The 2022–23 Liga Guate, also known as Liga Guate Banrural for sponsorship reasons, was the 70th professional season of the top-flight football league in Guatemala. The season was divided into two championships—the 2022 Apertura and the 2023 Clausura—each in an identical format and each contested by the same 12 teams.
Competition format Same as previous years, the season was divided into two short tournaments: Torneo Apertura (opening) and Torneo Clausura (closing), each of which crowning its own champion. Both Apertura and Clausura tournaments were played under the same format which consisted in a Classification phase and a Final phase.
In the classification phase, teams played each other twice on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The top eight teams at the conclusion of the classification stage advanced to the quarter-finals of the final stage.
The final phase was played on a single-elimination format and consisted of the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the finals. All rounds were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, with the higher-ranked team in the classification phase of each tie hosting the second leg. The quarter-final pairings were pre-determined based on the teams' final position in the classification phase. In the semi-finals the teams were re-seeded based also on their final position in the classification phase in order to determine the two pairings. The quarter-finals and semi-finals matchups were determined as follows:
Quarter-finals Match A: Third placed team vs. Sixth placed team Match B: Fourth placed team vs. Fifth placed team Match C: First placed team vs. Eighth placed team Match D: Second placed team vs. Seventh placed team
Semi-finals Match I: Second best placed semi-finalist vs. Third best placed semi-finalist Match II: Top-placed semi-finalist vs. Fourth best placed semi-finalist
Both champions of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments plus the best placed team on the aggregate table (excluding the two champions) at the end of the season qualified for the 2023 CONCACAF Central American Cup.
Format changes The following changes were adopted as of this season: The away goals rule was abolished and was no longer taken into account as a tie-breaker criterion in the final phase series. The tie-breaker criterion based on the seeds used to determine a qualification in the event of a tie on aggregate was also abolished. Instead, it was decided to play extra time and a penalty shoot-out if necessary.
Teams Promotion and relegation (pre-season) A total of 12 teams took part in this season: the top ten teams from the aggregate table of the 2021–22 season as well as two promoted teams from the 2021–22 Primera División season, which were Deportivo Mixco and Xinabajul-Huehue. Deportivo Mixco earned promotion for being finalists in both Apertura and Clausura tournaments of the 2021–22 season, while Xinabajul-Huehue ensured promotion to the Liga Nacional on 4 June 2022, after winning the promotion play-off against Deportivo Marquense. Teams relegated to Primera División de Ascenso The two promoted teams replaced Sololá and Nueva Concepción, the bottom two teams in the aggregate table of the 2021–22 season, who were relegated to Primera División.
Stadiums and locations Team City Stadium CapacityAchuapaEl ProgresoWinston Pineda 6,000 Antigua Antigua Guatemala Pensativo 10,000 Cobán Imperial Cobán Verapaz 15,000 Comunicaciones Guatemala City Doroteo Guamuch Flores 26,000 Guastatoya Guastatoya David Cordón Hichos 3,100 Iztapa Iztapa El Morón 4,800 Malacateco Malacatán Santa Lucía 7,000 Mixco Mixco Santo Domingo de Guzmán 5,200 Municipal Guatemala City El Trébol 7,500 Santa Lucía Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa 9,000 Xelajú Quetzaltenango Mario Camposeco 11,220 Xinabajul-Huehue Huehuetenango Los Cuchumatanes 5,340
Personnel and kits Team Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor(s) Achuapa Hamilton López (caretaker) Rigoberto Hernández NS Sport Antigua Ramiro Cepeda José Mena Joma Cobán Imperial César Méndez Janderson MG Sports Comunicaciones Willy Coito José Manuel Contreras Kelme Guastatoya Mario Acevedo Rubén Morales Guza−Sport Iztapa Pablo Garabello Pedro Samayoa Tuto Sport Malacateco Walter Claverí Jorge Sánchez Silver Sport Mixco Fabricio Benítez Jean Márquez JM12 Municipal José Cardozo Marlon Sequén Umbro Santa Lucía Rónald Gómez Mafre Icuté Silver Sport Xelajú Amarini Villatoro Kenner Gutiérrez MR Xinabajul-Huehue Pablo Centrone Kristian Guzmán Orion
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentTorneo AperturaXelajú Irving RubirosaEnd of contract13 May 2022Pre-season Amarini Villatoro24 May 2022Cobán Imperial Sebastián Bini15 May 2022 Roberto Montoya6 June 2022Municipal José CardozoMutual agreement30 May 2022 Juan Antonio Torres21 June 2022Iztapa Richard Parra11 August 202210th Milton García12 August 2022Santa Lucía Matías TatangeloSacked1 September 202212th Juan Cortés6 September 2022Achuapa Adrián GarcíaResigned14 September 20228th Ramón Maradiaga14 September 2022Malacateco Israel HernándezMutual agreement18 September 20228th Adrián García21 September 2022Mixco Julio Gómez3 October 202211th Douglas Sequeira5 October 2022Municipal Juan Antonio Torres17 October 20227th José Cardozo20 October 2022Xinabajul-Huehue Silvio Fernández12 December 202210th Pablo Centrone16 December 2022Santa Lucía Juan Cortés17 December 202212th Rónald Gómez19 December 2022Torneo ClausuraAchuapa Ramón MaradiagaMutual agreement2 February 202312th Hamilton López2 February 2023Achuapa Hamilton LópezEnd of caretaker spell7 February 202312th Raúl Arias7 February 2023Iztapa Milton GarcíaMutual agreement20 February 20238th Pablo Garabello20 February 2021Mixco Douglas SequeiraResigned6 March 20238th Fabricio Benítez7 March 2023Cobán Imperial Roberto MontoyaSacked13 March 202312th César Méndez16 March 2023Malacateco Adrián García AriasSacked10 April 20238th Walter Claverí11 April 2023Achuapa Raúl AriasResigned17 April 20238th Hamilton López17 April 2023 Notes
Apertura The Apertura 2022 tournament began on 23 July and ended on 18 December 2022. Comunicaciones were the defending champions, having won the Clausura 2022 tournament at the previous season.
Classification phase – Apertura 2022 The classification phase of the Apertura tournament ran from 23 July to 27 November 2022.
Standings
Results The match schedule was decided based on the draw which was held on 17 June 2022.
Top goalscorers Players sorted first by goals scored, then by last name. Goals scored during the final phase are not included as the tournament top scorer award only takes into account goals scored in the classification phase. Rank Player Club Goals1 Lucas GómezAntigua12 Nicolás MartínezCobán Imperial3 Darwin LomXelajú104 Jhony CanoIztapa95 JandersonCobán Imperial8 Luis Ángel LandínComunicaciones Isaac AcuñaSanta Lucía8 Kevin BordónAchuapa7 Dewinder BradleyAntigua Paolo DantazXinabajul-Huehue Oscar SantisComunicaciones
Note
Final phase – Apertura 2022 The final phase of the Apertura tournament ran from 30 November to 18 December 2022.
Bracket
Quarter-finals
Comunicaciones won 2–0 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals.
Municipal won 2–1 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals.
Antigua won 3–1 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals.
Cobán Imperial won 1–0 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals.
Semi-finals
Cobán Imperial won 3–0 on aggregate and advanced to the finals.
Antigua won 2–0 on aggregate and advanced to the finals.
Finals
Cobán Imperial won 1–0 on aggregate. As Torneo Apertura champions they qualified for the 2023 CONCACAF Central American Cup.
Clausura The Clausura 2023 tournament began on 21 January and ended on 27 May 2023. The defending champions were Cobán Imperial, who had won the previous Apertura 2022 tournament.
As of this tournament, the Liga Nacional was renamed "Liga Guate Banrural" for sponsorship reasons due to a three-year agreement signed with the Banco de Desarrollo Rural.
Classification phase – Clausura 2023 The classification phase of the Clausura tournament ran from 21 January to 7 May 2023.
Standings
Results The match schedule was decided based on the draw which took place during the Extraordinary General Assembly of the Liga Nacional held on 20 December 2022.
Top goalscorers Players sorted first by goals scored, then by last name. Goals scored during the final phase are not included as the tournament top scorer award only takes into account goals scored in the classification phase. Rank Player Club Goals1 Matías RotondiMunicipal142 Azarías LondoñoComunicaciones93 Marcelo FerreiraIztapa8 Erick LemusIztapa Yasnier MatosMunicipal Gerson TinocoXinabajul-Huehue Óscar VillaXelajú8 Cristian AlbizuresIztapa7 Eliser QuiñonesAchuapa10 Feiver MercadoMalacateco6
Final phase – Clausura 2023 The final phase of the Clausura tournament ran from 10 to 27 May 2023.
Bracket
Quarter-finals
Xelajú won 2–1 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals.
Guastatoya won 2–1 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals.
Comunicaciones won 4–3 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals.
Tied 3–3 on aggregate, Antigua won on penalties and advanced to the semi-finals.
Semi-finals
Xelajú won 3–2 on aggregate and advanced to the finals.
Tied 1–1 on aggregate, Antigua won on penalties and advanced to the semi-finals.
Finals
Xelajú won 3–2 on aggregate. As Torneo Clausura champions they qualified for the 2023 CONCACAF Central American Cup.
Aggregate table The aggregate table was used to determine the third qualified team for the 2023 CONCACAF Central American Cup, besides the Apertura and Clausura champions, and the two relegated teams to the 2023–24 Primera División.
References
External links