# 2021 Paraguayan Primera División season

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. 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, 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.

## 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. 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

| Team | Manager | City | Stadium | Capacity |
| 12 de Octubre | Pedro Sarabia | Itauguá | Luis Alberto Salinas | 10,000 |
| Cerro Porteño | Francisco Arce | Asunción | General Pablo Rojas | 45,000 |
| Guaireña | Troadio Duarte | Villarrica | Parque del Guairá | 12,000 |
| Guaraní | Fernando Jubero | Asunción | Rogelio Livieres | 6,000 |
| Libertad | Daniel Garnero | Asunción | Dr. Nicolás Leoz | 10,000 |
| Nacional | Hernán Rodrigo López | Asunción | Arsenio Erico | 4,000 |
| Olimpia | Julio César Cáceres | Asunción | Manuel Ferreira | 25,000 |
| River Plate | Iván Almeida | Asunción | River Plate | 6,500 |
| Sol de América | Juan Pablo Pumpido | Villa Elisa | Luis Alfonso Giagni | 11,000 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | Miguel Ángel Zahzú | Luque | Feliciano Cáceres | 25,000 |
* ↑ 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.

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Torneo Apertura |||||||
| River Plate | Ariel Galeano | End of caretaker spell | 18 December 2020 | Pre-season | Mario Jara | 21 December 2020 |
| Libertad | Juan Samudio | End of caretaker spell | 23 December 2020 | Pre-season | Daniel Garnero | 30 December 2020 |
| Sol de América | Celso Ayala | Sacked | 17 February 2021 | 10th | Gustavo Florentín | 17 February 2021 |
| River Plate | Mario Jara | Resigned | 9 March 2021 | 8th | Enrique Landaida | 10 March 2021 |
| Olimpia | Néstor Gorosito | Sacked | 15 March 2021 | 4th | Sergio Órteman | 15 March 2021 |
| Sol de América | Gustavo Florentín | Resigned | 23 March 2021 | 8th | Ever Hugo Almeida | 23 March 2021 |
| River Plate | Enrique Landaida | Sacked | 17 April 2021 | 10th | Celso Ayala | 18 April 2021 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | Luis Escobar | Sacked | 1 May 2021 | 8th | Gilberto Fleitas (caretaker) | 1 May 2021 |
| Sol de América | Ever Hugo Almeida | Sacked | 3 May 2021 | 9th | Iván Almeida (caretaker) | 3 May 2021 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | Gilberto Fleitas | End of caretaker spell | 9 May 2021 | 8th | Alfredo Berti | 9 May 2021 |
| Guaraní | Gustavo Costas | Mutual consent | 28 May 2021 | 6th | Fernando Jubero | 12 June 2021 |
| Torneo Clausura |||||||
| Sol de América | Iván Almeida | End of caretaker spell | 10 June 2021 | Pre-tournament | Juan Pablo Pumpido | 10 June 2021 |
| Olimpia | Sergio Órteman | Resigned | 14 August 2021 | 9th | Enrique Landaida | 15 August 2021 |
| Olimpia | Enrique Landaida | Change of role | 12 September 2021 | 10th | Álvaro Gutiérrez | 9 September 2021 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | Alfredo Berti | Sacked | 12 September 2021 | 5th | Badayco Maciel | 13 September 2021 |
| Olimpia | Álvaro Gutiérrez | Resigned | 14 October 2021 | 10th | Julio César Cáceres | 15 October 2021 |
| River Plate | Celso Ayala | Sacked | 18 October 2021 | 6th | Iván Almeida | 19 October 2021 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | Badayco Maciel | Replaced | 7 December 2021 | Relegation play-off | Miguel Ángel Zahzú | 8 December 2021 |

#### Notes

* ↑ Originally as caretaker manager, appointed as manager until the end of the tournament on 20 September 2021.

## 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.

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Libertad (C) | 18 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 36 | 15 | +21 | 38 | Qualification for Copa Libertadores group stage |
| 2 | Olimpia | 18 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 34 | 23 | +11 | 33 | |
| 3 | Nacional | 18 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 26 | 19 | +7 | 30 | |
| 4 | Cerro Porteño | 18 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 24 | 22 | +2 | 28 | |
| 5 | Guaireña | 18 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 20 | 14 | +6 | 26 | |
| 6 | Guaraní | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 24 | 27 | −3 | 25 | |
| 7 | 12 de Octubre | 18 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 20 | 25 | −5 | 22 | |
| 8 | Sportivo Luqueño | 18 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 19 | 29 | −10 | 18 | |
| 9 | Sol de América | 18 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 18 | 28 | −10 | 14 | |
| 10 | River Plate | 18 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 13 | 32 | −19 | 12 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | 12O | CCP | GFC | GUA | LIB | NAC | OLI | RIV | SOL | SLU |
| 12 de Octubre | — | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–5 | 1–0 |
| Cerro Porteño | 0–1 | — | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Guaireña | 0–0 | 0–1 | — | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 |
| Guaraní | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–3 | — | 1–6 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 |
| Libertad | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 |
| Nacional | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 0–3 | — | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Olimpia | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–4 | — | 5–1 | 3–3 | 4–1 |
| River Plate | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–2 | — | 0–2 | 1–0 |
| Sol de América | 0–3 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | — | 0–2 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | 1–0 | 3–3 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | — |

### Top scorers

| Rank | Name | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Leonardo Villagra | Nacional | 10 |
| 2 | Óscar Cardozo | Libertad | 9 |
| 3 | Mauro Boselli | Cerro Porteño | 7 |
| 3 | Robert Morales | Cerro Porteño | 7 |
| 3 | Jorge Recalde | Olimpia | 7 |
| 6 | Carlos Arrua | Nacional | 6 |
| 6 | Fernando Fernández | Guaraní | 6 |
| 6 | Alejandro Silva | Olimpia | 6 |
| 9 | José Ariel Núñez | 12 de Octubre | 5 |
| 9 | Fernando Romero | Guaireña | 5 |
| 9 | Pablo Velázquez | 12 de Octubre | 5 |
| 9 | Pablo Zeballos | River Plate | 5 |
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.

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Cerro Porteño (C) | 18 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 27 | 8 | +19 | 38 | Qualification for Copa Libertadores group stage |
| 2 | Guaraní | 18 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 39 | 19 | +20 | 36 | |
| 3 | Sol de América | 18 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 28 | |
| 4 | Libertad | 18 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 32 | 21 | +11 | 27 | |
| 5 | 12 de Octubre | 18 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 18 | 22 | −4 | 21 | |
| 6 | Sportivo Luqueño | 18 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 16 | 27 | −11 | 21 | |
| 7 | Nacional | 18 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 17 | 25 | −8 | 20 | |
| 8 | Olimpia | 18 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 24 | 29 | −5 | 18 | |
| 9 | Guaireña | 18 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 21 | −9 | 18 | |
| 10 | River Plate | 18 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 15 | 28 | −13 | 17 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | 12O | CCP | GFC | GUA | LIB | NAC | OLI | RIV | SOL | SLU |
| 12 de Octubre | — | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Cerro Porteño | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 |
| Guaireña | 0–1 | 0–2 | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Guaraní | 4–1 | 2–2 | 3–0 | — | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 |
| Libertad | 3–3 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | — | 1–2 | 0–3 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 5–0 |
| Nacional | 1–1 | 1–5 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | — | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Olimpia | 1–2 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 1–2 | — | 1–3 | 0–1 | 4–0 |
| River Plate | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–5 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | — | 0–2 | 0–0 |
| Sol de América | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–4 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | — | 2–1 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 3–3 | — |

### Top scorers

| Rank | Name | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Sebastián Ferreira | Libertad | 9 |
| 1 | Lorenzo Melgarejo | Libertad | 9 |
| 3 | Chico | Sol de América | 8 |
| 4 | Claudio Aquino | Cerro Porteño | 7 |
| 4 | José Florentín | Guaraní | 7 |
| 4 | José Verdún | Guaireña | 7 |
| 7 | Enrique Borja | Sportivo Luqueño | 6 |
| 7 | Robert Morales | Cerro Porteño | 6 |
| 7 | Alfio Oviedo | Guaraní | 6 |
| 10 | Hernesto Caballero | River Plate | 5 |
| 10 | Fernando Fernández | Guaraní | 5 |
| 10 | Marcelo González | Guaraní | 5 |
Source: Soccerway

## Aggregate table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Cerro Porteño (C) | 36 | 19 | 9 | 8 | 51 | 30 | +21 | 66 | Qualification for Copa Libertadores group stage |
| 2 | Libertad (C) | 36 | 19 | 8 | 9 | 68 | 36 | +32 | 65 | Qualification for Copa Libertadores group stage |
| 3 | Guaraní | 36 | 17 | 10 | 9 | 63 | 46 | +17 | 61 | Qualification for Copa Libertadores second stage |
| 4 | Olimpia | 36 | 16 | 3 | 17 | 58 | 52 | +6 | 51 | Qualification for Copa Libertadores first stage |
| 5 | Nacional | 36 | 12 | 14 | 10 | 43 | 44 | −1 | 50 | Qualification for Copa Sudamericana first stage |
| 6 | Guaireña | 36 | 10 | 14 | 12 | 32 | 35 | −3 | 44 | Qualification for Copa Sudamericana first stage |
| 7 | 12 de Octubre | 36 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 38 | 47 | −9 | 43 | |
| 8 | Sol de América | 36 | 11 | 9 | 16 | 40 | 50 | −10 | 42 | Qualification for Copa Sudamericana first stage |
| 9 | Sportivo Luqueño | 36 | 10 | 9 | 17 | 35 | 56 | −21 | 39 | |
| 10 | River Plate | 36 | 6 | 11 | 19 | 28 | 60 | −32 | 29 | |
* ↑ Cerro Porteño also qualified for the 2021 Supercopa Paraguay as the best-ranked champions in the aggregate table.
* ↑ Sol de América qualified for the Copa Sudamericana first stage as 2021 Copa Paraguay runners-up.

## 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.

### Relegation table

| Pos | Team | 2019 Pts | 2020 Pts | 2021 Pts | Total Pts | Total Pld | Avg | Relegation |
| 1 | Olimpia | 108 | 62 | 51 | 221 | 113 | 1.956 | |
| 2 | Cerro Porteño | 80 | 69 | 66 | 215 | 113 | 1.903 | |
| 3 | Libertad | 85 | 62 | 65 | 212 | 113 | 1.876 | |
| 4 | Guaraní | 69 | 59 | 61 | 189 | 113 | 1.673 | |
| 5 | Nacional | 52 | 44 | 50 | 146 | 113 | 1.292 | |
| 6 | Guaireña | — | 41 | 44 | 85 | 69 | 1.232 | |
| 7 | 12 de Octubre | — | 41 | 43 | 84 | 69 | 1.217 | |
| 8 | Sol de América | 57 | 35 | 42 | 134 | 113 | 1.186 | |
| 9 | Sportivo Luqueño (R) | 52 | 36 | 39 | 127 | 113 | 1.124 | Qualification for Relegation play-off |
| 10 | River Plate (R) | 52 | 38 | 29 | 119 | 113 | 1.053 | 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.
| Award | Winner | Club |
| Best Player | Claudio Aquino | Cerro Porteño |
| Revelation Player | Julio César Enciso | Libertad |
| People's Player | Jean Paulo Fernandes | Cerro Porteño |
| Top Scorer | Leonardo Villagra (14 goals) | Nacional |
| Best Goal | Claudio Aquino (against Olimpia, Torneo Clausura Round 14) | Cerro Porteño |
| Best Goalkeeper | Jean Paulo Fernandes | Cerro Porteño |
| Best Manager | Francisco Arce | Cerro Porteño |
| Fair Play Team | Guaireña | Guaireña |
| Best Referee | Giancarlo Juliadoza | Giancarlo Juliadoza |
| Best VAR Referee | Mario Díaz de Vivar | Mario Díaz de Vivar |