# 2011 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol Serie A

The 2011 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol de la Serie A (known as the 2011 Copa Credife Serie A for sponsorship reasons) was the 53rd season of the Serie A, Ecuador's premier football league. The season began on January 30 and ended on December 18, with a break in July for the 2011 Copa América. LDU Quito is the defending champion.

## Format

After a session of the preliminary meeting of the Congress of Professional Football of the Ecuadorian Football Federation (Spanish: Congreso Ordinario del Fútbol Profesional de la Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol), it was determined that the format for the 2011 season will be the same as the previous season.

## Teams

Twelve teams will compete in the 2011 Serie A season, ten of whom remain from the previous season. Macará and Universidad Católica were relegated last season after accumulating the fewest points in the 2010 season aggregate table. They were replaced by LDU Loja and Imbabura, the 2010 Serie B winner and runner-up, respectively. This will be both clubs' second season in the league. LDU Loja played their only season in 2005 and Imbabura played their only season in 2007.
| Team | Home city | Home ground | Current manager |
| Barcelona | Guayaquil | Monumental Banco Pichincha | Luis Zubeldía |
| Deportivo Cuenca | Cuenca | Alejandro Serrano Aguilar | Luis Soler |
| Deportivo Quito | Quito | Olímpico Atahualpa | Carlos Ischia |
| El Nacional | Quito | Olímpico Atahualpa | Mario Saralegui |
| Emelec | Guayaquil | George Capwell | Marcelo Fleitas |
| ESPOLI | Quito | Olímpico Municipal Etho Vega | Eduardo Granda |
| Imbabura | Ibarra | Olímpico de Ibarra | Janio Pinto |
| Independiente José Terán | Sangolquí | Rumiñahui | Carlos Sevilla |
| LDU Loja | Loja | Federativo Reina del Cisne | Diego Ochoa |
| LDU Quito (details) | Quito | Casa Blanca | Edgardo Bauza |
| Manta | Manta | Jocay | Armando Osma |
| Olmedo | Riobamba | Olímpico de Riobamba | Dragan Miranovic |
* ↑ Located in Santo Domingo de Los Colorados.

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| Pre-season changes |||||||
| Olmedo | Ariel Graziani | Resigned | November 13, 2010 | Dragan Miranovic | December 16, 2010 | N/A |
| Manta | Fabián Bustos | Mutual agreement | December 8, 2010 | Gabriel Perrone | December 14, 2010 | N/A |
| Emelec | Jorge Sampaoli | Mutual agreement | December 15, 2010 | Omar Asad | December 24, 2010 | N/A |
| Deportivo Quito | Carlos Sevilla | Mutual agreement | December 17, 2010 | Fabián Bustos | December 21, 2010 | N/A |
| First Stage changes |||||||
| ESPOLI | Carlos Calderón | Resigned | February 16, 2011 | Santiago Ostolaza | February 17, 2011 | 12th |
| Imbabura | Wilson Armas | Resigned | March 11, 2011 | Eduardo Granda | March 11, 2011 | 12th |
| Barcelona | Rubén Darío Insúa | Sacked | March 25, 2011 | Álex Aguinaga | March 25, 2011 | 9th |
| Independiente José Terán | Julio Asad | Sacked | April 17, 2011 | Carlos Sevilla | April 17, 2011 | 12th |
| LDU Loja | Homero Valencia | Mutual consent | April 24, 2011 | Diego Ochoa | April 24, 2011 | 8th |
| Deportivo Quito | Fabián Bustos | Sacked | May 1, 2011 | Juan Carlos Garay | May 1, 2011 | 3rd |
| Manta | Gabriel Perrone | Sacked | May 2, 2011 | Carlos Pico | May 2, 2011 | 10th |
| LDU Loja | Diego Ochoa | Replaced | May 5, 2011 | Jorge Habegger | May 5, 2011 | 7th |
| Deportivo Quito | Juan Carlos Garay | Replaced | May 6, 2011 | Carlos Ischia | May 6, 2011 | 3rd |
| Emelec | Omar Asad | Contract rescinded | May 26, 2011 | Juan Ramón Silva | May 26, 2011 | 2nd |
| Barcelona | Álex Aguinaga | Resigned | May 27, 2011 | Raúl Noriega | May 27, 2011 | 9th |
| Inter-stage changes |||||||
| Imbabura | Eduardo Granda | Mutual consent | June 20, 2011 | Fabián Bustos | June 27, 2011 | N/A |
| Barcelona | Raúl Noriega | Replaced | June 23, 2011 | Luis Zubeldía | June 23, 2011 | N/A |
| Emelec | Juan Ramón Silva | Replaced | July 8, 2011 | Juan Ramón Carrasco | July 8, 2011 | N/A |
| Second Stage changes |||||||
| Imbabura | Fabián Bustos | Resigned | August 25, 2011 | Janio Pinto | September 1, 2011 | 10th |
| Manta | Carlos Pico | Resigned | August 28, 2011 | Armando Osma | August 31, 2011 | 12th |
| LDU Loja | Jorge Habegger | Resigned | September 4, 2011 | Diego Ochoa | September 4, 2011 | 9th |
| ESPOLI | Santiago Ostolaza | Sacked | September 8, 2011 | Eduardo Granda | September 8, 2011 | 11th |
| Emelec | Juan Ramón Carrasco | Resigned | November 27, 2011 | Juan Ramón Silva | November 27, 2011 | 3rd |
| Emelec | Juan Ramón Silva | Replaced | November 27, 2011 | Marcelo Fleitas | November 27, 2011 | 3rd |
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Interim manager.
* ↑ Carlos Pico began as the interim manager, but was given the manager position full-time on May 24, 2011.

## First stage

The first stage (Spanish: Primera Etapa) began on January 30 and ended on June 19. Emelec won the stage.

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Emelec | 22 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 31 | 15 | +16 | 44 | Finals, 2012 Copa Libertadores Second Stage, and 2011 Copa Sudamericana Second Stage |
| 2 | LDU Quito | 22 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 29 | 13 | +16 | 40 | |
| 3 | Deportivo Quito | 22 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 39 | 25 | +14 | 39 | 2011 Copa Sudamericana First Stage |
| 4 | El Nacional | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 31 | 23 | +8 | 32 | |
| 5 | LDU Loja | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 27 | 27 | 0 | 32 | |
| 6 | Deportivo Cuenca | 22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 27 | 30 | −3 | 31 | |
| 7 | Olmedo | 22 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 27 | 32 | −5 | 29 | |
| 8 | Barcelona | 22 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 22 | 23 | −1 | 27 | |
| 9 | Manta | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 20 | 26 | −6 | 27 | |
| 10 | Imbabura | 22 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 25 | 33 | −8 | 23 | |
| 11 | Independiente José Terán | 22 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 29 | 44 | −15 | 19 | |
| 12 | ESPOLI | 22 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 20 | 38 | −18 | 15 | |
* ↑ Since LDU Quito was already qualified to the 2011 Copa Sudamericana First Stage as the winner of the 2010 Serie A Second Stage, Deportivo Quito also qualified to the 2011 Copa Sudamericana First Stage.

### Results

| Home \ Away | BAR | CUE | QUI | NAC | EME | ESP | IMB | IJT | LDL | LDQ | MAN | OLM |
| Barcelona | — | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 |
| Deportivo Cuenca | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 3–2 | 2–1 |
| Deportivo Quito | 1–0 | 3–1 | — | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 2–4 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 |
| El Nacional | 0–0 | 4–2 | 0–3 | — | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 2–1 |
| Emelec | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 |
| ESPOLI | 2–3 | 3–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | — | 2–0 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Imbabura | 0–2 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | — | 2–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 |
| Independiente José Terán | 2–3 | 1–2 | 1–6 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 3–3 | — | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| LDU Loja | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–2 | — | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| LDU Quito | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | — | 5–0 | 1–1 |
| Manta | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | — | 0–0 |
| Olmedo | 4–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–4 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | — |
* ↑ The match was played at Estadio 9 de Mayo in Machala at Barcelona's request.
* ↑ The match was played at Estadio 9 de Mayo in Machala because Barcelona's home stadium was suspended for one match after the crowd threw objects on to the pitch.
* ↑ The match was played at Estadio La Cocha in Latacunga because Deportivo Quito's home stadium was suspended for one match after fans attempted to invade the pitch.
* ↑ The match was played at Estadio La Cocha in Latacunga.
* ↑ The match was played at Estadio Reales Tamarindos in Portoviejo because Emelec's home stadium was suspended for one match after the crowd threw objects on to the pitch and hit a player from the opposing team.
* ↑ The match was played at Estadio Olímpico in Ibarra since Liga' home stadium was suspended for one match after fans threw objects on to the pitch.

## Second stage

The second stage (Spanish: Segunda Etapa) began on July 22 and is scheduled to end on December 4.

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Deportivo Quito | 22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 34 | 15 | +19 | 44 | Finals, 2012 Copa Libertadores Second Stage, and 2012 Copa Sudamericana First Stage |
| 2 | Barcelona | 22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 29 | 21 | +8 | 40 | |
| 3 | El Nacional | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 40 | 33 | +7 | 37 | |
| 4 | Emelec | 22 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 34 | 23 | +11 | 34 | |
| 5 | LDU Quito | 22 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 32 | 23 | +9 | 34 | |
| 6 | Deportivo Cuenca | 22 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 29 | 23 | +6 | 32 | |
| 7 | Independiente José Terán | 22 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 32 | 30 | +2 | 31 | |
| 8 | Olmedo | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 22 | 28 | −6 | 27 | |
| 9 | Manta | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 18 | 30 | −12 | 25 | |
| 10 | Imbabura | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 26 | 40 | −14 | 25 | |
| 11 | LDU Loja | 22 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 31 | 42 | −11 | 24 | |
| 12 | ESPOLI | 22 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 16 | 35 | −19 | 16 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | BAR | CUE | QUI | NAC | EME | ESP | IMB | IJT | LDL | LDQ | MAN | OLM |
| Barcelona | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Deportivo Cuenca | 0–0 | — | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Deportivo Quito | 1–0 | 2–1 | — | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 |
| El Nacional | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | — | 2–1 | 2–1 | 5–1 | 2–2 | 4–3 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 4–2 |
| Emelec | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | — | 4–0 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| ESPOLI | 2–2 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–3 | — | 2–1 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Imbabura | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 3–0 | — | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 0–0 |
| Independiente José Terán | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | — | 3–6 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 3–0 |
| LDU Loja | 3–1 | 4–2 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–2 | — | 3–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| LDU Quito | 0–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | — | 6–0 | 0–0 |
| Manta | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | — | 2–1 |
| Olmedo | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | — |
* ↑ The match was played at Estadio Monumental Banco Pichincha.

## Aggregate table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Deportivo Quito | 44 | 24 | 11 | 9 | 73 | 40 | +33 | 83 | Qualified for the Finals |
| 2 | Emelec | 44 | 22 | 12 | 10 | 65 | 38 | +27 | 78 | Qualified for the Finals |
| 3 | LDU Quito | 44 | 21 | 11 | 12 | 61 | 36 | +25 | 74 | Third-Place Playoffs |
| 4 | El Nacional | 44 | 20 | 9 | 15 | 71 | 56 | +15 | 69 | Third-Place Playoffs |
| 5 | Barcelona | 44 | 18 | 13 | 13 | 51 | 44 | +7 | 67 | |
| 6 | Deportivo Cuenca | 44 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 56 | 53 | +3 | 63 | |
| 7 | LDU Loja | 44 | 16 | 8 | 20 | 58 | 69 | −11 | 56 | |
| 8 | Olmedo | 44 | 15 | 11 | 18 | 49 | 60 | −11 | 56 | |
| 9 | Manta | 44 | 14 | 10 | 20 | 38 | 56 | −18 | 52 | |
| 10 | Independiente José Terán | 44 | 13 | 11 | 20 | 61 | 74 | −13 | 50 | |
| 11 | Imbabura | 44 | 13 | 9 | 22 | 51 | 73 | −22 | 48 | Relegated to the Serie B |
| 12 | ESPOLI | 44 | 7 | 10 | 27 | 38 | 73 | −35 | 31 | Relegated to the Serie B |

## Third stage

The Third Stage (Spanish: Tercera Etapa) began on December 11 and will end on December 19. It will consist of two playoffs.

### Third-place playoffs

LDU Quito and El Nacional will play in the third-place playoff for the Ecuador 3 berth in the 2012 Copa Libertadores as the top-two teams non-stage winners in the aggregate table. Since LDU Quito had the most points in the aggregate table, they will play the second leg at home.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | El Nacional | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4 | 2012 Copa Libertadores First Stage |
| 2 | LDU Quito | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 1 | |

### Finals

Emelec and Deportivo Quito qualified to the Finals by being the First Stage and Second Stage winners, respectively. The winner will be the Serie A champion and earned the Ecuador 1 berth in the 2012 Copa Libertadores. By having the greater number of points in the aggregate table, Deportivo Quito will play the second leg at home.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Deportivo Quito | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 6 |
| 2 | Emelec | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 0 |

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Nationality | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Narciso Mina | Ecuadorian | Independiente José Terán | 28 |
| 2 | Juan Luis Anangonó | Ecuadorian | El Nacional | 21 |
| 3 | Julio Bevacqua | Argentine | Deportivo Quito | 20 |
| 3 | Fabio Renato | Brazilian | LDU Loja | 20 |
| 5 | Hernán Barcos | Argentine | LDU Quito | 16 |
| 6 | Christian Gómez | Ecuadorian | Olmedo | 12 |
| 6 | Juan Govea | Ecuadorian | Deportivo Cuenca | 12 |
| 6 | Edder Vaca | Ecuadorian | LDU Loja | 12 |
| 9 | Édison Preciado | Ecuadorian | El Nacional | 11 |
| 10 | Javier Guarino | Uruguayan | ESPOLI | 10 |
Updated as of games played on December 4, 2011. Source:

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Narciso Mina | Independiente José Terán | Deportivo Quito | 2–3 | May 1, 2011 |
| Fernando Giménez | Emelec | Imbabura | 5–0 | July 23, 2011 |
| Hernán Barcos$^5$ | LDU Quito | Manta | 6–0 | August 13, 2011 |
| Narciso Mina | Independiente José Terán | ESPOLI | 1–4 | November 27, 2011 |
* $^5$ Player scored 5 goals.