Enzo Fernández scored for Chelsea in their 2–0 win over Burnley on Matchday 12 of the Premier League.
Enzo’s goal came in the 88th minute. Chelsea regained possession in the attacking half, and Pedro Neto advanced on the right before sending a low pass into the box. The Argentine midfielder arrived from behind and directed the ball into the net near the penalty spot to close the match at 2–0.
With this goal, Enzo now reaches 25 goal contributions in the Premier League, with 13 goals and 12 assists.
In an unprecedented move, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) and the Professional League (LPF) awarded Rosario Central the newly created “League Champion” trophy for finishing at the top of the 2025 Annual Table, despite the domestic season still being in progress and the distinction not being scheduled at the start of the year.
The recognition was delivered on Thursday at the league’s offices in Buenos Aires, where club president Gonzalo Belloso, head coach Ariel Holan, captain Jorge Broun, and club icon Ángel Di María received the award directly from league officials.
The LPF Executive Committee justified the move by highlighting the importance of reinstating a season-long champion, a format previously used in Argentine football but discontinued in recent years. Still, the timing raised eyebrows, given that the annual competition is technically ongoing and the playoffs of the Clausura will only begin this weekend.
“This plan has existed for several years — bringing back the annual champion,” Belloso said after the meeting. “From now on, this trophy will accompany the Apertura, Clausura, the Champions Trophy, and we will once again have the annual champion. It’s very well deserved for a club like ours. We were first from the opening match to the last, made more points than anyone, and lost only two games all year.”
Holan and Broun admitted they only learned about the award hours before the ceremony. “We found out last night,” Holan explained. “We even had to move training from the morning to the afternoon.” Broun added: “This is the star for the long tournament, for the Annual Table. It’s already ours.”
Belloso, surprised but pleased, also thanked AFA leadership for what he described as an unexpected recognition: “They brought us this surprise. We are very happy.”
Beyond symbolic value, the Annual Table leader earns a direct qualification to the 2026 Copa Libertadores, as well as a permanent place in the Supercopa Internacional, a competition that has been staged since 2023 in partnership with foreign venues. Recent editions were won by Racing (2023), Talleres (2025), and Vélez Sarsfield (2025).
Holan emphasized that this return to a season-long champion aligns with how many clubs prefer to measure consistency: “It’s a very fair recognition. The annual tournament is something Argentine football needed again.”
When asked whether the Annual Table should eventually expand to include matches against all teams, not just those within each zone, Holan deferred: “There are many models. The directors will choose the best one. We knew the format we were playing, and now another knockout tournament begins. This annual recognition is the result of effort throughout the year.”
The 2025 season was split into two tournaments — Apertura and Clausura — with teams competing against the same group of rivals in both semesters, switching home and away fields. Rosario Central played the clubs from Zone B and the interzonal clásico against Newell’s Old Boys.
Across 32 matches, Central collected 66 points, the highest total among all first-division clubs, securing both the Annual Table leadership and their Copa Libertadores spot for 2026.
The club celebrated on social media shortly after the ceremony, posting: “Central, 2025 League Champion! We are the best team of the year!”
After the Executive Committee meeting, the LPF released a statement confirming that the team finishing first in the Annual Table will officially be considered “League Champion” each season, in addition to receiving existing benefits such as qualification to international competitions.
Although Central now holds the annual crown, the Clausura playoffs are about to begin, and the tournament’s ultimate champion has yet to be crowned. This season’s Apertura champion was Platense, while Independiente Rivadavia claimed the Copa Argentina. The Clausura winner will be decided in the coming weeks.
The Finalissima between Argentina and Spain will be played in March.
President of CONEMBOL, Alejandro Domínguez has confirmed that the match will take place next year. Domínguez stated that the match will take place between March 23 and March 31, 2026 but did not specify the location.
Argentina won the 2022 Finalissima as reigning Copa America champions when they won 3-0 against Italy, the 2021 Euro champions.
Argentina are in second place in the latest FIFA rankings.
The Argentina national team keep their second place spot in the FIFA rankings behind Spain. Argentina played only one match in November, a 2-0 win vs. Angola. Here are the updated standings:
José Pekerman spoke about Lionel Messi’s first youth match with the Argentina national team.
Pekerman won three FIFA U20 World Cup’s with the Argentina national team, a record which he holds. The Argentine went on to coach the senior Argentina national team and was the coach which gave Lionel Messi his first ever match with the senior team.
Lionel Messi would play his first match with the U20 national team in 2004 against Paraguay. Speaking in an interview at Olé Summit 2025, Pekerman spoke about how Lionel Messi first played with the youth team. Here is what he had to say:
“In Spain, we had heard about Lionel from an Under-17 tournament in Finland. The Spanish coaching staff told us that if they had had that ‘kid’, they would have won it.
“But since the paperwork was already in place for him to play in the Under-20 World Cup for Spain, which would have blocked him, we had to hurry. Tocalli told me he had the team ready for the South American Under-20 Championship, which was starting in a month.”
“I spoke to the president, told him about it, said he wanted to come, and that we had to send the call-up to Barcelona.
“I told Tocalli that I was impressed, that he was the player of the future. I couldn’t be wrong, he was the new star of Argentine football a blessing.
“I told him (Tocalli) that I didn’t want him to play if it wasn’t necessary, just to play a friendly match and sign the form to send to FIFA. And that was it, no more Spain.
“I spoke with Julio (Grondona) to ask him to give Messi his debut, but I set one condition: the opponent could be anyone, I didn’t care; the match had to be played at Argentinos’ stadium. If Diego had played there…”
