1996–97 in Argentine football

1996–97 in Argentine football saw River Plate win both the Apertura and Clausura championships. Vélez Sársfield won the Recopa Sudamericana and Lanús won the Copa CONMEBOL.

Torneo Apertura ("Opening" Tournament)

Position	Team	Points	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Difference
1	River Plate	46	19	15	1	3	52	22	30
2	Independiente	37	19	11	4	4	34	22	12
3	Lanús	37	19	10	7	2	23	12	11
4	Racing Club	32	19	9	5	5	31	24	7
5	Rosario Central	31	19	8	7	4	35	28	7
6	Gimnasia La Plata	27	19	7	6	6	21	20	1
7	San Lorenzo	27	19	8	3	8	24	24	0
8	Colón de Santa Fe	26	19	6	8	5	26	24	2
9	Newell's Old Boys	26	19	7	5	7	24	26	-2
10	Boca Juniors	25	19	7	4	8	36	33	3
11	Estudiantes de La Plata	25	19	7	4	8	27	28	-1
12	Gimnasia de Jujuy	25	19	6	7	6	18	19	-1
13	Vélez Sársfield	23	19	6	5	8	29	33	-4
14	Ferro Carril Oeste	22	19	5	7	7	32	34	-2
15	Platense	21	19	5	6	8	25	30	-5
16	Unión de Santa Fe	20	19	5	5	9	24	27	-3
17	Huracán de Corrientes	19	19	4	7	8	31	40	-9
18	Deportivo Español	16	19	2	10	7	18	25	-7
19	Huracán	16	19	3	7	9	21	36	-15
20	Banfield	13	19	3	4	12	14	38	-22

Position	Player	Team	Goals
1	Gustavo Reggi	Ferro Carril Oeste	11
2	Julio Cruz	River Plate	10
3	Guillermo Barros Schelotto	Gimnasia La Plata	9
3	Martín Cardetti	Rosario Central	9
3	Rubén Da Silva	Rosario Central	9
3	Fernando Di Carlo	Platense	9

Position	Team	Points	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Difference
1	River Plate	41	19	12	5	2	37	20	17
2	Colón de Santa Fe	35	19	9	8	2	36	28	8
3	Newell's Old Boys	35	19	10	5	4	23	20	3
4	Independiente	34	19	9	5	5	38	21	17
5	Vélez Sársfield	32	19	9	3	7	25	18	7
6	San Lorenzo	30	19	9	3	7	32	22	10
7	Racing Club	27	19	7	6	6	24	22	2
8	Platense	26	19	6	8	5	21	22	-1
9	Boca Juniors	25	19	6	7	6	34	32	2
10	Ferro Carril Oeste	24	19	5	9	5	24	22	2
11	Lanús	24	19	6	6	7	22	21	1
12	Unión de Santa Fe	24	19	6	6	7	31	36	-5
13	Gimnasia La Plata	23	19	6	5	8	19	25	-6
14	Huracán	22	19	5	7	7	22	33	-11
15	Huracán de Corrientes	21	19	4	9	6	21	28	-7
16	Estudiantes de La Plata	19	19	5	4	10	22	26	-4
17	Deportivo Español	19	19	4	7	8	19	25	-6
18	Rosario Central	18	19	4	6	9	24	27	-3
19	Banfield	16	19	4	4	11	20	32	-12
20	Gimnasia de Jujuy	14	19	2	8	9	21	35	-14

Position	Player	Team	Goals
1	Sergio Martínez	Boca Juniors	15
2	José Luis Calderón	Independiente	12
2	Enzo Francescoli	River Plate	12
4	Josemir Lujambio	Huracán de Corrientes	10

Banfield and Huracán de Corrientes were relegated with the worst points averages.

Team	Intercontinental	Recopa 1996	Supercopa 1996	CONMEBOL 1996	Copa Libertadores 1997
Vélez Sársfield	N/A	Champions	Champions	N/A	2nd round
Lanús	N/A	N/A	N/A	Champions	did not qualify
River Plate	Runner up	Runner up	1st round	N/A	Round 2
Racing Club	N/A	N/A	1st round	N/A	SF
Rosario Central	N/A	N/A	N/A	SF	did not qualify
Boca Juniors	N/A	N/A	QF	did not qualify	did not qualify
Argentinos	N/A	N/A	1st round	did not qualify	did not qualify
Estudiantes	N/A	N/A	1st round	did not qualify	did not qualify
Independiente	N/A	N/A	1st round	did not qualify	did not qualify