2019 Paraguayan Primera División season

The 2019 División Profesional season (officially the Copa de Primera TIGO-Visión Banco 2019 for sponsorship reasons) was the 85th season of top-flight professional football in Paraguay. The season began on 22 January and ended on 15 December. The fixtures for the season were announced on 13 December 2018.[1] Olimpia were the defending champions after winning both tournaments of the 2018 season, and won a third championship in a row in the Torneo Apertura with three matches to spare after defeating Deportivo Santaní by a 6–0 score on 4 May.[2] Olimpia also crowned themselves in the Torneo Clausura, winning a fourth title in a row with one matchday remaining, following a 2–2 draw at home against Guaraní on 8 December.[3]

Primera División
Season2019
Dates22 January – 15 December 2019
ChampionsApertura: Olimpia (43rd title)
Clausura: Olimpia (44th title)
RelegatedDeportivo Capiatá
Deportivo Santaní
Copa LibertadoresOlimpia
Libertad
Cerro Porteño
Guaraní
Copa SudamericanaSol de América
Nacional
River Plate
Sportivo Luqueño
Matches played264
Goals scored724 (2.74 per match)
Top goalscorerApertura: William Mendieta and
Roque Santa Cruz (11 goals each)
Clausura: Roque Santa Cruz (15 goals)
Biggest home winCerro Porteño 7–2 Sol de América
(18 March)
Guaraní 5–0 General Díaz
(1 September)
Cerro Porteño 5–0 Nacional
(10 November)
Biggest away winDeportivo Santaní 0–6 Olimpia
(4 May)
Deportivo Capiatá 0–6 Olimpia
(30 August)
Highest scoringCerro Porteño 7–2 Sol de América
(18 March)
← 2018
2020 →

Teams

Twelve teams competed in the season: the top ten teams in the relegation table of the previous season, and two teams promoted from the División Intermedia. The new teams were 2018 División Intermedia champions River Plate and runners-up San Lorenzo, who returned to the top flight after two and three years, respectively. Both replaced Independiente (CG) and 3 de Febrero, who were relegated to the second tier after two and one year, respectively.

Stadia and locations
Locations of the 2019 Primera División teams
Team Manager Home city Stadium Capacity
Cerro PorteñoArgentina Víctor Bernay (caretaker)AsunciónGeneral Pablo Rojas45,000
Deportivo CapiatáParaguay Carlos RecaldeCapiatáErico Galeano10,000
Deportivo SantaníParaguay Robert Gauto (caretaker)San EstanislaoJuan José Vázquez8,000
General DíazParaguay Cristian MartínezLuqueGeneral Adrián Jara3,500
GuaraníArgentina Gustavo CostasAsunciónRogelio Livieres6,000
LibertadArgentina José ChamotAsunciónDr. Nicolás Leoz10,000
NacionalParaguay Francisco ArceAsunciónArsenio Erico4,000
OlimpiaArgentina Daniel GarneroAsunciónManuel Ferreira25,000
River PlateArgentina Marcelo PhilippAsunciónRiver Plate6,500
San LorenzoUruguay Sergio ÓrtemanSan LorenzoGunther Vogel5,000
Sol de AméricaBolivia Pablo EscobarVilla ElisaLuis Alfonso Giagni10,000
Sportivo LuqueñoParaguay Celso AyalaLuqueLa Arboledaa8,000

Note: Teams occasionally play their home games at Estadio Defensores del Chaco in Asunción. Derbies between Cerro Porteño and Olimpia are also played at this stadium.
a: Sportivo Luqueño will play their home games at Estadio La Arboleda in Asunción as their regular stadium Estadio Feliciano Cáceres is closed for repair works.[4] They played their Torneo Apertura home game against San Lorenzo at Estadio Erico Galeano in Capiatá.

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Torneo Apertura
Deportivo Capiatá Paraguay Julio Cabrera End of caretaker spell 8 December 2018 Pre-season Argentina José Basualdo 19 December 2018[5]
Nacional Argentina Fernando Gamboa Sacked 31 January 2019[6] 12th Paraguay Hugo Caballero (caretaker) 31 January 2019[7]
General Díaz Paraguay Florencio Villalba Resigned 10 February 2019[8] 10th Paraguay Luis Escobar (caretaker) 11 February 2019[9]
Sportivo Luqueño Paraguay Pedro Sarabia 15 February 2019[10] 10th Paraguay Roberto Torres 11 February 2019[11]
Deportivo Santaní Paraguay Héctor Marecos Sacked 17 February 2019[12] 12th Paraguay Carlos Jara 17 February 2019[12]
Sol de América Paraguay Ever Hugo Almeida Resigned 22 February 2019[13] 5th Paraguay Alfredo Vera (caretaker) 23 February 2019[14]
Deportivo Capiatá Argentina José Basualdo Sacked 28 February 2019[15] 8th Paraguay Celso Ayala 1 March 2019[15]
Nacional Paraguay Hugo Caballero End of caretaker spell 4 March 2019[16] 11th Paraguay Aldo Bobadilla 4 March 2019[16]
Libertad Colombia Leonel Álvarez Sacked 6 March 2019[17] 8th Argentina José Chamot 7 March 2019[18]
Sol de América Paraguay Alfredo Vera End of caretaker spell 18 March 2019 9th Argentina Javier Sanguinetti 19 March 2019[19]
Deportivo Santaní Paraguay Carlos Jara Sacked 20 March 2019[20] 12th Uruguay Martín García 21 March 2019[20]
General Díaz Paraguay Luis Escobar End of caretaker spell 18 April 2019[21] 11th Paraguay Cristian Martínez 18 April 2019[21]
Deportivo Santaní Uruguay Martín García Resigned 21 April 2019[22] 12th Paraguay Pablo Caballero 22 April 2019[23]
Torneo Clausura
Cerro Porteño Spain Fernando Jubero Mutual consent 20 May 2019[24] Pre-tournament Argentina Miguel Ángel Russo 7 June 2019[25]
Deportivo Capiatá Paraguay Celso Ayala Sacked 22 May 2019[26] Argentina Mario Jara 23 May 2019[27]
Guaraní Paraguay Gustavo Florentín Mutual consent 29 May 2019[28] Argentina Gustavo Costas 6 June 2019[29]
Deportivo Santaní Paraguay Pablo Caballero Resigned 4 June 2019[30] Paraguay Pedro Sarabia 6 June 2019[31]
Deportivo Capiatá Argentina Mario Jara Sacked 25 August 2019[32] 7th Paraguay Héctor Marecos 25 August 2019[32]
Sol de América Argentina Javier Sanguinetti Mutual consent 25 August 2019[33] 9th Bolivia Pablo Escobar 28 August 2019[34]
Deportivo Santaní Paraguay Pedro Sarabia Sacked 26 August 2019[35] 12th Paraguay Robert Gauto (caretaker) 27 August 2019[35]
Sportivo Luqueño Paraguay Roberto Torres Mutual consent 30 August 2019[36] 11th Paraguay Hugo Centurión 31 August 2019[37]
Deportivo Santaní Paraguay Robert Gauto End of caretaker spell 31 August 2019 12th Argentina Mario Jara 1 September 2019[38]
Nacional Paraguay Aldo Bobadilla Signed by Independiente Medellín 4 September 2019[39] 8th Paraguay Francisco Arce 9 September 2019[40]
Deportivo Capiatá Paraguay Héctor Marecos Sacked 26 September 2019[41] 12th Paraguay Carlos Recalde 26 September 2019[41]
River Plate Paraguay Daniel Farrar Resigned 2 October 2019[42] 8th Argentina Marcelo Philipp 3 October 2019[43]
Cerro Porteño Argentina Miguel Ángel Russo Mutual consent 8 October 2019[44] 4th Argentina Víctor Bernay (caretaker) 8 October 2019[44]
Sportivo Luqueño Paraguay Hugo Centurión Sacked 8 October 2019[45] 12th Paraguay Celso Ayala 8 October 2019[45]
Deportivo Santaní Argentina Mario Jara Resigned 27 October 2019[46] 10th Paraguay Robert Gauto (caretaker) 27 October 2019[46]

Torneo Apertura

The Campeonato de Apertura, named "Víctor Genes", was the 119th official championship of the Primera División and the first championship of the 2019 season. It started on January 22 and concluded on May 20.[1]

Standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Olimpia (C) 22 16 6 0 61 17 +44 54 Qualification for Copa Libertadores group stage
2 Cerro Porteño 22 13 4 5 48 25 +23 43
3 Libertad 22 11 4 7 39 29 +10 37
4 Guaraní 22 10 7 5 37 29 +8 37
5 Sportivo Luqueño 22 8 7 7 28 30 −2 31
6 River Plate 22 7 7 8 25 31 −6 28
7 San Lorenzo 22 8 3 11 33 37 −4 27
8 Deportivo Capiatá 22 6 8 8 24 32 −8 26
9 Sol de América 22 8 2 12 31 43 −12 26
10 Nacional 22 5 8 9 19 27 −8 23
11 General Díaz 22 3 7 12 22 41 −19 16
12 Deportivo Santaní 22 2 7 13 15 38 −23 13
Source: APF, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Playoff game (only if needed to decide championship between two teams), 3) Goal difference, 4) Goals for, 5) Away goals for, 6) Drawing of lots.
(C) Champions

Results
Home \ Away CCP CAP SAN GEN GUA LIB NAC OLI RIV SSL SOL SLU
Cerro Porteño — 1–0 3–2 2–0 5–2 1–2 1–1 1–3 3–1 1–1 7–2 2–0
Deportivo Capiatá 1–1 — 2–1 2–2 0–1 2–1 1–0 2–2 3–3 1–1 3–2 1–3
Deportivo Santaní 1–3 0–0 — 0–1 1–1 0–3 1–2 0–6 1–1 1–0 2–3 0–1
General Díaz 1–3 1–0 2–0 — 1–1 1–3 1–1 0–2 0–1 3–3 1–4 0–0
Guaraní 0–1 1–2 0–0 1–1 — 3–1 2–2 1–5 2–1 4–1 3–1 2–2
Libertad 1–0 5–1 4–0 4–0 1–1 — 1–2 2–3 2–1 2–1 2–2 1–0
Nacional 0–3 2–1 0–0 1–0 0–2 0–1 — 2–4 0–0 3–1 0–1 0–1
Olimpia 2–2 3–0 2–2 4–1 2–0 3–0 0–0 — 0–0 2–0 4–0 2–0
River Plate 1–5 1–0 1–2 3–2 0–1 1–1 1–1 2–2 — 2–1 1–0 2–1
San Lorenzo 2–1 0–1 2–0 2–1 1–3 3–0[lower-alpha 1] 1–0 1–4 1–0 — 2–4 0–3
Sol de América 0–1 0–0 1–0 3–0 1–4 2–0 3–1 0–1 0–1 1–6 — 0–1
Sportivo Luqueño 2–1 1–1 1–1 2–2 0–2 2–2 1–1 1–5 3–1 0–3 3–1 —
Source: APF, Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
  1. Match awarded 3–0 to San Lorenzo due to Libertad fielding more foreign players than allowed. The match originally ended with a 3–4 win for Libertad.[47]

Top goalscorers
Rank Name Club Goals
1 Paraguay William Mendieta Olimpia 11
Paraguay Roque Santa Cruz Olimpia
3 Uruguay Sebastián Fernández San Lorenzo 9
Paraguay Jorge Ortega Olimpia
Paraguay César Villagra Sol de América
6 Paraguay José Ortigoza Guaraní 8
Paraguay Nildo Viera River Plate
8 Paraguay Jorge Benítez Cerro Porteño 7
Paraguay Óscar Cardozo Libertad
Argentina Joaquín Larrivey Cerro Porteño

Source: Soccerway

Torneo Clausura

The Campeonato de Clausura, named "Ranulfo Miranda y 100 años de la Cruz Roja Paraguaya", was the 120th official championship of the Primera División and the second championship of the 2019 season. It started on July 12 and concluded on December 15.[48]

Standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Olimpia (C) 22 17 3 2 53 15 +38 54 Qualification for Copa Libertadores group stage
2 Libertad 22 15 3 4 35 12 +23 48
3 Cerro Porteño 22 11 4 7 42 28 +14 37
4 Guaraní 22 9 5 8 32 28 +4 32
5 Sol de América 22 8 7 7 22 23 −1 31
6 Nacional 22 7 8 7 29 27 +2 29
7 General Díaz 22 6 7 9 27 33 −6 25
8 River Plate 22 6 6 10 18 24 −6 24
9 San Lorenzo 22 5 7 10 23 36 −13 22
10 Sportivo Luqueño 22 5 6 11 20 37 −17 21
11 Deportivo Capiatá 22 5 6 11 18 38 −20 21
12 Deportivo Santaní 22 5 4 13 20 39 −19 19
Source: APF, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Playoff game (only if needed to decide championship between two teams), 3) Goal difference, 4) Goals for, 5) Away goals for, 6) Drawing of lots.
(C) Champions

Results
Home \ Away CCP CAP SAN GEN GUA LIB NAC OLI RIV SSL SOL SLU
Cerro Porteño — 3–0 4–0 2–4 2–2 1–3 5–0 0–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 1–2
Deportivo Capiatá 3–2 — 3–1 0–2 1–2 1–1 0–0 0–6 0–1 1–1 0–4 1–0
Deportivo Santaní 0–2 1–2 — 1–1 2–1 1–0 3–1 0–1 0–1 1–1 1–1 2–3
General Díaz 2–2 3–1 0–1 — 0–3 1–0 1–1 1–4 1–1 1–1 0–3 3–0
Guaraní 1–2 2–1 2–1 5–0 — 1–1 0–5 1–1 1–3 3–1 0–1 1–3
Libertad 2–1 2–0 2–0 3–1 1–0 — 2–0 2–0 2–1 3–0 1–0 0–0
Nacional 1–1 3–0 4–0 0–0 0–2 1–0 — 1–3 1–1 4–2 0–0 1–1
Olimpia 4–2 1–0 4–0 2–0 2–2 2–1 3–0 — 2–1 4–1 2–0 3–1
River Plate 1–2 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–1 0–2 0–1 0–1 — 0–0 2–2 1–1
San Lorenzo 2–1 1–1 3–2 1–1 0–0 0–1 0–3 1–4 2–0 — 1–2 2–0
Sol de América 0–2 1–1 2–2 1–0 0–1 0–1 2–1 0–4 1–0 1–0 — 2–2
Sportivo Luqueño 1–2 0–1 0–1 0–5 1–0 1–5 1–1 1–0 1–2 1–3 0–0 —
Source: APF, Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers
Rank Name Club Goals
1 Paraguay Roque Santa Cruz Olimpia 15
2 Paraguay Antonio Bareiro Libertad 10
3 Paraguay Santiago Salcedo Deportivo Capiatá 9
4 Paraguay Fernando Fernández Guaraní 8
Paraguay Brian Montenegro Olimpia
6 Argentina Diego Churín Cerro Porteño 6
Paraguay Nelson Haedo Valdez Cerro Porteño
Paraguay José Ortigoza Guaraní
Paraguay Óscar Ruiz Cerro Porteño
Uruguay Alejandro Silva Olimpia
Paraguay Leonardo Villagra Nacional

Source: Soccerway

Aggregate table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Olimpia (C) 44 33 9 2 114 32 +82 108 Qualification for Copa Libertadores group stage
2 Libertad 44 26 7 11 74 41 +33 85
3 Cerro Porteño 44 24 8 12 90 53 +37 80 Qualification for Copa Libertadores second stage
4 Guaraní 44 19 12 13 68 57 +11 69 Qualification for Copa Libertadores first stage
5 Sol de América 44 16 9 19 53 66 −13 57 Qualification for Copa Sudamericana first stage
6 Nacional 44 12 16 16 48 54 −6 52
7 River Plate 44 13 13 18 43 55 −12 52
8 Sportivo Luqueño 44 13 13 18 47 66 −19 52 Qualification for Copa Sudamericana first stage[lower-alpha 1]
9 San Lorenzo 44 13 10 21 56 73 −17 49
10 Deportivo Capiatá 44 11 14 19 42 70 −28 47
11 General Díaz 44 9 14 21 49 74 −25 41
12 Deportivo Santaní 44 7 11 26 35 77 −42 32
Source: APF
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Playoff game (only if needed to decide international qualification between two teams), 3) Goal difference, 4) Goals for, 5) Away goals for, 6) Drawing of lots.
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. Sportivo Luqueño qualified for the Copa Sudamericana first stage since Deportivo Capiatá, the 2019 Copa Paraguay third-placed team, were relegated and lost the right to claim their berth.

Relegation

Relegation is determined at the end of the season by computing an average of the number of points earned per game over the past three seasons. The two teams with the lowest average were relegated to the División Intermedia for the following season.

Pos
Team
2017
Pts		2018
Pts		2019
Pts		Total
Pts		Total
Pld		AvgRelegation
1Olimpia 781021082881322.182
2Cerro Porteño 8082802421321.833
3Libertad 7576852361321.788
4Guaraní 8548692021321.53
5Sol de América 6263571821321.379
6Nacional 5065521671321.265
7River Plate ——5252441.182
8Sportivo Luqueño 5046521481321.121
9San Lorenzo ——4949441.114
10General Díaz 6046411471321.114
11Deportivo Capiatá (R) 5045471421321.076 Relegation to División Intermedia
12Deportivo Santaní (R) —503282880.932

Updated to games played on 15 December 2019. Source: APF

References
  1. "Se sorteó el fixture del Apertura 2019" (in Spanish). D10 Paraguay. 13 December 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  2. "¡Olimpia es tricampeón!" (in Spanish). ABC Color. 4 May 2019.
  3. "Olimpia, tetracampeón" (in Spanish). ABC Color. 8 December 2019.
  4. "Luqueño jugará de local en el estadio La Arboleda" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 18 January 2019.
  5. "Capiatá presenta al Pepe Basualdo" (in Spanish). D10 Paraguay. 19 December 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  6. "Fernando Gamboa deja der ser técnico de Nacional" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 31 January 2019.
  7. "Hugo Caballero asume el mando en Nacional" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 31 January 2019.
  8. "Florencio Villalba dejó de ser técnico de General Díaz" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 10 February 2019.
  9. "Escobar interina en General" (in Spanish). ABC Color. 10 February 2019.
  10. "Pedro Sarabia deja la conducción de Luqueño" (in Spanish). D10 Paraguay. 15 February 2019.
  11. "Torres es el sucesor de Sarabia" (in Spanish). ABC Color. 16 February 2019.
  12. "Carlos Jara Saguier es el nuevo DT de Santaní" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 17 February 2019.
  13. "Ever Almeida dejó de ser DT de Sol de América" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 22 February 2019.
  14. "Mientras buscan técnico, Alfredo Vera interina Sol de América" (in Spanish). HOY. 23 February 2019.
  15. "Ayala por Basualdo, cambio en Capiatá" (in Spanish). ABC Color. 28 February 2019.
  16. "El tercer técnico de Nacional" (in Spanish). ABC Color. 4 March 2019.
  17. "Sorpresivo: Leonel Álvarez ya no es técnico de Libertad" (in Spanish). D10 Paraguay. 6 March 2019.
  18. "Libertad tiene nuevo entrenador" (in Spanish). D10 Paraguay. 7 March 2019.
  19. "Javier Sanguinetti asume como DT de Sol de América" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 19 March 2019.
  20. "Cambio de técnico, con café de por medio" (in Spanish). ABC Color. 18 March 2019.
  21. "Cristian Martínez es nuevo DT de General Díaz" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 18 April 2019.
  22. "Martín García renunció como DT del Santaní" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 21 April 2019.
  23. "Caballero asumirá en Deportivo Santaní" (in Spanish). ABC Color. 22 April 2019.
  24. "Cerro Porteño oficializa la salida de Fernando Jubero" (in Spanish). D10 Paraguay. 20 May 2019.
  25. "La presentación, el martes" (in Spanish). ABC Color. 7 June 2019.
  26. "Celso Ayala ya no es DT de Capiatá" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 22 May 2019.
  27. "Mario Jara asumirá en Capiatá" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 23 May 2019.
  28. "Guaraní se queda sin técnico" (in Spanish). D10 Paraguay. 29 May 2019.
  29. "De vuelta a casa" (in Spanish). ABC Color. 6 June 2019.
  30. "Pablo Caballero ya no es técnico de Santaní" (in Spanish). D10 Paraguay. 4 June 2019.
  31. "Pedro Sarabia es nuevo DT de Santaní" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 6 June 2019.
  32. "Marecos reemplaza a Jara en Capiatá" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 25 August 2019.
  33. "Sanguinetti le dice adiós a Sol de América" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 25 August 2019.
  34. "Pablo Escobar llega para dirigir a Sol de América" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 28 August 2019.
  35. "Deportivo Santaní destituye a Pedro Sarabia" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 27 August 2019.
  36. "Roberto Torres deja Luqueño" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 31 August 2019.
  37. "Hugo Centurión es el nuevo entrenador de Sportivo Luqueño" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 31 August 2019.
  38. "Mario Jara arranca su tercer ciclo" (in Spanish). D10 Paraguay. 2 September 2019.
  39. "Bobadilla deja Nacional y va al fútbol cafetero" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 4 September 2019.
  40. "Oficial: Chiqui Arce es nuevo entrenador de Nacional" (in Spanish). D10 Paraguay. 9 September 2019.
  41. "Capiatá cambia a Marecos y asume Recalde" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 26 September 2019.
  42. "Farrar deja River Plate" (in Spanish). ABC Color. 2 October 2019.
  43. "Philipp toma el mando de River Plate" (in Spanish). ABC Color. 3 October 2019.
  44. "Ratifican a Bernay" (in Spanish). ABC Color. 8 October 2019.
  45. "Luqueño presentará a "Chito" esta tarde" (in Spanish). ABC Color. 8 October 2019.
  46. "Mario Jara dejó el cargo" (in Spanish). ABC Color. 27 October 2019.
  47. "Tribunal Disciplinario adjudica los puntos al Rayadito" (in Spanish). APF. 17 May 2019.
  48. "El torneo Clausura arranca el 12 de julio" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 5 July 2019.
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