"Where there's a goal, man...": The World Champions League has fewer and fewer shouts and a worrying average.

"Where's there a mango, old Gómez?" Paraphrasing the lyrics of the song written by Ivo Pelay in the 1930s (in the midst of the economic crisis following the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the beginning of the infamous decade), set to music by Francisco Canaro and sung like no other by Tita Merello, at the start of the 2025 Clausura Tournament, one can sing: " Where's there a goal, old man... ". Of course, in the 1930s there was no money, but there were goals. Now, there's nothing at all. In the two rounds of the Clausura, only 61 goals have been scored in 30 matches.

The tournament with the highest goal average of the last 40 years was the Apertura 97 , with 3.02, or 574 goals in 190 matches. The lowest, the Apertura 91, with 1.93, or 366 goals in 190 matches. Therefore, it's no longer necessary to compare it with the decades of the 1930s (1931-40) or 1940s (1941-50), when goals were plentiful and the average never fell below three, with a peak in 1939 of 4.90 goals per game.

In the current Clausura, after the first two rounds, the average is 2.03, a trend that has deepened since the pandemic, that is, over the last five years. This lack of effectiveness was already evident last year, after the 2024 Liga season ended, with a goal average of just 2.09. The news circulated in all media outlets: " The Liga Profesional had the lowest goal average compared to its peers on the continent ." This also echoed the sentiment among the major leagues around the world.

Last season wasn't much better. A total of 255 matches were played, with 505 goals scored, and the average was 1.98, once again below two per game, for the fifth time in the last 40 years. In addition to the 1.93 average in the 1991 Apertura, the 1992 Clausura had an average of 1.95 (the worst season in the last 40 years), the 2023 Copa de la Liga had an average of 1.97, and the 2011 Apertura ended with a 1.98 average, the same as the 2005 Apertura.

The trend sometimes reverses, as happened in the 1990s when the scoring system changed from two to three per win. Thus, after the 2.35 mark in the 1995 Clausura, it jumped to 3.02 in the 1997 Apertura. In subsequent tournaments, the average remained above 2.50. However, since 2010, that is, the last 15 years, there have been records closer to 2 than 2.50 , within a supposed floating range of goal average.

Other times, trends deepen, as has been the case since 2020. The first post-pandemic tournament was the Diego Maradona Cup , which had a goal average of 2.64 . Since then, the two 2021 championships have dropped to 2.45, and the 2022 League's 2.19, compared to 2.58 for the 2022 League Cup. In 2023, the League Tournament had a score of 2.06 and the League Cup 2.06. The 2024 League Cup rose slightly (2.22) to lower the League's score to 2.09.

Another factor to consider regarding the downward trend is that 36 of the 255 matches played in the Apertura Tournament ended 0-0, representing 0.14% of the tournament's total. Meanwhile, in the two rounds played, 6 of the 30 matches have already ended without an opening score, a 0.20% share. The 1-0 scoreline also occurred 6 times in the Clausura (0.22 matches) compared to 0.25 times in the Apertura (65 of the 255 matches). For now, the 2-1 scoreline is the most common, 8 out of 27.

There are also high-scoring games where a team is superior for much of the game but fails to finish and ends up with an adverse result. That happened to Argentinos Juniors against Tigre and in the draw against Boca Juniors. In 180 minutes, El Bicho only scored one goal. They deserved more. Coach Nicolás Diez summed it up this way: “ Effectiveness, especially when playing away, is very important because it opens up the game : you then play with more space and the opposing defenders have to come forward more… We had four or five very clear chances to score, but I think we have to be effective, be forceful, and then play more calmly. It was a close game, and they scored the goals we thought they could; that's the reality. The team could have tied the score quickly and managed to take control at times. Tigre has its weapons; they played with their weapons to hurt us, and they did.”

River Plate also had a significant drought at the beginning of the year and then improved. Furthermore, there are goalscorers who aren't on a roll, like Uruguayan Edinson Cavani. There aren't that many top-flight center forwards either, and the top scorers in each tournament finish with just over 10 goals in total. Furthermore, the game is played with a lot of friction and pressure, which is why it's said that Argentine soccer is very even, that anyone can beat anyone. With this explosive combination, it's the goals that don't explode.