2021 Paraguayan Primera División season explained

Competition:Primera División
Season:2021
Dates:5 February – 5 December 2021
Winners:Apertura: Libertad (21st title)
Clausura: Cerro Porteño (34th title)
Relegated:Sportivo Luqueño
River Plate
Continentalcup1:Copa Libertadores
Continentalcup1 Qualifiers:Cerro Porteño
Libertad
Guaraní
Olimpia
Continentalcup2:Copa Sudamericana
Continentalcup2 Qualifiers:Nacional
Guaireña
Sol de América (via Copa Paraguay)
League Topscorer:
Clausura: Sebastián Ferreira and Lorenzo Melgarejo (9 goals each)
Matches:180
Total Goals:456
Biggest Home Win:Libertad 5–0 Sportivo Luqueño
(29 August)
Libertad 5–0 River Plate
(3 December)
Biggest Away Win:
(20 February)
Guaraní 1–6 Libertad
(16 May)
Highest Scoring:Guaraní 1–6 Libertad
(16 May)
Prevseason:2020
Nextseason:2022

The 2021 División Profesional season (officially the Copa de Primera TIGO-Visión Banco 2021 for sponsorship reasons) was the 87th season of the Paraguayan Primera División, the top-flight professional football league in Paraguay. The season began on 5 February and ended on 5 December 2021. The fixtures for the season were announced on 15 January 2021.[1] [2] Olimpia were the defending champions after winning the 2020 Clausura tournament.

In the Torneo Apertura, Libertad secured their twenty-first league title with one match to spare following Nacional's loss to River Plate on 23 May,[3] whilst in the Torneo Clausura Cerro Porteño won their thirty-fourth league title after drawing with eventual runners-up Guaraní 2–2 on the last matchday played on 4 December.[4]

Teams

Ten teams competed in the season: the top ten teams in the relegation table of the previous season, with no teams promoted from the División Intermedia since the 2020 seasons of the lower-tier club tournaments of Paraguayan football were cancelled by the Paraguayan Football Association due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] General Díaz and San Lorenzo were both relegated to the second tier at the end of the previous season after eight and two years in the top flight, respectively.

Stadia and locations

TeamManagerCityStadiumCapacity
10,000
45,000
12,000
6,000
10,000
4,000
25,000
6,500
11,000
25,000

Managerial changes

TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointment
Torneo Apertura
River Plate Ariel GaleanoEnd of caretaker spell18 December 2020Pre-season Mario Jara21 December 2020[6]
Libertad Juan Samudio23 December 2020 Daniel Garnero30 December 2020[7]
Sol de América Celso AyalaSacked17 February 2021[8] 10th Gustavo Florentín17 February 2021
River Plate Mario JaraResigned9 March 2021[9] 8th Enrique Landaida10 March 2021[10]
Olimpia Néstor GorositoSacked15 March 2021[11] 4th Sergio Órteman15 March 2021[12]
Sol de América Gustavo FlorentínResigned23 March 2021[13] 8th Ever Hugo Almeida23 March 2021[14]
River Plate Enrique LandaidaSacked17 April 2021[15] 10th Celso Ayala18 April 2021[16]
Sportivo Luqueño Luis Escobar1 May 2021[17] 8th Gilberto Fleitas (caretaker)1 May 2021
Sol de América Ever Hugo Almeida3 May 2021[18] 9th Iván Almeida (caretaker)3 May 2021
Sportivo Luqueño Gilberto FleitasEnd of caretaker spell9 May 20218th Alfredo Berti9 May 2021[19]
Guaraní Gustavo CostasMutual consent28 May 2021[20] 6th Fernando Jubero12 June 2021[21]
Torneo Clausura
Sol de América Iván AlmeidaEnd of caretaker spell10 June 2021Pre-tournament Juan Pablo Pumpido10 June 2021[22]
Olimpia Sergio ÓrtemanResigned14 August 2021[23] 9th Enrique Landaida15 August 2021[24]
Enrique LandaidaChange of role12 September 2021[25] 10th Álvaro Gutiérrez9 September 2021[26]
Sportivo Luqueño Alfredo BertiSacked12 September 2021[27] 5th Badayco Maciel13 September 2021[28]
Olimpia Álvaro GutiérrezResigned14 October 2021[29] 10th Julio César Cáceres15 October 2021[30]
River Plate Celso AyalaSacked18 October 2021[31] 6th Iván Almeida19 October 2021[32]
Sportivo Luqueño Badayco MacielReplaced7 December 2021[33] Relegation play-off Miguel Ángel Zahzú8 December 2021
Notes

Torneo Apertura

The Campeonato de Apertura, named "Centenario del Sportivo Luqueño", was the 123rd official championship of the Primera División and the first championship of the 2021 season. It started on 5 February and ended on 30 May.[34]

Top scorers

RankNameClubGoals
align=center 1 Leonardo VillagraNacionalalign=center 10
align=center 2 Óscar CardozoLibertadalign=center 9
3 Mauro BoselliCerro Porteño7
Robert MoralesCerro Porteño
Jorge RecaldeOlimpia
6 Carlos ArruaNacional6
Fernando FernándezGuaraní
Alejandro SilvaOlimpia
9 José Ariel Núñez12 de Octubre5
Fernando RomeroGuaireña
Pablo Velázquez12 de Octubre
Pablo ZeballosRiver Plate

Source: Soccerway

Torneo Clausura

The Campeonato de Clausura, named "Homenaje a César Zabala", was the 124th official championship of the Primera División and the second championship of the 2021 season. It began on 16 July and ended on 5 December.[35]

Top scorers

RankNameClubGoals
1 Sebastián FerreiraLibertad9
Lorenzo MelgarejoLibertad
align=center 3 ChicoSol de Américaalign=center 8
4 Claudio AquinoCerro Porteño7
José FlorentínGuaraní
José VerdúnGuaireña
7 Enrique BorjaSportivo Luqueño6
Robert MoralesCerro Porteño
Alfio OviedoGuaraní
10 Hernesto CaballeroRiver Plate5
Fernando FernándezGuaraní
Marcelo GonzálezGuaraní

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 team with the lowest average was relegated to the División Intermedia for the following season, while the team with the second lowest average played a double-legged relegation play-off against the 2021 Intermedia fourth placed team.[36]

Relegation table

width=28Pos
!		width=185Team
!		width=502019
Pts !		width=502020
Pts !		width=502021
Pts !		width=50Total
Pts !		width=50Total
Pld !		width=50Avg !Relegation
1 Olimpia108 62 51 221 113
2 Cerro Porteño80 69 66 215 113
3 Libertad85 62 65 212 113
4 Guaraní69 59 61 189 113
5 Nacional52 44 50 146 113
6 Guaireña— 41 44 85 69
7 12 de Octubre— 41 43 84 69
8 Sol de América57 35 42 134 113
9 52 36 39 127 113
10 River Plate (R)52 38 29 119 113 Relegation to División Intermedia
Source: APF

Promotion/relegation play-off

----

Sportivo Ameliano won 4–3 on aggregate and were promoted to Primera División. Sportivo Luqueño were relegated to the División Intermedia.

Season awards

On 14 December 2021 a ceremony was held at the Paraguayan Football Association's headquarters to announce the winners of the season awards (Premios de Primera), who were chosen based on voting by the managers of the 10 Primera División teams, local sports journalists, the APF's Referee Commission, the public as well as official statistics.[37]

AwardWinnerClub
Best Player Claudio AquinoCerro Porteño
Revelation Player Julio César EncisoLibertad
People's Player Jean Paulo FernandesCerro Porteño
Top Scorer Leonardo Villagra Nacional
Best Goal Claudio Aquino
Cerro Porteño
Best Goalkeeper Jean Paulo FernandesCerro Porteño
Best Manager Francisco ArceCerro Porteño
Fair Play TeamGuaireña
Best RefereeGiancarlo Juliadoza
Best VAR RefereeMario Díaz de Vivar

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Vuelve el apasionante todos contra todos para el Apertura 2021. Spanish. Tigo Sports. 5 January 2021. 11 January 2021.
  2. Web site: Ya se conoce el calendario del torneo Apertura 2021. Spanish. Tigo Sports. 15 January 2021. 28 January 2021.
  3. Web site: ¡Libertad Campeón!. ABC Color. 23 May 2021.
  4. Web site: Guaraní vs. Cerro Porteño: A lo Ciclón, Cerro Porteño es el campeón del Clausura. es. ABC Color. 4 December 2021. 5 December 2021.
  5. Web site: Es oficial: ¡APF suspende Intermedia y 6 torneos más!. Versus. 11 September 2020. 11 January 2021.
  6. Web site: Mario Jara es nuevo técnico del Kelito. Spanish. D10 Paraguay. 21 December 2020. 11 January 2021.
  7. Web site: Libertad hace oficial la llegada de Daniel Garnero. Spanish. D10 Paraguay. 30 December 2020. 11 January 2021.
  8. Web site: Sol tiene nuevo técnico. Spanish. D10 Paraguay. 17 February 2021. 28 February 2021.
  9. Web site: Un cambio anunciado: Se fue Mario Jara y River ya tiene nuevo DT. Spanish. Versus. 9 March 2021. 15 March 2021.
  10. Web site: Landaida valora la oportunidad. Spanish. D10 Paraguay. 10 March 2021. 15 March 2021.
  11. Web site: Olimpia oficializa la salida de Néstor Gorosito. Spanish. D10 Paraguay. 15 March 2021.
  12. Web site: Sergio Orteman, nuevo técnico de Olimpia. Spanish. D10 Paraguay. 15 March 2021.
  13. Web site: Gustavo Florentín renuncia a Sol de América. Spanish. D10 Paraguay. 23 March 2021. 11 April 2021.
  14. Web site: Éver Hugo Almeida es nuevo técnico de Sol de América. Spanish. Versus. 23 March 2021. 11 April 2021.
  15. Web site: “Kike” Landaida dejó River Plate sin poder ganar en el Apertura 2021. Spanish. Versus. 18 April 2021. 22 April 2021.
  16. Web site: Celso Ayala, listo para su segundo ciclo en River. Spanish. Tigo Sports. 19 April 2021. 22 April 2021.
  17. Web site: Escobar deja la conducción técnica de Luqueño. Spanish. Tigo Sports. 18 April 2021. 15 May 2021.
  18. Web site: Éver Almeida ya no es técnico de Sol de América. Spanish. D10 Paraguay. 3 May 2021. 15 May 2021.
  19. Web site: Sportivo Luqueño anunció al Berti. Spanish. D10 Paraguay. 10 May 2021. 15 May 2021.
  20. Web site: Gustavo Costas deja la dirección técnica de Guaraní. Spanish. D10 Paraguay. 19 May 2021. 28 May 2021.
  21. Web site: Fernando Jubero está en Paraguay para el segundo ciclo en Guaraní. Fernando Jubero is already in Paraguay for the second spell at Guaraní. ABC Color. es. 12 June 2021. 13 June 2021.
  22. Web site: Juan Pablo Pumpido es el nuevo DT de Sol de América. Juan Pablo Pumpido is the new manager of Sol de América. ESPN. es. 10 June 2021. 13 June 2021.
  23. Web site: Sergio Orteman deja de ser técnico de Olimpia. Tigo Sports. es. 15 August 2021.
  24. Web site: Olimpia presenta a Enrique Landaida. D10 Paraguay. es. 15 August 2021. 16 August 2021.
  25. Web site: Enrique Landaida argumenta el cambio de técnico en Olimpia. D10. es. 9 September 2021. 10 September 2021.
  26. Web site: Olimpia anuncia a Álvaro Gutiérrez como nuevo técnico. D10. es. 9 September 2021. 10 September 2021.
  27. Web site: Alfredo Berti dejó la conducción técnica de Luqueño. D10 Paraguay. es. 12 September 2021. 13 September 2021.
  28. Web site: Badayco Maciel interina en Luqueño. D10 Paraguay. es. 13 September 2021.
  29. Web site: Olimpia hace oficial la salida de Álvaro Gutiérrez. D10. es. 14 October 2021. 15 October 2021.
  30. Web site: Olimpia presenta el nuevo cuerpo técnico. D10. es. 15 October 2021. 15 October 2021.
  31. Web site: Celso Ayala deja la conducción de River Plate. Tigo Sports. es. 19 October 2021. 5 November 2021.
  32. Web site: Iván Almeida empieza a trabajar con el plantel de River Plate. Tigo Sports. es. 20 October 2021. 5 November 2021.
  33. Web site: Luqueño contrata a Zahzú para la revancha. Tigo Sports. es. 8 December 2021. 11 November 2021.
  34. Web site: El Torneo Apertura 2021 tiene fecha de inicio, denominación y formato. Spanish. Versus. 27 November 2020. 11 January 2021.
  35. Web site: Así quedaron los torneos. Spanish. ABC Color. 15 January 2021. 29 May 2021.
  36. Web site: Panorama completo de los torneos paraguayos. Spanish. D10 Paraguay. 2 January 2021. 11 January 2021.
  37. Web site: Estos fueron los protagonistas del 2021. APF. 14 December 2021. es. 5 January 2022.

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