# 2019 Paraguayan Primera División season

The 2019 División Profesional season (officially the Copa de Primera TIGO-Visión Banco 2019 for sponsorship reasons) was the 85th season of top-flight professional football in Paraguay. The season began on 22 January and ended on 15 December. The fixtures for the season were announced on 13 December 2018. Olimpia were the defending champions after winning both tournaments of the 2018 season, and won a third championship in a row in the Torneo Apertura with three matches to spare after defeating Deportivo Santaní by a 6–0 score on 4 May. Olimpia also crowned themselves in the Torneo Clausura, winning a fourth title in a row with one matchday remaining, following a 2–2 draw at home against Guaraní on 8 December.

## Teams

Twelve teams competed in the season: the top ten teams in the relegation table of the previous season, and two teams promoted from the División Intermedia. The new teams were 2018 División Intermedia champions River Plate and runners-up San Lorenzo, who returned to the top flight after two and three years, respectively. Both replaced Independiente (CG) and 3 de Febrero, who were relegated to the second tier after two and one year, respectively.

### Stadia and locations

| Team | Manager | Home city | Stadium | Capacity |
| Cerro Porteño | Víctor Bernay (caretaker) | Asunción | General Pablo Rojas | 45,000 |
| Deportivo Capiatá | Carlos Recalde | Capiatá | Erico Galeano | 10,000 |
| Deportivo Santaní | Robert Gauto (caretaker) | San Estanislao | Juan José Vázquez | 8,000 |
| General Díaz | Cristian Martínez | Luque | General Adrián Jara | 3,500 |
| Guaraní | Gustavo Costas | Asunción | Rogelio Livieres | 6,000 |
| Libertad | José Chamot | Asunción | Dr. Nicolás Leoz | 10,000 |
| Nacional | Francisco Arce | Asunción | Arsenio Erico | 4,000 |
| Olimpia | Daniel Garnero | Asunción | Manuel Ferreira | 25,000 |
| River Plate | Marcelo Philipp | Asunción | River Plate | 6,500 |
| San Lorenzo | Sergio Órteman | San Lorenzo | Gunther Vogel | 5,000 |
| Sol de América | Pablo Escobar | Villa Elisa | Luis Alfonso Giagni | 10,000 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | Celso Ayala | Luque | La Arboleda$^a$ | 8,000 |
Note: Teams occasionally play their home games at Estadio Defensores del Chaco in Asunción. Derbies between Cerro Porteño and Olimpia are also played at this stadium. a: Sportivo Luqueño will play their home games at Estadio La Arboleda in Asunción as their regular stadium Estadio Feliciano Cáceres is closed for repair works. They played their Torneo Apertura home game against San Lorenzo at Estadio Erico Galeano in Capiatá.

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Torneo Apertura |||||||
| Deportivo Capiatá | Julio Cabrera | End of caretaker spell | 8 December 2018 | Pre-season | José Basualdo | 19 December 2018 |
| Nacional | Fernando Gamboa | Sacked | 31 January 2019 | 12th | Hugo Caballero (caretaker) | 31 January 2019 |
| General Díaz | Florencio Villalba | Resigned | 10 February 2019 | 10th | Luis Escobar (caretaker) | 11 February 2019 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | Pedro Sarabia | Resigned | 15 February 2019 | 10th | Roberto Torres | 11 February 2019 |
| Deportivo Santaní | Héctor Marecos | Sacked | 17 February 2019 | 12th | Carlos Jara | 17 February 2019 |
| Sol de América | Ever Hugo Almeida | Resigned | 22 February 2019 | 5th | Alfredo Vera (caretaker) | 23 February 2019 |
| Deportivo Capiatá | José Basualdo | Sacked | 28 February 2019 | 8th | Celso Ayala | 1 March 2019 |
| Nacional | Hugo Caballero | End of caretaker spell | 4 March 2019 | 11th | Aldo Bobadilla | 4 March 2019 |
| Libertad | Leonel Álvarez | Sacked | 6 March 2019 | 8th | José Chamot | 7 March 2019 |
| Sol de América | Alfredo Vera | End of caretaker spell | 18 March 2019 | 9th | Javier Sanguinetti | 19 March 2019 |
| Deportivo Santaní | Carlos Jara | Sacked | 20 March 2019 | 12th | Martín García | 21 March 2019 |
| General Díaz | Luis Escobar | End of caretaker spell | 18 April 2019 | 11th | Cristian Martínez | 18 April 2019 |
| Deportivo Santaní | Martín García | Resigned | 21 April 2019 | 12th | Pablo Caballero | 22 April 2019 |
| Torneo Clausura |||||||
| Cerro Porteño | Fernando Jubero | Mutual consent | 20 May 2019 | Pre-tournament | Miguel Ángel Russo | 7 June 2019 |
| Deportivo Capiatá | Celso Ayala | Sacked | 22 May 2019 | Pre-tournament | Mario Jara | 23 May 2019 |
| Guaraní | Gustavo Florentín | Mutual consent | 29 May 2019 | Pre-tournament | Gustavo Costas | 6 June 2019 |
| Deportivo Santaní | Pablo Caballero | Resigned | 4 June 2019 | Pre-tournament | Pedro Sarabia | 6 June 2019 |
| Deportivo Capiatá | Mario Jara | Sacked | 25 August 2019 | 7th | Héctor Marecos | 25 August 2019 |
| Sol de América | Javier Sanguinetti | Mutual consent | 25 August 2019 | 9th | Pablo Escobar | 28 August 2019 |
| Deportivo Santaní | Pedro Sarabia | Sacked | 26 August 2019 | 12th | Robert Gauto (caretaker) | 27 August 2019 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | Roberto Torres | Mutual consent | 30 August 2019 | 11th | Hugo Centurión | 31 August 2019 |
| Deportivo Santaní | Robert Gauto | End of caretaker spell | 31 August 2019 | 12th | Mario Jara | 1 September 2019 |
| Nacional | Aldo Bobadilla | Signed by Independiente Medellín | 4 September 2019 | 8th | Francisco Arce | 9 September 2019 |
| Deportivo Capiatá | Héctor Marecos | Sacked | 26 September 2019 | 12th | Carlos Recalde | 26 September 2019 |
| River Plate | Daniel Farrar | Resigned | 2 October 2019 | 8th | Marcelo Philipp | 3 October 2019 |
| Cerro Porteño | Miguel Ángel Russo | Mutual consent | 8 October 2019 | 4th | Víctor Bernay (caretaker) | 8 October 2019 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | Hugo Centurión | Sacked | 8 October 2019 | 12th | Celso Ayala | 8 October 2019 |
| Deportivo Santaní | Mario Jara | Resigned | 27 October 2019 | 10th | Robert Gauto (caretaker) | 27 October 2019 |

## Torneo Apertura

The Campeonato de Apertura, named "Víctor Genes", was the 119th official championship of the Primera División and the first championship of the 2019 season. It started on January 22 and concluded on May 20.

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Olimpia (C) | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 61 | 17 | +44 | 54 | Qualification for Copa Libertadores group stage |
| 2 | Cerro Porteño | 22 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 48 | 25 | +23 | 43 | |
| 3 | Libertad | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 39 | 29 | +10 | 37 | |
| 4 | Guaraní | 22 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 37 | 29 | +8 | 37 | |
| 5 | Sportivo Luqueño | 22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 28 | 30 | −2 | 31 | |
| 6 | River Plate | 22 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 25 | 31 | −6 | 28 | |
| 7 | San Lorenzo | 22 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 33 | 37 | −4 | 27 | |
| 8 | Deportivo Capiatá | 22 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 24 | 32 | −8 | 26 | |
| 9 | Sol de América | 22 | 8 | 2 | 12 | 31 | 43 | −12 | 26 | |
| 10 | Nacional | 22 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 19 | 27 | −8 | 23 | |
| 11 | General Díaz | 22 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 22 | 41 | −19 | 16 | |
| 12 | Deportivo Santaní | 22 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 15 | 38 | −23 | 13 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | CCP | CAP | SAN | GEN | GUA | LIB | NAC | OLI | RIV | SSL | SOL | SLU |
| Cerro Porteño | — | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 5–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 7–2 | 2–0 |
| Deportivo Capiatá | 1–1 | — | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–3 |
| Deportivo Santaní | 1–3 | 0–0 | — | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–6 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 0–1 |
| General Díaz | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 3–3 | 1–4 | 0–0 |
| Guaraní | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | — | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–5 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 |
| Libertad | 1–0 | 5–1 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | — | 1–2 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 |
| Nacional | 0–3 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | — | 2–4 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| Olimpia | 2–2 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | — | 0–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 |
| River Plate | 1–5 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| San Lorenzo | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 1–0 | — | 2–4 | 0–3 |
| Sol de América | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–4 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–6 | — | 0–1 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–5 | 3–1 | 0–3 | 3–1 | — |
* ↑ Match awarded 3–0 to San Lorenzo due to Libertad fielding more foreign players than allowed. The match originally ended with a 3–4 win for Libertad.

### Top goalscorers

| Rank | Name | Club | Goals |
| 1 | William Mendieta | Olimpia | 11 |
| 1 | Roque Santa Cruz | Olimpia | 11 |
| 3 | Sebastián Fernández | San Lorenzo | 9 |
| 3 | Jorge Ortega | Olimpia | 9 |
| 3 | César Villagra | Sol de América | 9 |
| 6 | José Ortigoza | Guaraní | 8 |
| 6 | Nildo Viera | River Plate | 8 |
| 8 | Jorge Benítez | Cerro Porteño | 7 |
| 8 | Óscar Cardozo | Libertad | 7 |
| 8 | Joaquín Larrivey | Cerro Porteño | 7 |
Source: Soccerway

### Attendances

| # | Football club | Home games | Average attendance |
| 1 | Cerro Porteño | 11 | 15,753 |
| 2 | Club Olimpia | 11 | 11,323 |
| 3 | Deportivo Santaní | 11 | 3,392 |
| 4 | CS San Lorenzo | 11 | 2,369 |
| 5 | Deportivo Capiatá | 11 | 1,522 |
| 6 | Sportivo Luqueño | 11 | 1,196 |
| 7 | Club Libertad | 11 | 1,074 |
| 8 | Club Sol de América | 11 | 957 |
| 9 | Club Guaraní | 11 | 935 |
| 10 | Club General Díaz | 11 | 874 |
| 11 | CRP | 11 | 537 |
| 12 | Club Nacional | 11 | 514 |

## Torneo Clausura

The Campeonato de Clausura, named "Ranulfo Miranda y 100 años de la Cruz Roja Paraguaya", was the 120th official championship of the Primera División and the second championship of the 2019 season. It started on July 12 and concluded on December 15.

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Olimpia (C) | 22 | 17 | 3 | 2 | 53 | 15 | +38 | 54 | Qualification for Copa Libertadores group stage |
| 2 | Libertad | 22 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 35 | 12 | +23 | 48 | |
| 3 | Cerro Porteño | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 42 | 28 | +14 | 37 | |
| 4 | Guaraní | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 32 | 28 | +4 | 32 | |
| 5 | Sol de América | 22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 22 | 23 | −1 | 31 | |
| 6 | Nacional | 22 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 29 | 27 | +2 | 29 | |
| 7 | General Díaz | 22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 27 | 33 | −6 | 25 | |
| 8 | River Plate | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 18 | 24 | −6 | 24 | |
| 9 | San Lorenzo | 22 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 23 | 36 | −13 | 22 | |
| 10 | Sportivo Luqueño | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 20 | 37 | −17 | 21 | |
| 11 | Deportivo Capiatá | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 18 | 38 | −20 | 21 | |
| 12 | Deportivo Santaní | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 20 | 39 | −19 | 19 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | CCP | CAP | SAN | GEN | GUA | LIB | NAC | OLI | RIV | SSL | SOL | SLU |
| Cerro Porteño | — | 3–0 | 4–0 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 5–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Deportivo Capiatá | 3–2 | — | 3–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–6 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 1–0 |
| Deportivo Santaní | 0–2 | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 |
| General Díaz | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | — | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 3–0 |
| Guaraní | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 5–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–5 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 |
| Libertad | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Nacional | 1–1 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | — | 1–3 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Olimpia | 4–2 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | — | 2–1 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 |
| River Plate | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| San Lorenzo | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–4 | 2–0 | — | 1–2 | 2–0 |
| Sol de América | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–4 | 1–0 | 1–0 | — | 2–2 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–5 | 1–0 | 1–5 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–0 | — |

### Top goalscorers

| Rank | Name | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Roque Santa Cruz | Olimpia | 15 |
| 2 | Antonio Bareiro | Libertad | 10 |
| 3 | Santiago Salcedo | Deportivo Capiatá | 9 |
| 4 | Fernando Fernández | Guaraní | 8 |
| 4 | Brian Montenegro | Olimpia | 8 |
| 6 | Diego Churín | Cerro Porteño | 6 |
| 6 | Nelson Haedo Valdez | Cerro Porteño | 6 |
| 6 | José Ortigoza | Guaraní | 6 |
| 6 | Óscar Ruiz | Cerro Porteño | 6 |
| 6 | Alejandro Silva | Olimpia | 6 |
| 6 | Leonardo Villagra | Nacional | 6 |
Source: Soccerway

## Aggregate table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Olimpia (C) | 44 | 33 | 9 | 2 | 114 | 32 | +82 | 108 | Qualification for Copa Libertadores group stage |
| 2 | Libertad | 44 | 26 | 7 | 11 | 74 | 41 | +33 | 85 | Qualification for Copa Libertadores group stage |
| 3 | Cerro Porteño | 44 | 24 | 8 | 12 | 90 | 53 | +37 | 80 | Qualification for Copa Libertadores second stage |
| 4 | Guaraní | 44 | 19 | 12 | 13 | 68 | 57 | +11 | 69 | Qualification for Copa Libertadores first stage |
| 5 | Sol de América | 44 | 16 | 9 | 19 | 53 | 66 | −13 | 57 | Qualification for Copa Sudamericana first stage |
| 6 | Nacional | 44 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 48 | 54 | −6 | 52 | Qualification for Copa Sudamericana first stage |
| 7 | River Plate | 44 | 13 | 13 | 18 | 43 | 55 | −12 | 52 | Qualification for Copa Sudamericana first stage |
| 8 | Sportivo Luqueño | 44 | 13 | 13 | 18 | 47 | 66 | −19 | 52 | Qualification for Copa Sudamericana first stage |
| 9 | San Lorenzo | 44 | 13 | 10 | 21 | 56 | 73 | −17 | 49 | |
| 10 | Deportivo Capiatá | 44 | 11 | 14 | 19 | 42 | 70 | −28 | 47 | |
| 11 | General Díaz | 44 | 9 | 14 | 21 | 49 | 74 | −25 | 41 | |
| 12 | Deportivo Santaní | 44 | 7 | 11 | 26 | 35 | 77 | −42 | 32 | |
* ↑ Sportivo Luqueño qualified for the Copa Sudamericana first stage since Deportivo Capiatá, the 2019 Copa Paraguay third-placed team, were relegated and lost the right to claim their berth.

## 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 two teams with the lowest average were relegated to the División Intermedia for the following season.
| Pos | Team | 2017 Pts | 2018 Pts | 2019 Pts | Total Pts | Total Pld | Avg | Relegation |
| 1 | Olimpia | 78 | 102 | 108 | 288 | 132 | 2.182 |
| 2 | Cerro Porteño | 80 | 82 | 80 | 242 | 132 | 1.833 |
| 3 | Libertad | 75 | 76 | 85 | 236 | 132 | 1.788 |
| 4 | Guaraní | 85 | 48 | 69 | 202 | 132 | 1.53 |
| 5 | Sol de América | 62 | 63 | 57 | 182 | 132 | 1.379 |
| 6 | Nacional | 50 | 65 | 52 | 167 | 132 | 1.265 |
| 7 | River Plate | — | — | 52 | 52 | 44 | 1.182 |
| 8 | Sportivo Luqueño | 50 | 46 | 52 | 148 | 132 | 1.121 |
| 9 | San Lorenzo | — | — | 49 | 49 | 44 | 1.114 |
| 10 | General Díaz | 60 | 46 | 41 | 147 | 132 | 1.114 |
| 11 | Deportivo Capiatá (R) | 50 | 45 | 47 | 142 | 132 | 1.076 | Relegation to División Intermedia |
| 12 | Deportivo Santaní (R) | — | 50 | 32 | 82 | 88 | 0.932 | Relegation to División Intermedia |
Updated to games played on 15 December 2019. Source: APF