The 2018 División Profesional season (officially the Copa de Primera TIGO-Visión Banco 2018 for sponsorship reasons) was the 84th season of top-flight professional football in Paraguay. The season began on 2 February and ended on 8 December. Cerro Porteño were the defending champions.
In the Torneo Apertura, Olimpia won their forty-first league title with two matches to spare following a 2–1 win over Libertad on 30 May. Olimpia also clinched their forty-second league title in the Torneo Clausura with two matches to spare after beating Guaraní 4–1 on 28 November.
Teams
Stadia and locations
Team Manager Home city Stadium Capacity3 de Febrero Eduardo Rivera Ciudad del Este Antonio Aranda 23,500Cerro Porteño Fernando Jubero Asunción General Pablo Rojas 45,000Deportivo Capiatá Julio Cabrera (caretaker) Capiatá Lic. Erico Galeano Segovia 10,000Deportivo Santaní Héctor Marecos San Estanislao Juan José Vázqueza 8,000General Díaz Florencio Villalba Luque General Adrián Jara 3,500Guaraní Gustavo Florentín Asunción Rogelio Livieresb 6,000Independiente Mario Jara Asunción Ricardo Gregor 1,500Libertad Leonel Álvarez Asunción Dr. Nicolás Leoz 10,000Nacional Fernando Gamboa Asunción Arsenio Erico 4,000Olimpia Daniel Garnero Asunción Manuel Ferreira 25,000Sol de América Ever Hugo Almeida Villa Elisa Luis Alfonso Giagni 10,000 Sportivo Luqueño Pedro Sarabia Luque Feliciano Cáceres 25,000
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: Deportivo Santaní played their Torneo Apertura home match against Olimpia at Estadio Antonio Aranda in Ciudad del Este instead of their regular stadium Estadio Juan José Vázquez in San Estanislao. b: Guaraní played their home games at Estadio Defensores del Chaco in Asunción until mid-May while their regular stadium Estadio Rogelio Livieres underwent maintenance works. Guaraní played their Torneo Apertura home match against Olimpia at Estadio Antonio Aranda in Ciudad del Este.
Managerial changes
TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentTorneo AperturaGeneral Díaz Mario JaraResigned6 December 2017Pre-season Aldo Bobadilla15 December 2017Guaraní Daniel GarneroSigned by Olimpia7 December 2017 Sebastián Saja8 December 2017Olimpia Aldo BobadillaMutual consent11 December 2017 Daniel Garnero13 December 2017Libertad Fernando JuberoResigned23 December 2017 Aldo Bobadilla28 December 2017General Díaz Aldo Bobadilla28 December 2017 Florencio Villalba (caretaker)2 January 2018General Díaz Florencio VillalbaEnd of caretaker spell24 January 2018 Francisco Arce24 January 2018Cerro Porteño Leonel ÁlvarezResigned31 January 2018 Jorge Núñez (caretaker)31 January 2018Cerro Porteño Jorge NúñezEnd of caretaker spell5 February 201810th Luis Zubeldía5 February 2018Sportivo Luqueño Javier SanguinettiSacked25 February 201812th Eduardo Rivera25 February 20183 de Febrero Marcio Marolla4 March 201812th José Arrúa5 March 2018Deportivo Santaní Pedro SarabiaMutual consent14 March 201811th Mario Jara15 March 2018Guaraní Sebastián SajaResigned25 March 20189th Fernando Burgo (caretaker)25 March 2018Sportivo Luqueño Eduardo Rivera3 April 20188th Fernando Ortiz4 April 2018General Díaz Francisco ArceSacked8 April 20188th Florencio Villalba (caretaker)9 April 2018Deportivo Capiatá Gustavo FlorentínResigned26 May 20188th Diego Gavilán27 May 2018Sportivo Luqueño Fernando OrtizSacked27 May 201811th Héctor Schönhauser (caretaker)28 May 2018Guaraní Fernando BurgoEnd of caretaker spell30 May 20187th Juan Manuel Azconzábal31 May 2018Sol de América Héctor MarecosSacked31 May 20186th Alfredo Vera (caretaker)1 June 2018Sol de América Alfredo VeraEnd of caretaker spell8 June 20186th Fernando Ortiz9 June 2018Sportivo Luqueño Héctor Schönhauser9 June 201810th Gustavo Florentín9 June 2018Torneo ClausuraLibertad Aldo BobadillaMutual consent21 July 20189th Eduardo Villalba (caretaker)21 July 2018General Díaz Florencio VillalbaEnd of caretaker spell22 July 20186th Aldo Bobadilla22 July 20183 de Febrero José ArrúaResigned5 August 20187th Eduardo Rivera5 August 2018Cerro Porteño Luis ZubeldíaSacked20 August 20183rd Fernando Jubero22 August 2018Sol de América Fernando OrtizResigned24 August 201810th Ever Hugo Almeida25 August 2018Deportivo Santaní Mario JaraSacked26 August 20189th Héctor Marecos28 August 2018Guaraní Juan Manuel Azconzábal9 September 201810th Gustavo Florentín10 September 2018Sportivo Luqueño Gustavo FlorentínSigned by Guaraní9 September 20185th Javier Sanguinetti10 September 2018Independiente (CG) Pablo CaballeroResigned23 September 201812th Víctor Genes24 September 2018Libertad Eduardo VillalbaEnd of caretaker spell8 October 20183rd Leonel Álvarez9 October 2018Deportivo Capiatá Diego GavilánResigned20 October 20186th Pablo Caballero20 October 2018Sportivo Luqueño Javier SanguinettiSacked22 October 201812th Pedro Sarabia23 October 2018Independiente (CG) Víctor GenesHealth issues2 November 201811th Osvaldo Cohener (caretaker)2 November 2018Independiente (CG) Osvaldo CohenerEnd of caretaker spell4 November 201812th Mario Jara4 November 2018Nacional Celso AyalaResigned5 November 20188th Fernando Gamboa6 November 2018General Díaz Aldo BobadillaMutual consent13 November 201812th Florencio Villalba13 November 2018Deportivo Capiatá Pablo CaballeroSacked8 December 20188th Julio Cabrera (caretaker)8 December 2018
Torneo Apertura The Campeonato de Apertura, named "Centenario del Estadio Defensores del Chaco", was the 117th official championship of the Primera División and the first championship of the 2018 season. It started on February 2 and concluded on June 10.
Standings
Results
Top goalscorers Rank Name Club Goals 1 Néstor CamachoOlimpia 14 2 Sebastián FerreiraIndependiente 11 William MendietaOlimpia 11 4 Antonio BareiroLibertad 10 5 Adam BareiroNacional 9 César VillagraSol de América 7 Óscar CardozoLibertad 8 Fabio EscobarDeportivo Santaní 9 Enrique BorjaGeneral Díaz 7 10 Ernesto ÁlvarezSol de América 6 Diego ChurínCerro Porteño
Source: APF, Soccerway
Torneo Clausura The Campeonato de Clausura, named "Dr. Gerónimo Angulo Gastón", was the 118th official championship of the Primera División and the second championship of the 2018 season. It started on July 17 and concluded on December 8.
Standings
Results
Top goalscorers
Rank Name Club Goals 1 Óscar CardozoLibertad 15 2 Diego ChurínCerro Porteño 12 Adrián MartínezSol de América Santiago SalcedoDeportivo Capiatá 5 Adam BareiroNacional 10 Jorge OrtegaOlimpia 7 Enrique BorjaGeneral Díaz 9 Roque Santa CruzOlimpia 9 William MendietaOlimpia 8 10 Facundo Parra3 de Febrero 7
Source: APF , Soccerway
Aggregate table
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 2016Pts 2017Pts 2018Pts TotalPts TotalPld Avg Relegation 1 Olimpia 90 78 102 270 132 2 Libertad 83 75 76 234 132 3 Cerro Porteño 66 80 82 228 132 4 Guaraní 83 85 48 216 132 5 Sol de América 63 62 63 188 132 6 Nacional 54 50 65 169 132 7 Deportivo Capiatá 67 50 45 162 132 8 General Díaz 46 60 46 152 132 9 Deportivo Santaní — — 50 50 44 10 Sportivo Luqueño 53 50 46 149 132 11 — 47 51 98 88 12 3 de Febrero (R) — — 39 39 44 Source: APF
References
External links APF's official website