The 2019 Categoría Primera A season (officially known as the 2019 Liga Águila season for sponsorship reasons) was the 72nd season of Colombia's top-flight football league. The season began on 25 January and concluded on 7 December. Junior entered the season as defending champions having won the 2018 Finalización tournament and successfully defended the title in the Torneo Apertura, beating Deportivo Pasto 5–4 on penalties after a 1–1 draw on aggregate to claim their ninth domestic league title on 12 June. Junior's winning streak was stopped in the Torneo Finalización by América de Cali, who won their fourteenth Primera A title and first since 2008 on 7 December by defeating the defending champions 2–0 on aggregate in the finals.
Format For this season, the league was played as follows:
Two tournaments per year, with three stages each. The first stage was contested on a single round-robin basis, with each team playing the other teams once plus an additional match against a regional rival for a total of 20 games. The regional derby matchday in the first stage of both tournaments, which was not played in the previous season, returned for this season. The knockout round was replaced by a semifinal stage to be played by the top eight teams after the end of the first stage, which were split into two groups of four with each team playing the others in their group twice. The top two teams from the first stage were seeded in each group, whilst the remaining six teams were drawn into each group. The finals were contested by the winners of each semifinal group, playing a double-legged series for the championship. The distribution of international qualification berths as well as the relegation system were the same as last season.
Teams 20 teams competed, eighteen of them returning from last season plus Cúcuta Deportivo and Unión Magdalena, who were promoted from the 2018 Primera B. Both promoted teams replaced Boyacá Chicó and Leones who were relegated at the end of the previous season.
Stadia and locations
Team Manager Home city Stadium Capacity Alianza Petrolera César Torres Barrancabermeja Daniel Villa Zapata 10,400 América de Cali Alexandre Guimarães Cali Pascual Guerrero 33,130 Atlético Bucaramanga Sergio Novoa (caretaker) Bucaramanga Alfonso López 28,000 Atlético Huila Dayron Pérez (caretaker) Neiva Guillermo Plazas Alcid 22,000 Atlético Nacional Juan Carlos Osorio Medellín Atanasio Girardot 40,043 Cúcuta Deportivo Guillermo Sanguinetti Cúcuta General Santander 42,901 Deportes Tolima Alberto Gamero Ibagué Manuel Murillo Toroa 28,100 Deportivo Cali Lucas Pusineri Cali Deportivo Cali 52,000 Deportivo Pasto Octavio Zambrano Pasto Municipal de Ipialesb 6,000 Envigado José Arastey (caretaker) Envigado Polideportivo Sur 11,000 Independiente Medellín Aldo Bobadilla Medellín Atanasio Girardot 40,043 Jaguares Juan Cruz Real Montería Jaraguay 12,000 Junior Julio Comesaña Barranquilla Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez 49,692 La Equidad Guillermo Rivera (caretaker) Bogotá Metropolitano de Techo 8,000 Millonarios Jorge Luis Pinto Bogotá Nemesio Camacho El Campín 36,343 Once Caldas Hubert Bodhert Manizales Palogrande 28,678 Patriotas Nelson Gómez Tunja La Independencia 20,630 Rionegro Águilas Flabio Torres Rionegro Alberto Grisales 14,000 Santa Fe Harold Rivera Bogotá Nemesio Camacho El Campín 36,343 Unión Magdalena Carlos Silva Santa Marta Sierra Nevada 16,000
a: Deportes Tolima played their Torneo Apertura home match against Rionegro Águilas at Estadio Metropolitano de Techo in Bogotá due to maintenance works at their regular stadium Estadio Manuel Murillo Toro.b: Deportivo Pasto will temporarily play their home matches at Estadio Municipal de Ipiales in Ipiales due to remodeling works at Estadio Departamental Libertad.
Managerial changes
TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentTorneo AperturaMillonarios Miguel Ángel RussoMutual consent11 November 2018Pre-season Jorge Luis Pinto13 November 2018Deportivo Cali Gerardo Pelusso11 November 2018 Lucas Pusineri2 December 2018Deportivo Pasto Jairo EnríquezEnd of caretaker spell11 November 2018 Alexis García28 November 2018Jaguares Julio Méndez11 November 2018 John Jairo Bodmer12 November 2018Atlético Bucaramanga Óscar Serrano21 November 2018 Flabio Torres21 November 2018Cúcuta Deportivo Lucas PusineriSigned by Deportivo Cali2 December 2018 Sebastián Méndez24 December 2018Junior Julio ComesañaEnd of contract19 December 2018 Luis Fernando Suárez21 December 2018La Equidad Luis Fernando SuárezSigned by Junior20 December 2018 Humberto Sierra26 December 2018Santa Fe Guillermo SanguinettiMutual consent10 February 201920th Gerardo Bedoya10 February 2019Atlético Bucaramanga Flabio TorresSacked18 February 201919th Carlos Giraldo18 February 2019Rionegro Águilas Jorge Luis BernalMutual consent1 March 201920th Sergio Guzmán (caretaker)1 March 2019 Sergio GuzmánEnd of caretaker spell11 March 201920th Ever Hugo Almeida11 March 2019Jaguares John Jairo BodmerResigned14 March 201917th Óscar Upegui15 March 2019Atlético Huila Dayron PérezMutual consent18 March 201918th Luis Fernando Herrera19 March 2019Rionegro Águilas Ever Hugo AlmeidaResigned4 April 201920th Eduardo Cruz (caretaker)4 April 2019Independiente Medellín Octavio ZambranoSacked5 April 201913th Ricardo Calle (caretaker)5 April 2019América de Cali Fernando Castro15 April 20195th Jersson González (caretaker)15 April 2019Atlético Bucaramanga Carlos Giraldo23 April 201913th Óscar Serrano (caretaker)24 April 2019Junior Luis Fernando Suárez3 May 20194th Luis Grau (caretaker)3 May 2019 Luis GrauEnd of caretaker spell5 May 20197th Julio Comesaña5 May 2019Independiente Medellín Ricardo Calle5 May 20199th Alexis Mendoza14 May 2019Atlético Bucaramanga Óscar Serrano8 May 201917th Hernán Torres9 May 2019Cúcuta Deportivo Sebastián MéndezMutual consent8 May 201911th Pablo Garabello10 May 2019Santa Fe Gerardo BedoyaReplaced8 May 201920th Patricio Camps12 April 2019Atlético Nacional Paulo AutuoriResigned24 May 20194th, Group B Alejandro Restrepo (caretaker)24 May 2019Torneo FinalizaciónAmérica de Cali Jersson GonzálezEnd of caretaker spell5 June 2019Pre-tournament Alexandre Guimarães13 June 2019Atlético Nacional Alejandro Restrepo5 June 2019 Juan Carlos Osorio10 June 2019Unión Magdalena Harold RiveraMutual consent5 June 2019 Pedro Sarmiento12 June 2019Rionegro Águilas Eduardo CruzEnd of caretaker spell12 June 2019 Flabio Torres12 June 2019Santa Fe Patricio CampsMutual consent7 August 201920th Harold Rivera7 August 2019Cúcuta Deportivo Pablo Garabello13 August 20199th Guillermo Sanguinetti14 August 2019Atlético Huila Luis Fernando HerreraSacked13 August 201911th Jorge Luis Bernal15 August 2019Jaguares Óscar UpeguiResigned27 August 201916th John Jairo Bodmer (caretaker)27 August 2019La Equidad Humberto Sierra31 August 201919th Guillermo Rivera (caretaker)1 September 2019Independiente Medellín Alexis Mendoza2 September 201915th Aldo Bobadilla4 September 2019Atlético Bucaramanga Hernán Torres9 September 201914th Sergio Novoa (caretaker)9 September 2019Deportivo Pasto Alexis García15 September 201910th Jairo Enríquez (caretaker)16 September 2019Unión Magdalena Pedro SarmientoSacked16 September 201920th Carlos Silva16 September 2019Envigado Eduardo LaraMutual consent23 September 201916th José Arastey (caretaker)23 September 2019Jaguares John Jairo BodmerEnd of caretaker spell30 September 201920th Juan Cruz Real30 September 2019Deportivo Pasto Jairo Enríquez2 October 201912th Octavio Zambrano2 October 2019Patriotas Diego CorredorTraining trip3 October 201912th Nelson Gómez3 October 2019Atlético Huila Jorge Luis BernalSacked26 October 201919th Dayron Pérez (caretaker)26 October 2019
Torneo Apertura
First stage The First stage began on 25 January and consisted of twenty rounds with teams playing each other once plus an extra match against their regional rival. It ended on 5 May with the top eight teams at the end of this stage advancing to the semifinals.
Standings
Results
Semifinals The eight teams that advanced to the semifinals were drawn into two groups of four teams. The winners of each group advanced to the finals.
Group A
Group B
Finals
Tied 1–1 on aggregate, Junior won on penalties.
Top goalscorers Rank Name Club Goals 1 Germán CanoIndependiente Medellín 21 2 Juan DinennoDeportivo Cali 15 3 Fernando AristeguietaAmérica de Cali 14 4 Carlos PeraltaLa Equidad 10 Marco PérezDeportes Tolima 6 Jonathan AgudeloCúcuta Deportivo 9 Ricardo MárquezUnión Magdalena 8 Hernán BarcosAtlético Nacional 7 9 Fabián GonzálezMillonarios 6 Luis GonzálezDeportes Tolima Jáder ObrianRionegro Águilas Alexis ZapataEnvigado
Source: Soccerway
Torneo Finalización
First stage The First stage began on 13 July and will feature the same format used in the Torneo Apertura, with reversed fixtures. It ended on 29 October with the top eight teams at the end of this stage advancing to the semifinals.
Standings
Results
Semifinals The eight teams that advanced to the semifinals were drawn into two groups of four teams. The winners of each group advanced to the finals.
Group A
Group B
Finals This final series featured the use of VAR for the first time in Colombian domestic football.
América de Cali won 2–0 on aggregate.
Top goalscorers Rank Name Club Goals 1 Germán CanoIndependiente Medellín 13 Michael RangelAmérica de Cali 3 Juan DinennoDeportivo Cali 11 4 Carmelo ValenciaCúcuta Deportivo 10 5 Jhon VásquezAlianza Petrolera 9 6 Maicol BalantaSanta Fe 7 Daniel MuñozAtlético Nacional José Guillermo OrtizMillonarios 9 Jefferson DuqueSanta Fe 6 Feiver MercadoDeportivo Cali John Freddy PérezAtlético Bucaramanga
Source: Soccerway
Aggregate table
Relegation A separate table is kept to determine the teams that get relegated to the Categoría Primera B for the next season. This table is elaborated from a sum of all first stage games played for the current season and the previous two seasons. For purposes of elaborating the table, promoted teams are given the same point and goal tallies as the team in the 18th position at the start of the season. Team Relegation 1Atlético Nacional 87 71 66 118 162 87 75 224 2 69 69 59 118 181 135 46 197 3Deportes Tolima 53 72 64 118 156 116 40 189 4Junior 62 62 63 118 148 101 47 187 5Millonarios 69 51 67 118 151 114 37 187 6Deportivo Cali 53 58 67 118 153 126 27 178 7América de Cali 60 47 67 118 141 132 9 174 8Santa Fe 67 56 46 118 123 98 25 169 9Once Caldas 42 63 56 118 131 131 0 161 10La Equidad 53 61 42 118 120 111 9 156 11Atlético Bucaramanga 47 58 46 118 120 135 −15 151 12Cúcuta Deportivo 46 42 59 118 139 166 −27 147 13Deportivo Pasto 56 35 54 118 125 128 –3 145 14Patriotas 45 49 50 118 108 137 −29 144 15Alianza Petrolera 46 42 55 118 120 144 −24 143 16Envigado 44 46 47 118 121 144 −23 137 17Rionegro Águilas 39 57 40 118 111 145 −34 136 18Jaguares 59 39 38 118 103 150 −47 136 19Unión Magdalena (R) 46 42 44 118 124 163 −39 132 20Atlético Huila (R) 48 48 35 118 102 138 −36 131 Source: DimayorRules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored; 4th away goals scored.
See also 2019 Categoría Primera B season 2019 Copa Colombia
References
External links Dimayor's official website