2008 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol Serie A

The 2008 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol de la Serie A (known as the 2008 Copa Pílsener Serie A for sponsorship reasons) was the 50th season of the Ecuadorian Serie A, Ecuador's premier football league. The three-stage season ran from February 8 and December 7.

Copa Pílsener Serie A
Season2008
ChampionsDeportivo Quito (3rd title)
RelegatedDeportivo Azogues
Universidad Católica
Copa LibertadoresDeportivo Quito
Deportivo Cuenca
El Nacional
Copa SudamericanaDeportivo Quito
Matches played122
Goals scored519 (4.25 per match)
Top goalscorerPablo Palacios (20 goals)
Biggest home winDeportivo Quito 6−0 Emelec (Sep 21)
Biggest away winUniversidad Católica 0−6 Deportivo Quito (Mar 2)
Highest scoringESPOLI 6−2 Emelec (Apr 26)
Longest winning run7 matches:
Deportivo Quito (May 9−Jun 29)
Longest unbeaten run12 matches:
Deportivo Quito (Apr 6−Jun 29)
Longest losing run4 matches:
Técnico Universitario (Feb 10−Feb 27)
Universidad Católica (Feb 23−Mar 8)
Olmedo (May 23−Jun 22)
← 2007
2009 →

Deportivo Quito became the league champion on December 3 by defeating Macará 2-1 in Latacunga. It is Deportivo Quito's 3rd title, and first in 40 years.

Format

The format for 2008 was new, but similar to the 2007 Serie A. The season was composed of three stages:

The format for the First Stage remained the same. The twelve teams competed against each other in a double round-robin format playing each opponent once at home and once away. The top-four teams at the end of the stage qualified to the Liguilla Final. The top-three teams earned bonus points for the Liguilla Final (3, 2, & 1 point[s] respectively) The top-team of the stage qualified to the last Ecuadorian spot in the 2008 Copa Sudamericana.

The format for the Second Stage changed. The twelve teams were divided into two groups of six, where they played within their groups in a double round-robin tournament. The winner of the each group qualified to the final two spots in the Liguilla Final. If a team who has already qualified for the Liguilla Final manages to qualify again by winning their group, the last spots for the Liguilla Final went to the highest positioned team(s) in the Aggregate Table who have not already qualified. The top-team of each group received one bonus point for the Liguilla Final (if a team who earned bonus points from the First Stage finishes last in their group, they will lose their bonus points for the Liguilla Final). At the end of this stage, the two teams with the fewest points in the aggregate table were relegated to the Serie B for the 2009 season.

The format for the Liguilla Final remained the same. The six qualified team competed in a double round-robin tournament. The winner of this stage was crowned the champion of the Copa Pílsener Serie A. The champion will qualified to the 2009 Copa Libertadores Second Stage, while the runner-up and third-place finisher qualify to the First Stage (this slight change from other years is due to the fact that the defending Copa Libertadores champion is an Ecuadorian team).

Teams

The number of teams for the Serie A expanded this season from 10 to 12. Imbabura was the only team relegated at the end of the 2007 season by accumulating the fewest points in the aggregate table. Universidad Católica, ESPOLI, and Técnico Universitario were promoted as 2007 Serie B winner, runner-up, and third-place finisher, respectively. All the new teams have previously played in the Serie A.

Barcelona
Deportivo Cuenca
Emelec
ESPOLI
LDU Quito
Olmedo
Deportivo Quito
El Nacional
Universidad Católica
Macará
Técnico Universitario
Locations of the 2010 Serie A teams
Team Home city Home ground
BarcelonaGuayaquilMonumental Banco Pichincha
Deportivo AzoguesAzoguesMunicipal Jorge Andrade Cantos
Deportivo CuencaCuencaAlejandro Serrano Aguilar
Deportivo QuitoQuitoOlímpico Atahualpa
El NacionalQuitoOlímpico Atahualpa
EmelecGuayaquilGeorge Capwell
ESPOLIQuitoLa Cocha (in Latacunga)
LDU QuitoQuitoLa Casa Blanca
MacaráAmbatoBellavista
OlmedoRiobambaOlímpico de Riobamba
Técnico UniversitarioAmbatoBellavista
Universidad CatólicaQuitoOlímpico Atahualpa

First stage

The first stage ran from February 8 to July 13.

Standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Deportivo Quito 22 13 6 3 38 17 +21 45 2008 Copa Sudamericana Preliminary Round & Liguilla Final
2 LDU Quito 22 11 5 6 36 22 +14 38 Qualified to the Liguilla Final
3 Deportivo Cuenca 22 10 7 5 26 16 +10 37
4 El Nacional 22 10 7 5 21 9 +12 37
5 Barcelona 22 9 8 5 34 27 +7 35
6 ESPOLI 22 9 4 9 31 29 +2 31
7 Macará 22 8 6 8 18 19 −1 30
8 Emelec 22 7 8 7 23 28 −5 29
9 Técnico Universitario 22 7 2 13 20 40 −20 23
10 Olmedo 22 3 9 10 15 27 −12 18
11 Universidad Católica 22 4 6 12 22 38 −16 18
12 Deportivo Azogues 22 3 8 11 22 31 −9 17
Updated to match(es) played on July 13, 2008. Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results
Home \ Away BAR AZO CUE QUI NAC EME ESP LDQ MAC OLM TEC CAT
Barcelona — 2–0 2–2 2–1 3–1 0–0 1–3 1–1 2–0 3–2 2–0 1–0
Deportivo Azogues 1–1 — 0–1 0–1 1–1 0–0 1–0 2–2 0–0 3–0 5–0 2–4
Deportivo Cuenca 2–2 1–0 — 0–0 1–0 4–0 2–1 2–1 1–1 0–1 2–0 2–1
Deportivo Quito 2–2 3–2 1–1 — 0–0 2–1 3–0 3–2 2–0 1–0 1–0 2–1
El Nacional 3–2 3–2 1–0 2–0 — 3–0 2–0 2–1 0–0 2–1 1–0 1–1
Emelec 1–1 1–1 0–0 1–1 1–0 — 2–0 2–1 3–0 1–1 1–0 2–1
ESPOLI 2–1 0–0 0–1 2–2 3–2 6–2 — 1–2 0–2 2–2 1–3 1–0
LDU Quito 1–0 4–0 1–0 1–0 2–2 2–0 0–1 — 1–1 3–1 3–1 1–1
Macará 1–0 3–0 2–1 1–3 0–0 3–1 0–1 0–1 — 0–0 1–0 1–2
Olmedo 2–2 1–0 0–0 0–1 0–2 0–0 1–1 0–3 0–1 — 0–0 1–1
Técnico Universitario 2–3 1–0 0–2 0–4 3–2 2–1 0–4 2–1 1–0 1–0 — 3–3
Universidad Católica 0–1 2–2 2–1 0–6 0–0 0–3 0–2 0–2 0–1 0–2 3–1 —
Updated to match(es) played on July 13, 2008. Source: RSSSF
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second stage

The second stage was played between July 19, 2008, and September 27, 2008.

Group A

Standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Barcelona 10 7 1 2 13 4 +9 22 Qualified to the Liguilla Final
2 Deportivo Quito 10 5 2 3 14 7 +7 17
3 Olmedo 10 5 2 3 15 9 +6 17
4 El Nacional 10 4 1 5 7 11 −4 13
5 Emelec 10 4 1 5 7 15 −8 13
6 Deportivo Azogues 10 1 1 8 7 17 −10 4
Updated to match(es) played on September 27, 2008. Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results
Home \ Away BAR AZO QUI NAC EME OLM
Barcelona — 2–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–0
Deportivo Azogues 1–3 — 0–1 1–1 1–2 0–2
Deportivo Quito 0–0 2–1 — 1–0 6–0 2–2
El Nacional 2–1 1–0 2–1 — 1–0 0–4
Emelec 0–3 0–1 1–0 1–0 — 1–1
Olmedo 0–1 3–2 0–1 1–0 2–1 —
Updated to match(es) played on September 27, 2008. Source: RSSSF
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Group B

Standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Macará 10 5 3 2 17 13 +4 18 Qualified to the Liguilla Final
2 LDU Quito 10 4 4 2 12 10 +2 16
3 Técnico Universitario 10 3 6 1 10 9 +1 15
4 Universidad Católica 10 3 3 4 14 16 −2 12
5 Deportivo Cuenca 10 2 4 4 12 13 −1 10
6 ESPOLI 10 2 2 6 7 11 −4 8
Updated to match(es) played on September 27, 2008. Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results
Home \ Away CUE ESP LDQ MAC TEC CAT
Deportivo Cuenca — 1–1 0–0 4–3 2–0 2–2
ESPOLI 0–0 — 0–1 0–1 1–2 0–1
LDU Quito 2–1 2–1 — 2–2 0–0 4–0
Macará 1–0 2–3 2–0 — 1–1 3–2
Técnico Universitario 2–1 1–0 1–1 0–0 — 2–2
Universidad Católica 2–1 0–1 3–0 1–2 1–1 —
Updated to match(es) played on September 27, 2008. Source: RSSSF
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Aggregate table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Relegation
1 Deportivo Quito 32 18 8 6 53 27 +26 62
2 Barcelona 32 16 9 7 47 31 +16 57
3 LDU Quito 32 15 9 8 48 32 +16 54
4 El Nacional 32 14 8 10 37 32 +5 50
5 Macará 32 13 9 10 35 32 +3 48
6 Deportivo Cuenca 32 12 11 9 38 29 +9 47
7 Emelec 32 11 9 12 30 43 −13 42
8 ESPOLI 32 11 6 15 38 40 −2 39
9 Técnico Universitario 32 10 8 14 30 49 −19 38
10 Olmedo 32 8 11 13 30 36 −6 35
11 Universidad Católica 32 7 9 16 36 54 −18 30 Relegation to Serie B
12 Deportivo Azogues 32 4 9 19 29 48 −19 21
Updated to match(es) played on September 27, 2008. Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Liguilla Final

The Liguilla Final was played between October 19, 2008 and December 7, 2008. The top team qualifies directly to the 2009 Copa Libertadores Second Stage, with the runner-up and third-place finisher qualifying to the First Stage (LDU Quito already has a berth into the Second Stage of the 2009 Copa Libertadores as the defending tournament champion).

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Deportivo Quito (C) 10 6 2 2 12 5 +7 23[lower-alpha 1] 2009 Copa Libertadores Second Stage
2 LDU Quito 10 5 1 4 15 14 +1 18[lower-alpha 1]
3 Deportivo Cuenca 10 4 2 4 10 11 −1 15[lower-alpha 1] 2009 Copa Libertadores First Stage
4 El Nacional 10 3 5 2 10 9 +1 14
5 Barcelona 10 2 6 2 10 11 −1 13[lower-alpha 1]
6 Macará 10 0 4 6 12 19 −7 5[lower-alpha 1]
Updated to match(es) played on December 7, 2008. Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion.
Notes:
  1. Points include Bonus Points earned in the previous rounds: Deportivo Quito (3); LDU Quito (2); Barcelona, Deportivo Cuenca, & Macará (1).
Home \ Away BAR CUE QUI NAC LDQ MAC
Barcelona — 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–1 2–2
Deportivo Cuenca 2–0 — 0–1 1–1 0–2 2–2
Deportivo Quito 1–1 0–1 — 1–0 2–0 2–0
El Nacional 0–0 2–0 1–0 — 1–1 2–2
LDU Quito 2–1 1–2 0–2 3–1 — 4–3
Macará 1–1 1–2 1–2 0–1 0–1 —
Updated to match(es) played on December 7, 2008. Source: RSSSF
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
 Copa Pílsener Serie A
2008 Champion 
Deportivo Quito
3rd title

Top-ten goalscorers
Pos Player Club Goals
1 Pablo Palacios Barcelona 20
2 Martín Mandra Deportivo Quito 17
3 Claudio Bieler LDU Quito 13
4 José Herrera Macará 11
David Quiroz Barcelona 11
6 Carlos Quiñónez El Nacional 10
7 Ebelio Ordóñez Deportivo Quito 9
Jorge Torales Deportivo Cuenca 9
9 Luis Saritama Deportivo Qutio 8
10 Orlindo Ayoví Deportivo Azogues 7
Walter Calderón Deportivo Quito 7
Germán Castillo Deportivo Cuenca 7
Ángel Escobar Macará 7
Mauricio Ferradas Deportivo Cuenca 7
Edder Vaca LDU Quito 7

Last updated: December 6, 2008

See also

References
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