The 2019 FBF División Profesional, known as the 2019 Copa Tigo for sponsorship reasons, was the 42nd season of Bolivia's top-flight football league and the second season under División de Fútbol Profesional management. San José were the defending champions, having won the 2018 Clausura tournament.
In the Torneo Apertura, Bolívar won their twenty-ninth league title and twenty-third in the professional era, with two matches to spare following a 2–1 victory over Oriente Petrolero on 16 May, while in the Torneo Clausura, Jorge Wilstermann won their fifteenth league title and eighth in the professional era following a 3–1 win against Oriente Petrolero on the last matchday of the tournament on 28 December.
Format The season was split into a Torneo Apertura and a Torneo Clausura, played in the first and second half of the year, respectively. Both were played under a double round-robin system, with all teams playing each other twice for a total of 26 matches. The teams placed first at the end of each tournament were the champions and earned qualification for the Copa Libertadores group stage. The remaining two Copa Libertadores berths as well as the four Copa Sudamericana ones were awarded through the aggregate table.
Teams The number of teams for the 2019 season remained the same as the 2018 season. Universitario were relegated to the Copa Simón Bolívar after finishing in last place of the aggregate table in the previous season, and were replaced by Always Ready, the 2018 Copa Simón Bolívar champions, who made their return to the top tier after 28 years.
TeamManagerHome cityHome stadiumCapacityAlways Ready Pablo Godoy (caretaker)La PazMunicipal de Villa Ingenio25,000Aurora Francisco ArgüelloCochabambaFélix Capriles32,000Blooming Erwin SánchezSanta CruzRamón Tahuichi Aguilera38,000Bolívar César VigevaniLa PazHernando Siles42,000Destroyers Víctor Hugo AnteloSanta CruzRamón Tahuichi Aguilera38,000Guabirá Víctor Hugo AndradaMonteroGilberto Parada13,000Jorge Wilstermann Christian DíazCochabambaFélix Capriles32,000Nacional Potosí Alberto IllanesPotosíVíctor Agustín Ugarte32,105Oriente Petrolero Pablo SánchezSanta CruzRamón Tahuichi Aguilera38,000Real Potosí Marcos FerrufinoPotosíVíctor Agustín Ugarte32,105Royal Pari Miguel Ángel Abrigo (caretaker)Santa CruzRamón Tahuichi Aguilera38,000San José Miguel PonceOruroJesús Bermúdez33,795Sport Boys Mauro BlancoWarnesSamuel Vaca Jiménez9,000The Strongest Mauricio SoriaLa PazHernando Siles42,000
Managerial changes
TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentTorneo AperturaBolívar Alfredo AriasEnd of contract19 December 2018Pre-season César Vigevani20 December 2018Jorge Wilstermann Álvaro PeñaResigned19 December 2018 Miguel Ángel Portugal20 December 2018Oriente Petrolero Ronald AranaEnd of contract19 December 2018 Mauricio Soria21 December 2018Real Potosí Darwin PeñaEnd of caretaker spell19 December 2018 Fernando Ochoaizpur28 December 2018Sport Boys César VigevaniSigned by Bolívar19 December 2018 Carlos Leeb28 December 2018The Strongest César FaríasEnd of contract19 December 2018 Pablo Escobar24 December 2018Guabirá Víctor Hugo AnteloResigned20 December 2018 Ronald Arana27 December 2018Destroyers Óscar RamírezReplaced7 January 2019 Evandro Guimarães7 January 2019San José Eduardo VillegasSigned by Bolivia14 January 2019 Jaime Jemio (caretaker)18 January 2019 Jaime JemioEnd of caretaker spell20 January 20196th Néstor Clausen21 January 2019Always Ready David de la TorreSacked30 January 201910th Julio César Baldivieso31 January 2019Guabirá Ronald AranaMutual consent1 March 201912th Eduardo Espinel9 March 2019Sport Boys Carlos LeebSacked6 March 201911th Christian Lovrincevich6 March 2019San José Néstor Clausen6 March 20196th William Ramallo (caretaker)7 March 2019Real Potosí Fernando Ochoaizpur16 March 201910th Julio Fernández (caretaker)16 March 2019San José William RamalloEnd of caretaker spell17 March 20196th Miguel Ponce18 March 2019Real Potosí Julio Fernández20 March 201911th Leandro Cabrera20 March 2019Aurora Marcos FerrufinoMutual consent7 April 201914th Thiago Leitão8 April 2019Real Potosí Leandro CabreraSacked18 April 201913th Fabio Espada18 April 2019Jorge Wilstermann Miguel Ángel PortugalMutual consent21 April 20196th Norberto Kekez (caretaker)22 April 2019Torneo ClausuraAurora Thiago LeitãoEnd of contract22 May 2019Pre-tournament Julio César Fuentes7 June 2019Jorge Wilstermann Norberto KekezEnd of caretaker spell22 May 2019 Christian Díaz2 June 2019Sport Boys Christian LovrincevichReplaced21 June 2019 Víctor Hugo Antelo21 June 2019Oriente Petrolero Mauricio SoriaMutual consent11 July 2019 Luis Marín Camacho (caretaker)11 July 2019The Strongest Pablo EscobarSacked5 August 20195th Mauricio Soria5 August 2019Guabirá Eduardo Espinel5 August 201914th Víctor Hugo Andrada5 August 2019Real Potosí Fabio Espada7 August 201911th Nicolás Suárez7 August 2019Royal Pari Roberto MosqueraResigned19 August 20199th Miguel Ángel Abrigo (caretaker)19 August 2019Destroyers Evandro GuimarãesSacked1 September 201913th Carlos Leeb4 September 2019Royal Pari Miguel Ángel AbrigoEnd of caretaker spell2 September 20198th Francisco Maturana2 September 2019Aurora Julio César FuentesSacked10 September 201912th Mauricio Adorno (caretaker)10 September 2019Always Ready Julio César Baldivieso16 September 20196th Sebastián Núñez17 September 2019Oriente Petrolero Luis Marín CamachoEnd of caretaker spell29 September 20199th Pablo Sánchez27 September 2019Real Potosí Nicolás SuárezSacked7 October 201913th Marcos Ferrufino11 October 2019Sport Boys Víctor Hugo AnteloResigned13 November 201912th Mauro Blanco25 November 2019Destroyers Carlos LeebSacked9 December 201913th Víctor Hugo Antelo9 December 2019Aurora Mauricio AdornoEnd of caretaker spell17 December 201913th Francisco Argüello17 December 2019Royal Pari Francisco MaturanaMutual consent20 December 20199th Miguel Ángel Abrigo (caretaker)20 December 2019Always Ready Sebastián NúñezEnd of contract21 December 20194th Pablo Godoy (caretaker)23 December 2019
Torneo Apertura Standings
Results
Top goalscorers Rank Name Club Goals 1 Carlos SaucedoSan José 23 2 Rolando BlackburnThe Strongest 21 3 Juan Miguel CallejónBolívar 17 4 William FerreiraAlways Ready 13 Marcos RiquelmeBolívar 6 Vladimir CastellónNacional Potosí 12 Marcos OvejeroAlways Ready 8 José Alfredo CastilloOriente Petrolero 11 RafinhaBlooming Jair ReinosoThe Strongest
Source: Soccerway
Torneo Clausura Standings
Results
Top goalscorers {| class="wikitable" border="1" |- ! Rank ! Name ! Club ! Goals |- | rowspan=2 align=center | 1 | Juan Miguel Callejón |Bolívar | rowspan=2 align=center | 19 |- | Jair Reinoso |The Strongest |- | rowspan=2 align=center | 3 | Gilbert Álvarez |Jorge Wilstermann | rowspan=2 align=center | 18 |- | Carlos Saucedo |San José |- | rowspan=3 align=center | 5 | Carmelo Algarañaz |Always Ready | rowspan=3 align=center | 13 |- | Enzo Maidana |Nacional Potosí |- | Harold Reina |The Strongest |- | align=center | 8 | Juan Carlos Arce |Bolívar | align=center | 12 |- | rowspan=2 align=center | 9 | Vladimir Castellón |Bolívar | rowspan=2 align=center | 11 |- | John Jairo Mosquera |Royal Pari
Source: Soccerway
Aggregate table
Relegation/promotion playoff The relegation playoff would have been played by Sport Boys, as the team placed 13th in the 2019 División Profesional aggregate table, and Real Santa Cruz, who were the 2019 Copa Simón Bolívar runners-up, with the winners playing in the top flight for the 2020 season. However, considering Sport Boys' disaffiliation from the league as well as Destroyers's relegation as the bottom-placed team in the aggregate table, and with the late conclusion of the 2019 season which made infeasible playing the playoff in early January 2020, the FBF decided on 5 January 2020 that Real Santa Cruz would be promoted for the next season as Copa Simón Bolívar runners-up.
References
External links División Profesional on the FBF's official website