# 2023 Venezuelan Primera División season

The 2023 Primera División season, officially Liga de Fútbol Profesional Venezolano or Liga FUTVE, was the 67th season of the Venezuelan Primera División, the top-flight football league in Venezuela, and the 42nd season since the start of the professional era. The season began on 3 February and ended on 25 November 2023.
Deportivo Táchira won their tenth title at the end of the season, defeating Caracas on penalty kicks following a 1–1 draw after extra time in the final. Metropolitanos were the defending champions.

## Format

The competition format for this season was announced by the Liga FUTVE on 31 January 2023. Similar to the previous season, the 15 participating clubs took part in a double round-robin first stage in which they played each other twice (once at home and once away) for a total of 28 games. The top four clubs, which qualified for the 2024 Copa Libertadores, also advanced to a final stage where they played each other twice with the top two teams playing a single-match final to decide the league champions. However, and unlike the previous season, no final stage to decide the teams qualified for the 2024 Copa Sudamericana was played, with the four berths to that competition instead being awarded to the teams placing 5th to 8th in the first stage. The team placing last in the first stage was relegated to Segunda División for the following season.

## Teams

16 teams were expected to compete in the 2023 season, subject to the fulfillment of club licensing requirements: the top 15 teams in the first stage of the 2022 season as well as the 2022 Segunda División champions Angostura, who defeated Academia Anzoátegui in the Segunda División final on 16 October 2022. They replaced Aragua, who were relegated to Segunda División at the end of the previous season after finishing in bottom place.
On 12 December 2022, it was announced that Zulia and Segunda División side Rayo Zuliano would merge, with the latter taking the former's place in the league. The merger was officially confirmed on 28 January 2023, with which Rayo Zuliano competed in the top flight for the first time ever in this season. Furthermore, two days later it was confirmed that Deportivo Lara would not take part in the season, ultimately bringing the number of participating teams down to 15.
Relegated to 2023 Segunda División :
| 16 | Aragua |
Failed club licensing process :
* Deportivo Lara
Promoted to 2023 Primera División :
| 1 | Angostura |

### Stadia and locations

| Team | City | Stadium | Capacity |
| Academia Puerto Cabello | Puerto Cabello | La Bombonerita | 7,500 |
| Angostura | Ciudad Bolívar | Ricardo Tulio Maya | 2,500 |
| Carabobo | Valencia | Misael Delgado | 10,400 |
| Caracas | Caracas | Olímpico de la UCV | 23,940 |
| Deportivo La Guaira | Caracas | Olímpico de la UCV | 23,940 |
| Deportivo Táchira | San Cristóbal | Polideportivo de Pueblo Nuevo | 38,755 |
| Estudiantes de Mérida | Mérida | Metropolitano de Mérida | 42,200 |
| Hermanos Colmenarez | Barinas | Agustín Tovar | 29,800 |
| Metropolitanos | Caracas | Olímpico de la UCV | 23,940 |
| Mineros de Guayana | Ciudad Guayana | Polideportivo Cachamay | 41,600 |
| Monagas | Maturín | Monumental de Maturín | 51,796 |
| Portuguesa | Acarigua | General José Antonio Páez | 18,000 |
| Rayo Zuliano | Maracaibo | José Pachencho Romero | 40,800 |
| Universidad Central | Caracas | Olímpico de la UCV | 23,940 |
| Zamora | Barinas | Agustín Tovar | 29,800 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor(s) |
| Academia Puerto Cabello | Noel Sanvicente | Givova | CLX Samsung |
| Angostura | Osmar Castillo | RS | Genpar |
| Carabobo | Juan Tolisano | New Arrival | Fospuca, El Maizal, Juega En Línea |
| Caracas | Leonardo González | RS | Maltín Polar, SellaTuParley, Pepsi, Canguro Venezuela |
| Deportivo La Guaira | Enrique García | Fila | Traki, Furia Energy, Pepsi |
| Deportivo Táchira | Eduardo Saragó | Attle | Juega En Línea, Grupo JHS, VenApp |
| Estudiantes de Mérida | Franklin Lucena | New Arrival | Petro, Oriente, Visite Mérida, VenApp, Vnet |
| Hermanos Colmenarez | Leonel Vielma | Attle | Corporation CSA |
| Metropolitanos | José María Morr | RS | Aerolíneas Estelar |
| Mineros de Guayana | Jesús Alonso Cabello | RS | |
| Monagas | Tony Franco | RS | Banplus |
| Portuguesa | Jesús Ortiz | RS | Alimentos Fina Ideal |
| Rayo Zuliano | Elvis Martínez | Attle | PDVSA, Javitour |
| Universidad Central | Daniel Sasso | RS | Avanti, Bancamiga |
| Zamora | Enrique Maggiolo | RS | Thundernet |

#### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| First stage |||||||
| Rayo Zuliano | Alex García King | Change of role | 2 October 2022 | Pre-season | Elvis Martínez | 29 September 2022 |
| Caracas | Henry Meléndez | End of caretaker spell | 21 October 2022 | Pre-season | Leonardo González | 1 November 2022 |
| Carabobo | Enrique Maggiolo | End of contract | 22 October 2022 | Pre-season | Juan Tolisano | 17 November 2022 |
| Estudiantes de Mérida | Leonardo González | Resigned | 29 October 2022 | Pre-season | Alí Cañas | 27 January 2023 |
| Zamora | Noel Sanvicente | Resigned | 31 October 2022 | Pre-season | Francesco Stifano | 5 January 2023 |
| Academia Puerto Cabello | Juan Tolisano | Mutual agreement | 1 November 2022 | Pre-season | Noel Sanvicente | 2 November 2022 |
| Deportivo La Guaira | Daniel Farías | End of contract | 9 November 2022 | Pre-season | Enrique García | 20 November 2022 |
| Mineros de Guayana | Elías Emmons | End of caretaker spell | 27 January 2023 | Pre-season | Tony Franco | 27 January 2023 |
| Portuguesa | Martín Brignani | Sacked | 1 March 2023 | 15th | Jesús Ortiz | 1 March 2023 |
| Hermanos Colmenarez | Horacio Matuszyczk | Sacked | 25 March 2023 | 6th | Leonel Vielma | 29 March 2023 |
| Mineros de Guayana | Tony Franco | Mutual agreement | 13 April 2023 | 14th | Jesús Alonso Cabello | 14 April 2023 |
| Universidad Central | Edson Rodríguez | Sacked | 21 April 2023 | 15th | Luis De Oliveira | 21 April 2023 |
| Universidad Central | Luis De Oliveira | End of caretaker spell | 4 May 2023 | 15th | Daniel Sasso | 4 May 2023 |
| Mineros de Guayana | Jesús Alonso Cabello | End of caretaker spell | 6 May 2023 | 15th | Jorge Luis Bernal | 6 May 2023 |
| Mineros de Guayana | Jorge Luis Bernal | Resigned | 22 May 2023 | 15th | Jesús Alonso Cabello | 22 May 2023 |
| Estudiantes de Mérida | Alí Cañas | Resigned | 30 May 2023 | 10th | Franklin Lucena | 31 May 2023 |
| Mineros de Guayana | Jesús Alonso Cabello | End of caretaker spell | 24 June 2023 | 15th | Matías Mazmud | 24 June 2023 |
| Monagas | Jhonny Ferreira | Promoted to sporting director | 10 July 2023 | 10th | Tony Franco | 10 July 2023 |
| Zamora | Francesco Stifano | Resigned | 16 July 2023 | 12th | Alí Alvarado | 21 July 2023 |
| Mineros de Guayana | Matías Mazmud | Sacked | 26 July 2023 | 15th | Jesús Alonso Cabello | 26 July 2023 |
| Zamora | Alí Alvarado | End of caretaker spell | 1 August 2023 | 12th | Enrique Maggiolo | 1 August 2023 |

##### Notes

* 1 2 3 4 Caretaker manager.

## First stage

The first stage started on 3 February and ended on 8 October 2023.

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Deportivo Táchira | 28 | 19 | 7 | 2 | 47 | 17 | +30 | 64 | Advance to Final stage and qualification for Copa Libertadores |
| 2 | Academia Puerto Cabello | 28 | 19 | 3 | 6 | 49 | 19 | +30 | 60 | Advance to Final stage and qualification for Copa Libertadores |
| 3 | Portuguesa | 28 | 13 | 7 | 8 | 32 | 26 | +6 | 46 | Advance to Final stage and qualification for Copa Libertadores |
| 4 | Caracas | 28 | 10 | 15 | 3 | 44 | 27 | +17 | 45 | Advance to Final stage and qualification for Copa Libertadores |
| 5 | Carabobo | 28 | 11 | 12 | 5 | 35 | 21 | +14 | 45 | Qualification for Copa Sudamericana first stage |
| 6 | Deportivo La Guaira | 28 | 9 | 12 | 7 | 37 | 33 | +4 | 39 | Qualification for Copa Sudamericana first stage |
| 7 | Metropolitanos | 28 | 11 | 6 | 11 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 39 | Qualification for Copa Sudamericana first stage |
| 8 | Rayo Zuliano | 28 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 33 | 39 | −6 | 36 | Qualification for Copa Sudamericana first stage |
| 9 | Estudiantes de Mérida | 28 | 9 | 6 | 13 | 39 | 41 | −2 | 33 | |
| 10 | Angostura | 28 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 32 | 41 | −9 | 30 | |
| 11 | Monagas | 28 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 29 | 41 | −12 | 30 | |
| 12 | Zamora | 28 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 31 | 50 | −19 | 30 | |
| 13 | Universidad Central | 28 | 6 | 9 | 13 | 27 | 36 | −9 | 27 | |
| 14 | Hermanos Colmenarez | 28 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 25 | 37 | −12 | 24 | |
| 15 | Mineros de Guayana (R) | 28 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 25 | 57 | −32 | 20 | Relegation to Segunda División |

### Results

| Home \ Away | APC | ANG | CBO | CAR | DLG | TAC | ESM | HCO | MET | MIN | MON | POR | RAY | UCV | ZAM |
| Academia Puerto Cabello | — | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 |
| Angostura | 2–2 | — | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Carabobo | 0–2 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 6–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 |
| Caracas | 2–1 | 4–1 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 4–0 |
| Deportivo La Guaira | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | 0–0 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 5–3 | 0–0 | 3–0 |
| Deportivo Táchira | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | — | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Estudiantes de Mérida | 1–3 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–3 | — | 1–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–2 |
| Hermanos Colmenarez | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | — | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Metropolitanos | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–3 | — | 3–0 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Mineros de Guayana | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | — | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 |
| Monagas | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | — | 1–2 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Portuguesa | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | — | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Rayo Zuliano | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 4–4 | 1–0 | 1–1 | — | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Universidad Central | 2–3 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | — | 5–0 |
| Zamora | 1–3 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–5 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — |

## Final stage

The top four teams in the first stage contested the competition's final stage, playing each other twice. The top two teams advanced to the final and also qualified for the group stage of the 2024 Copa Libertadores, whilst the third- and fourth-placed teams qualified for the preliminary stages of the same competition.

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Deportivo Táchira | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 12 | Advance to Final and qualification for Copa Libertadores group stage |
| 2 | Caracas | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 9 | Advance to Final and qualification for Copa Libertadores group stage |
| 3 | Portuguesa | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 6 | Qualification for Copa Libertadores second stage |
| 4 | Academia Puerto Cabello | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 3 | Qualification for Copa Libertadores first stage |

### Results

| Home \ Away | APC | CAR | TAC | POR |
| Academia Puerto Cabello | — | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Caracas | 1–0 | — | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| Deportivo Táchira | 2–1 | 1–1 | — | 3–0 |
| Portuguesa | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | — |

## Final

The final match was hosted by the finalist with the best performance in the first stage of the season.

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Luifer Hernández | Academia Puerto Cabello | 18 |
| 2 | Richard Blanco | Mineros de Guayana / Portuguesa | 14 |
| 3 | Ade Oguns | Caracas | 12 |
| 4 | Franklin González | Hermanos Colmenarez | 9 |
| 4 | Saúl Guarirapa | Caracas | 9 |
| 4 | Ervin Zorrilla | Estudiantes de Mérida | 9 |
| 7 | Edder Farías | Deportivo Táchira / Deportivo La Guaira | 8 |
| 7 | Charlis Ortiz | Metropolitanos | 8 |
| 7 | Gonzalo Ritacco | Deportivo Táchira | 8 |
| 7 | Anthony Uribe | Deportivo Táchira | 8 |
Source: Soccerway