2014 Categoría Primera A season explained

Competition:Liga Postobón
Season:2014
Winners:Apertura: Atlético Nacional (14th title)
Finalización: Santa Fe (8th title)
Relegated:Fortaleza
Continentalcup1:Copa Libertadores
Continentalcup1 Qualifiers:Atlético Nacional
Santa Fe
Once Caldas
Continentalcup2:Copa Sudamericana
Continentalcup2 Qualifiers:Deportes Tolima (cup winner)
Santa Fe (Superliga winner)
Águilas Pereira
Junior
League Topscorer:Apertura: Dayro Moreno (13 goals)
Finalización: Germán Cano (16 goals)
Prevseason:2013
Nextseason:2015

The 2014 Categoría Primera A season (officially known as the 2014 Liga Postobón season for sponsorship reasons) is the 67th season of Colombia's top-flight football league. Atlético Nacional come in as the defending champions having won both titles in the 2013 season.

Format

The format for the Apertura tournament will have a variation due to the 2014 FIFA World Cup and will be similar to the format used in 2011. It will be divided into three stages. The First Stage will be contested on a home-and-away basis, with each team playing the other teams once and playing a regional rival once more. The top eight teams after eighteen rounds will advance to a knockout round, where they will be pitted into four ties to be played on a home-and-away basis, with the four winners advancing to the semifinals and the winner of each semifinal advancing to the final of the tournament, which will be played on a home-and-away basis as well. The winner of the final will be declared the tournament champion and will participate in the 2015 Copa Libertadores. The Finalización tournament will keep the format used in the 2013 season.

Teams

TeamCityStadium2013 season
Alianza PetroleraFloridablancaÁlvaro Gómez Hurtado16th
Atlético HuilaNeivaGuillermo Plazas Alcid15th
Atlético NacionalMedellínAtanasio Girardot1st
Boyacá ChicóTunjaLa Independencia12th
Deportes TolimaIbaguéManuel Murillo Toro4th
Deportivo CaliCaliPascual Guerrero7th
Deportivo PastoPastoDepartamental Libertad10th
EnvigadoEnvigadoPolideportivo Sur11th
FortalezaZipaquiráMetropolitano de TechoPrimera B runners-up
Independiente MedellínMedellínAtanasio Girardot13th
Itagüí/Águilas PereiraApertura: Itagüí
Finalización: Pereira
Apertura: Ciudad de Itagüí
Finalización: Hernán Ramírez Villegas
2nd
JuniorBarranquillaMetropolitano6th
La EquidadBogotáMetropolitano de Techo9th
MillonariosBogotáNemesio Camacho3rd
Once CaldasManizalesPalogrande8th
PatriotasTunjaLa Independencia14th
Santa FeBogotáNemesio Camacho5th
UniautónomaBarranquillaMetropolitanoPrimera B champions

Torneo Apertura

First stage

The First Stage began on January 24 and consisted of eighteen rounds and a series of regional rivalries on the ninth round. The top eight teams out of this stage will advance to the knockout stage. The first stage ended on April 20.

Results

Finals

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Top goalscorers

RankNameClubGoals
align=center 1 Dayro MorenoMillonarios13
align=center 2 Germán CanoIndependiente Medellín11
3 Carlos RenteríaPatriotas10
Óscar RodasEnvigado10
align=center 5 Ayron del ValleAlianza Petrolera9

Source: Soccerway.com

Torneo Finalización

First stage

The First Stage began on July 18 and consisted of eighteen rounds and a series of regional rivalries on the ninth round. The top eight teams out of this stage advanced to the knockout stage. The first stage ended on November 9. Starting from this tournament, Itagüí will compete under the name Águilas Doradas since the club was expelled from Itagüí in May 2014, and will move to Pereira, playing their home games at Estadio Hernán Ramírez Villegas. The club eventually changed its name to Águilas Pereira in order to reflect this move.[1] [2]

Results

Semifinals

The Semifinal stage began on November 13 and ended on December 7. The eight teams that advanced were sorted into two groups of four teams. The winner of each group advanced to the finals.

Group B

Finals

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Top goalscorers

RankNameClubGoals
1 Germán CanoIndependiente Medellín16
2 Juan CaicedoAtlético Huila14
3 Wilson MoreloSanta Fe10
Fernando UribeMillonarios10
align=center 5 Edinson PalominoÁguilas Pereira8

Source: Liga Postobón

Relegation

A separate table is kept to determine the teams that get relegated to the Categoría Primera B for the next season. The table includes an average of all first stage games played for the current season and the previous two seasons.

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width=185Teamwidth=50width=50width=50width=50width=50width=50
Relegation
1Atlético Nacional52 69 63 184 108
2Águilas Pereira61 58 57 176 108
3Santa Fe52 61 61 174 108
4Millonarios57 59 53 169 108
5Junior57 52 55 164 108
6Deportes Tolima65 50 45 160 108
7Deportivo Cali49 58 47 154 108
8La Equidad61 45 41 147 108
9Once Caldas33 56 57 146 108
10Deportivo Pasto52 53 38 143 108
11Independiente Medellín43 47 51 141 108
1241 38 54 133 108
13Envigado44 39 48 131 108
14Boyacá Chicó49 34 47 130 108
15Atlético Huila41 40 46 127 108
16Patriotas44 34 45 123 108
17Uniautónoma (O)44 34 35 113 108 Relegation/promotion playoff
18Fortaleza (R) 35 39 38 112 108 Categoría Primera B
Rules for classification: 1st average; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored; 4th away goals scored.

Promotion/relegation playoff

The second worst team in the relegation table, Uniautónoma played Quindío, the 2014 Categoría Primera B runner-up, for a berth in the 2015 Categoría Primera A season. As the Primera A team, Uniautónoma played the second leg at home. The winner was determined by points, followed by goal difference, then a penalty shootout. Uniautónoma defeated Quindío 2-0 on aggregate score and will remain in the top tier for the 2015 season.

Aggregate table

An aggregate table including all games that a team plays during the year is used to determine First Stage berths to both the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana. The best-placed non-champion will go to the first stage of the 2015 Copa Libertadores and the 2nd and 3rd best-placed non-champions will go to the first stage of the 2015 Copa Sudamericana.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: "Las Águilas Doradas fueron expulsadas de Itagüí", Fernando Salazar . "The "Golden Eagles" were expelled from Itagüí", Fernando Salazar . . July 14, 2014 .
  2. Web site: De manera unánime, la DIMAYOR autorizó a Águilas Doradas jugar en Pereira . Unanimously, DIMAYOR authorized Águilas Doradas to play at Pereira . . July 15, 2014 .