Barracas Central has a rich history that dates back to April 5, 1904, when a well-dressed man (in Spanish: "El Guapo"), named Silvero Ángel Gardella, or simply "Saquito", founded the club. Gardella was a soccer enthusiast and admired the champion of that time, Alumni Atletic Club (existed in 1901–1913). He wanted to create a club that will repeat their success and chose the same colors of red and white.

The founding of Barracas Central took place in the kitchen of Gardella's house located at Suárez 2745, where the club's name was decided upon. Despite different suggestions like Estrella del Sud or Estrella de Barracas, Gardella ultimately chose Barracas Central del Sud, which was later shortened to its current name. The old wooden house was transformed into a clubhouse, and the field was installed on vacant land owned by Gardella's father. Gardella not only founded the club but also played as a center forward and captain, in addition to serving as the first president of the institution.

Barracas Central's home games are currently played at Estadio Claudio Tapia (from its foundation in 1916 and to 2008 known as Estadio Olavarría y Luna), named after the former player and president of the club for almost 20 years.

The club has a small but faithful barra brava La Banda de Barracas. Although Barracas Central does not have a definite clásico, Club Atlético San Telmo is often considered to be the main rival, due to the proximity of the area and the similar number of supporters.

Argentinos Juniors is a sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is most known for its football team, which plays in the Argentinean Primera División. One of the club's nicknames is "Bicho Colorado" (Red Bug), which came from a famous newspaper headline in the 1950s that read "Arrasan los bichos colorados" (Red bugs sweep all before them). The club is also nicknamed El Semillero, meaning the Nursery or The Seed Garden, because of its ability to keep producing world-class football players.

The absolute icon of the club is Diego Maradona, whose career started at Argentinos Juniors. In his honor, the club's stadium is named Estadio Diego Armando Maradona. It holds El Templo del Fútbol museum as well as the murals gallery on the stadium facade, mostly dedicated to Diego. Other famous players who started their careers at Argentinos Juniors are Juan Román Riquelme, Esteban Cambiasso, Juan Pablo Sorín, and Fernando Redondo.

The club is one of the eight Argentinean teams that have won the Copa Libertadores. The continental trophy was won in the club's first entry to the contest, in 1985. The club has had many rivalries, but their first-ever clásico was with Sportivo Italiano, who currently do not play professional football, which has led to their more recent rivalry against Platense with the most prominent clashes in the 80s.

Argentinos Jrs 0:1 Barracas Central