield and San Lorenzo have one apiece.
Since that year, the league format in Argentina has gone through several changes, and thus the method to qualify to Copa Libertadores has altered several times accordingly.
Since that year, the league format in Argentina has gone through several changes, and thus the method to qualify to Copa Libertadores has altered several times accordingly.
The winner and runner-up of the Nacional, San Loranzo and River Plate respectively, represented Argentina to play in the Copa Libertadores 1973.
Rosario Central and Newell's Old Boys, the first two teams in the table, qualified to Copa Libertadores 1975.
The winner of the Metropolitano and Nacional would automatically qualify to participate the Copa Libertadores in the following year.
Therefore, the runner-up of the 1985 Nacional, Vélez Sársfield, qualified for a Liguilla Pre-Libertadores tournament with the second to seventh-placed teams from the new double round-robin domestic 1985-96 league (together with 6 provincial qualifiers), to compete for the remaining qualification, and this tournament was won by Boca Juniors.
[12] From 1986 to 1990, the champion of the Primera División earned a place directly, whilst a Liguilla Pre-Libertadores tournament was held every year to determine the second qualifying team.
[8] Eight teams participated in the Pre-Libertadores tournament, and it was competed under a two-legged knock-out format with the winner qualifying to the Copa Libertadores.
The champion of the Primera División gained direct qualification and a Liguilla Pre-Libertadores tournament was contested for the other spot.
Since this season, instead of playing only one double round-robin tournament, two competitions have been held each year, namely, the Apertura and Clausura.
The ultimate winner was also eligible for the Copa Libertadores, while the loser needed to play in the Liguilla Pre-Libertadores tournament to compete for qualification.
As a result, in the following season, the winner of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments did not compete in a Final but both of them were crowned the champions.
[16] Since 1999, the champions of each tournament, Apertura and Clausura and the best teams in the aggregate table qualified to play the Libertadores.
The number of seats for Argentine clubs increased to four in 1998-99 (for 2000 Copa Libertadores) and a new method was adopted in this season, which was used until 2007.
However, unlike the European practice, the nation receives an extra place in the tournament to accommodate the holder.
In the 2009-10 season, champions and teams with best average in the aggregate table in a calendar year were eligible for the tournament.
For example, the best three non-champions teams of the aggregate table of Clausure 2009 and Apertura 2009 would gain the berths of Copa Libertadores 2010.
Since the league format of Primera División changed in 2013 Final, and the Copa Argentina was put into circulation again (the last edition had been played in 1970), the qualifying method was amended once more.
Qualification would be based on a ranking of clubs to be made according to their performances in domestic and international championships.
The ranking would include teams performances from the 2021 Primera División championship (the first organised by Liga Profesional de Fútbol, an entity established after the demise of Superliga Argentina.