2020 Paraguayan Primera División season

The 2020 División Profesional season (officially the Copa de Primera TIGO-Visión Banco 2020 for sponsorship reasons) is the 86th season of the Paraguayan Primera División, the top-flight professional football league in Paraguay. The season began on 17 January and is scheduled to end on 6 December. The fixtures for the season were announced on 16 December 2019.[1] Olimpia are the defending champions after winning both tournaments of the 2019 season.

Primera División
Season2020
Dates17 January – 6 December 2020
Matches played78
Goals scored207 (2.65 per match)
Top goalscorerApertura: Sebastián Ferreira (10 goals)
Biggest home winOlimpia 4–0 12 de Octubre
(16 February)
Libertad 5–1 General Díaz
(7 March)
Olimpia 4–0 Sol de América
(26 July)
Biggest away win12 de Octubre 0–3 Libertad
(19 January)
12 de Octubre 1–4 Cerro Porteño
(9 February)
Sportivo Luqueño 0–3 Guaraní
(1 March)
Highest scoringOlimpia 4–2 San Lorenzo
(1 February)
River Plate 4–2 San Lorenzo
(17 February)
Libertad 5–1 General Díaz
(7 March)
← 2019
2021 →
All statistics correct as of 14 August 2020.

The tournament was suspended from 13 March to 21 July due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Teams

Twelve teams compete 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 will be 2019 División Intermedia champions Guaireña and runners-up 12 de Octubre, with the former competing in the top tier for the first time ever and the latter returning after a five-year absence. Both teams replaced Deportivo Capiatá and Deportivo Santaní, who were relegated to the second tier after seven and two years, respectively.

Stadia and locations
Locations of the 2020 Primera División teams
Team Manager City Stadium[note 1] Capacity
12 de Octubre Mario JaraItauguáLuis Alberto Salinas10,000
Cerro Porteño Francisco ArceAsunciónGeneral Pablo Rojas45,000
General Díaz Robert PereiraLuque
Asunción
San Lorenzo		General Adrián Jara
River Plate[note 2]
Gunther Vogel[note 3]		3,500
6,500
5,000
Guaireña Troadio DuarteVillarrica
Itauguá		Parque del Guairá
Luis Alberto Salinas[note 4]		12,000
10,000
Guaraní Gustavo CostasAsunciónRogelio Livieres6,000
Libertad Ramón DíazAsunciónDr. Nicolás Leoz10,000
Nacional Roberto TorresAsunciónArsenio Erico4,000
Olimpia Daniel GarneroAsunciónManuel Ferreira25,000
River Plate Celso AyalaAsunciónRiver Plate6,500
San Lorenzo Cristian MartínezSan LorenzoGunther Vogel5,000
Sol de América Sergio ÓrtemanVilla ElisaLuis Alfonso Giagni10,000
Sportivo Luqueño Hernán Rodrigo LópezLuque
San Lorenzo
Itauguá
Asunción		Feliciano Cáceres
Gunther Vogel[note 5]
Luis Alberto Salinas[note 6]
River Plate[note 7]		25,000
5,000
10,000
6,500
  1. Teams occasionally play their home matches at Estadio Defensores del Chaco in Asunción. Derbies between Cerro Porteño and Olimpia are also played at this stadium.
  2. Used by General Díaz for their Torneo Apertura home match against Nacional since Estadio General Adrián Jara was still not suitable for VAR use.
  3. Used by General Díaz for their Torneo Apertura home match against Sportivo Luqueño since Estadio General Adrián Jara was still not suitable for VAR use.
  4. Used by Guaireña for their Torneo Apertura home match against River Plate since Estadio Parque del Guairá was still not suitable for VAR use.
  5. Used by Sportivo Luqueño for their Torneo Apertura home match against Guaireña since Estadio Feliciano Cáceres in Luque is closed for repairs.
  6. Used by Sportivo Luqueño for their Torneo Apertura home match against Libertad.
  7. Used by Sportivo Luqueño for their Torneo Apertura home match against Guaraní.

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Torneo Apertura
Guaireña Troadio Duarte Self-demoted to assistant 7 December 2019[2] Pre-season Mario Jacquet 7 December 2019[2]
Cerro Porteño Víctor Bernay End of caretaker spell 15 December 2019[3] Francisco Arce 20 December 2019[4]
Libertad José Chamot End of contract 15 December 2019[5] Ramón Díaz 17 December 2019[6]
Nacional Francisco Arce Signed by Cerro Porteño 19 December 2019[4] Roberto Torres 20 December 2019[7]
Guaireña Mario Jacquet Resigned 12 January 2020[8] Troadio Duarte 13 January 2020[9]
Sol de América Pablo Escobar Mutual consent 2 February 2020[10] 9th Luis Islas 2 February 2020[11]
12 de Octubre Daniel Farrar Sacked 21 February 2020[12] 12th Mario Jara 21 February 2020[12]
Sportivo Luqueño Celso Ayala 1 March 2020[13] 10th Hernán Rodrigo López 2 March 2020[14]
River Plate Marcelo Philipp 2 March 2020[15] 9th Celso Ayala 2 March 2020[15]
General Díaz Cristian Martínez Resigned 26 June 2020[16] 12th Robert Pereira 26 June 2020[16]
Sol de América Luis Islas Sacked 28 July 2020[17] 8th Sergio Órteman 28 July 2020[18]
San Lorenzo Sergio Órteman Mutual consent 28 July 2020[19] 11th Cristian Martínez 28 July 2020[20]

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

On 10 March, and following a 15-day suspension of all public or private mass gathering events ordered by the Paraguayan government as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Paraguayan Football Association announced that every match of its official competitions, including the Primera División, would be played behind closed doors during that period of time.[21] However, on 13 March the APF announced the suspension of the tournament, following advise from its Medical Directorate.[22]

On 28 May 2020, the APF and the presidents of the 12 Primera División clubs reached an agreement to resume the competition on 17 July, with the ninth round of the Torneo Apertura.[23] The plan to resume competition included socialization of health protocols to the Paraguayan government and application of COVID-19 tests before the start of individual training sessions on 10 June, with collective training to resume between 16 and 22 June.[24] On the early morning of 17 July, within hours of the planned resumption of the competition, the APF announced the postponement of the matches involving 12 de Octubre, Guaraní and San Lorenzo, due to the confirmation of COVID-19 cases in those clubs,[25] and after consultation with its Medical Directorate as well as the presidents of the league's 12 clubs, the governing body officially announced the postponement of the return of the competition to at least 22 July.[26]

Following new tests in those three clubs which reported negative results, the competition was eventually confirmed to resume on 21 July, with the River Plate vs. Nacional and Cerro Porteño vs. Libertad matches.

Torneo Apertura

The Campeonato de Apertura, named "Dr. Emilio Insfrán Villalba", is the 121st official championship of the Primera División and the first championship of the 2020 season. It started on 17 January and, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, was scheduled to conclude on 31 May.[1]

Standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Olimpia 13 8 4 1 28 11 +17 28 Qualification for Copa Libertadores group stage
2 Cerro Porteño 13 8 3 2 23 10 +13 27
3 Guaraní 13 6 5 2 18 10 +8 23
4 Libertad 13 7 2 4 25 18 +7 23
5 Nacional 13 5 5 3 17 9 +8 20
6 Guaireña 13 4 6 3 16 14 +2 18
7 River Plate 13 5 3 5 16 18 −2 18
8 12 de Octubre 13 4 2 7 11 23 −12 14
9 Sol de América 13 3 4 6 12 22 −10 13
10 Sportivo Luqueño 13 2 4 7 14 20 −6 10
11 General Díaz 13 2 3 8 12 27 −15 9
12 San Lorenzo 13 1 5 7 12 22 −10 8
Updated to match(es) played on 14 August 2020. 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.

Results
Home \ Away 12O CCP GEN GFC GUA LIB NAC OLI RIV SSL SOL SLU
12 de Octubre — 1–4 0–2 1–3 0–3 0–2 1–0 3–2
Cerro Porteño — 0–1 2–2 1–0 2–1 a 4–1 4–1 2–1
General Díaz 1–1 — 1–1 0–2 1–3 2–1 1–3
Guaireña — 1–1 3–2 0–0 0–1 2–0 2–0
Guaraní 1–0 0–0 — 0–3[lower-alpha 1] 3–0 0–0 1–1
Libertad 1–1 5–1 1–3 — 1–1 2–1 2–1
Nacional 0–0 3–0 3–0 1–2 1–2 — 1–0 1–2
Olimpia 4–0 1–1 2–1 2–1 — 1–1 4–2 4–0
River Plate 0–2 0–2 3–2 2–1 1–1 — 4–2 3–0
San Lorenzo 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–2 1–1 — 0–0
Sol de América 0–1 3–1 1–1 0–0 2–1 — 1–0
Sportivo Luqueño 0–1 1–1 0–3 1–2 2–2 0–1 2–2 —
Updated to match(es) played on 14 August 2020. Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
  1. Match awarded 3–0 to Olimpia due to Guaraní fielding more foreign players than allowed. The match originally ended with Guaraní winning by a 4–2 score.[27]

Top goalscorers
As of 14 August 2020
Rank Name Club Goals
1 Sebastián Ferreira Libertad 10
2 Roque Santa Cruz Olimpia 9
3 Pablo Zeballos 12 de Octubre 6
4 Raúl Bobadilla Guaraní 5
Diego Churín Cerro Porteño
Fernando Fernández Guaraní
José Verdún Guaireña
8 Brahian Ayala Guaireña 4
Guillermo Beltrán Nacional
Alex Cáceres San Lorenzo
Néstor Camacho Olimpia
Óscar Cardozo Libertad
Derlis González Olimpia
Dionisio Pérez River Plate
Isidro Pitta Sportivo Luqueño

Source: Soccerway

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 will be relegated to the División Intermedia for the following season.

Pos
Team
2018
Pts		2019
Pts		2020
Pts		Total
Pts		Total
Pld		AvgRelegation
1Olimpia 102108282381012.356
2Cerro Porteño 8280271891011.871
3Libertad 7685231841011.822
4Guaraní 4869231401011.386
5Guaireña ——1818131.385
6Nacional 6552201371011.356
7Sol de América 6357131331011.317
8River Plate —521870571.228
912 de Octubre ——1414131.077
10Sportivo Luqueño 4652101081011.069
11San Lorenzo —49857571 Relegation to División Intermedia
12General Díaz 46419961010.95

Updated to matches played on 14 August 2020. Source: APF

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References
  1. "Las 22 fechas del Apertura y del Clausura" (in Spanish). ABC Color. 17 December 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  2. "Jacquet es nuevo técnico de Guaireña" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 7 December 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  3. "Víctor Bernay se despide: "El ciclo termina el domingo"" (in Spanish). D10 Paraguay. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  4. "Raúl Zapag confirma a Francisco Arce como DT del Ciclón" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 20 December 2019.
  5. "Chamot confirma que no seguirá: "Me cuesta dejar este grupo"" (in Spanish). D10 Paraguay. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  6. "Libertad anuncia a Ramón Díaz como DT" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 17 December 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  7. "Roberto Torres vuelve a la academia" (in Spanish). ABC Color. 20 December 2019.
  8. "Jacquet deja la conducción de Guaireña" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 12 January 2020.
  9. "Troadio Duarte estará al frente de Guaireña" (in Spanish). ABC Color. 13 January 2020.
  10. "Sol se queda sin técnico" (in Spanish). ABC Color. 2 February 2020.
  11. "Sol tiene nuevo DT y ya se puso a trabajar" (in Spanish). Versus. 2 February 2020.
  12. "Mario Jara reemplaza a Daniel Farrar" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 21 February 2020.
  13. "El adiós del "Chito"" (in Spanish). ABC Color. 2 March 2020.
  14. "Rodrigo López vuelve a Sportivo Luqueño" (in Spanish). ABC Color. 2 March 2020.
  15. "Celso Ayala asume en River Plate" (in Spanish). ABC Color. 3 March 2020.
  16. "General Díaz tiene nuevo técnico" (in Spanish). D10 Paraguay. 27 June 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  17. "Luis Islas se marcha orgulloso por haber dirigido a Sol de América" (in Spanish). D10 Paraguay. 28 July 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  18. "Sergio Orteman dirigirá a Sol de América" (in Spanish). D10 Paraguay. 28 July 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  19. "San Lorenzo se queda sin DT" (in Spanish). D10 Paraguay. 28 July 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  20. "San Lorenzo oficializa nuevo cuerpo técnico" (in Spanish). D10 Paraguay. 28 July 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  21. "APF anuncia partidos a puertas cerradas" (in Spanish). D10 Paraguay. 10 March 2020.
  22. "La APF suspende el Apertura hasta el 24 de marzo" (in Spanish). D10 Paraguay. 13 March 2020.
  23. "Presidentes aprueban el retorno del fútbol en Paraguay" (in Spanish). D10 Paraguay. 28 May 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  24. "Así son los plazos de la vuelta del fútbol paraguayo" (in Spanish). D10 Paraguay. 28 May 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  25. "APF comunica casos positivos de Covid-19 en tres planteles" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 17 July 2020.
  26. "Se posterga el inicio del torneo Apertura" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 17 July 2020.
  27. "Resoluciones del Tribunal" (in Spanish). APF. 25 February 2020.
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