Primera B Division – Apertura. 20 teams played in it, the old Primera B Division. They were divided in 2 groups, the top 4 in each qualified to the new Primera B Nacional for the 1986-87 season. The best 7 of them, tabled by points, proceeded to the Octogonal Tournament to compete for one promotion to the top league for 1986-87 season. All those bellow 4th place in each group went to the new Primera B Metropolitana, the new third level.
Group A:
1. Los Andes 18 10 3 5 7 1 1 3 2 4 32 24 23 [Qualified to Nacional B]
2. Deportivo Italiano 18 6 10 2 5 3 1 1 7 1 32 18 22 [Qualified to Nacional B]
3. Defensa y Justicia 18 6 9 3 4 4 1 2 5 2 21 13 21 [Qualified to Nacional B]
4. Lanús 18 7 7 4 4 3 2 3 4 2 28 21 21 [Qualified to Nacional B] —————————————————————————
5. Deportivo Morón 18 7 5 6 6 3 0 1 2 6 28 25 19 [Qualified to B Metropolitana]
6. Atlanta 18 7 5 6 6 3 0 1 2 6 22 21 19 [Qualified to B Metropolitana]
7. Almirante Brown 18 6 5 7 3 3 3 3 2 4 23 33 17 [Qualified to B Metropolitana]
8. Nueva Chicago 18 5 6 7 3 4 2 2 2 5 31 28 16 [Qualified to B Metropolitana] Standing from left: Schneider, Pereyra, Callipo, Pumpido, Quinto Pagés, Díaz.
Crouching: Scotta, Rifourcat, Landaburo, Acuña, Dundo.
9. Defensores de Belgrano 18 5 4 9 3 3 3 2 1 6 22 29 14 [Qualified to B Metropolitana]
10. Argentino (Rosario) 18 2 4 12 2 2 5 0 2 7 8 35 8 [Qualified to B Metropolitana]
Group B
1. Banfield 18 9 5 4 5 0 4 4 5 0 24 15 23 [Qualified to Nacional B]
2. Tigre 18 8 7 3 4 4 1 4 3 2 19 13 23 [Qualified to Nacional B]
3. Deportivo Armenio 18 9 4 5 4 3 2 5 1 3 29 16 22 [Qualified to Nacional B]
4. Colón (Sta. Fe) 18 8 5 5 5 3 1 3 2 4 26 19 21 [Qualified to Nacional B] —————————————————————-
5. Estudiantes (Bs.As.) 18 6 6 6 5 3 1 1 3 5 21 25 18 [Qualified to B Metropolitana]
6. El Porvenir 18 5 7 6 3 4 2 2 3 4 17 18 17 [Qualified to B Metropolitana]
7. San Miguel 18 5 6 7 2 4 3 3 2 4 18 21 16 [Qualified to B Metropolitana]
8. All Boys 18 4 7 7 2 4 3 2 3 4 17 21 15 [Qualified to B Metropolitana]
9. Villa Dálmine 18 4 6 8 1 3 5 3 3 3 13 24 14 [Qualified to B Metropolitana]
10. Quilmes 18 3 5 10 3 1 5 0 4 5 16 28 11 [Qualified to B Metropolitana]
Octogonal tournament. 7 top teams from Apertura “B” tournament (Second division) and Huracán from Primera División championship (First division).
Colon (Santa Fe) had the worst record among the top 8 in the Apertura and did not qualify to the Octogonal.
Quarterfinals:
Huracán – Lanus 2-0 and 2-3
Lanus out.
Los Andes – Deportivo Armenio 1-0 and 2-2
Deportivo Armenio out. Standing from left: Gardarian, Jose Villareal, Gallardo, Oviedo, Argueso, Sarmiento. First row: Luis Villareal, Sigifredo, Alderete, Cincunegui, Ubeda.
Banfield – Defensa y Justicia 2-0 and 2-2
Defensa y Justicia out. Standing from left: Donaires, Montemurro, Ramirez Lopez, Milozzi, Britez, Nazar. Front: Ramorez, Viscovich, Gomez, Perez, Carozo Bartelemi.
Deportivo Italiano – Tigre 2-0 and 2-1
Tigre out.
Semi-finals:
Huracán – Los Andes 1-0 and 3-1
Los Andes out. Standing from left: Meza, Martinez, Pandiani, Hernan Diaz, Cuffaro Russo, Escobedo, Pancirolli. Front: Galloni, Paolorossi, Marcos Castro, Alarcon, Pizzo.
Deportivo Italiano – Banfield 1-1, 0-0 and 3-4 shoot-out.
Banfield out. Standing from left: Birriel, Segovia, Raffaelli, Alves, Pogany, Hugo Ramirez. Crouching: Orte, Robinson Hernandez, Jara, Marcelo Benitez, Horacio Garcia.
Final: Deportivo Italiano – Huracan 1-0, 1-2, and 2-2. Deportivo Italiano won the following shoot-out 4-2. Huracán lost was relegated to play in the the new Primera B Nacional the 1986-87 season.
Deportivo Italiano promoted to First Division. The club was founded in 1955 in the Italian Cultural Center in Buenos Aires, but technically belongs to Ciudad Evita, La Matanza Partido, just outside Buenos Aires proper. This promotion was their greatest success so far, for Deportivo Italia eventually climbed up to second level, but top league football was out of their reach yet. It was wonderful – going to play in the first division for the first time.