# 2020 Paraguayan Primera División season

The 2020 División Profesional season (officially the Copa de Primera TIGO-Visión Banco 2020 for sponsorship reasons) was the 86th season of the Paraguayan Primera División, the top-flight professional football league in Paraguay. The season began on 17 January and ended on 30 December. The fixtures for the season were announced on 16 December 2019. Olimpia were the defending champions after winning both tournaments of the 2019 season.
On 26 September, Cerro Porteño won the Torneo Apertura and clinched their thirty-third domestic championship with one match to spare following a 3–1 victory over River Plate, while the Torneo Clausura was won by Olimpia who clinched their forty-fifth domestic championship after defeating Guaraní on penalties in the final played on 30 December.
The tournament was suspended from 13 March to 21 July due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

## 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 2019 División Intermedia champions Guaireña and runners-up 12 de Octubre, with the former competing in the top tier for the first time ever and the latter returning after a five-year absence. Both teams replaced Deportivo Capiatá and Deportivo Santaní, who were relegated to the second tier after seven and two years, 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 |
| General Díaz | Héctor Marecos | Luque | General Adrián Jara | 3,500 |
| General Díaz | Héctor Marecos | Asunción | River Plate | 6,500 |
| General Díaz | Héctor Marecos | San Lorenzo | Gunther Vogel | 5,000 |
| Guaireña | Troadio Duarte | Villarrica | Parque del Guairá | 12,000 |
| Guaireña | Troadio Duarte | Itauguá | Luis Alberto Salinas | 10,000 |
| Guaraní | Gustavo Costas | Asunción | Rogelio Livieres | 6,000 |
| Libertad | Juan Samudio (caretaker) | Asunción | Dr. Nicolás Leoz | 10,000 |
| Nacional | Hernán Rodrigo López | Asunción | Arsenio Erico | 4,000 |
| Olimpia | Néstor Gorosito | Asunción | Manuel Ferreira | 25,000 |
| River Plate | Ariel Galeano (caretaker) | Asunción | River Plate | 6,500 |
| San Lorenzo | Roberto Torres | San Lorenzo | Gunther Vogel | 5,000 |
| Sol de América | Celso Ayala | Villa Elisa | Luis Alfonso Giagni | 10,000 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | Luis Escobar | Luque | Feliciano Cáceres | 25,000 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | Luis Escobar | San Lorenzo | Gunther Vogel | 5,000 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | Luis Escobar | Itauguá | Luis Alberto Salinas | 10,000 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | Luis Escobar | Asunción | River Plate | 6,500 |
* ↑ 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.
* ↑ Used by General Díaz for their Torneo Apertura home match against Nacional since Estadio General Adrián Jara was still not suitable for VAR use.
* ↑ Used by General Díaz for their Torneo Apertura home match against Sportivo Luqueño since Estadio General Adrián Jara was still not suitable for VAR use.
* ↑ Used by Guaireña for their Torneo Apertura home match against River Plate since Estadio Parque del Guairá was still not suitable for VAR use.
* ↑ Used by Sportivo Luqueño for their Torneo Apertura home match against Guaireña since Estadio Feliciano Cáceres in Luque is closed for repairs.
* ↑ Used by Sportivo Luqueño for their Torneo Apertura home match against Libertad.
* ↑ Used by Sportivo Luqueño for their Torneo Apertura home match against Guaraní.

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Torneo Apertura |||||||
| Guaireña | Troadio Duarte | Self-demoted to assistant | 7 December 2019 | Pre-season | Mario Jacquet | 7 December 2019 |
| Cerro Porteño | Víctor Bernay | End of caretaker spell | 15 December 2019 | Pre-season | Francisco Arce | 20 December 2019 |
| Libertad | José Chamot | End of contract | 15 December 2019 | Pre-season | Ramón Díaz | 17 December 2019 |
| Nacional | Francisco Arce | Signed by Cerro Porteño | 19 December 2019 | Pre-season | Roberto Torres | 20 December 2019 |
| Guaireña | Mario Jacquet | Resigned | 12 January 2020 | Pre-season | Troadio Duarte | 13 January 2020 |
| Sol de América | Pablo Escobar | Mutual consent | 2 February 2020 | 9th | Luis Islas | 2 February 2020 |
| 12 de Octubre | Daniel Farrar | Sacked | 21 February 2020 | 12th | Mario Jara | 21 February 2020 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | Celso Ayala | Sacked | 1 March 2020 | 10th | Hernán Rodrigo López | 2 March 2020 |
| River Plate | Marcelo Philipp | Sacked | 2 March 2020 | 9th | Celso Ayala | 2 March 2020 |
| General Díaz | Cristian Martínez | Resigned | 26 June 2020 | 12th | Robert Pereira | 26 June 2020 |
| Sol de América | Luis Islas | Sacked | 28 July 2020 | 8th | Sergio Órteman | 28 July 2020 |
| San Lorenzo | Sergio Órteman | Mutual consent | 28 July 2020 | 11th | Cristian Martínez | 28 July 2020 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | Hernán Rodrigo López | Resigned | 11 September 2020 | 8th | Carlos Humberto Paredes | 12 September 2020 |
| Nacional | Roberto Torres | Sacked | 16 September 2020 | 6th | Hernán Rodrigo López | 16 September 2020 |
| San Lorenzo | Cristian Martínez | Sacked | 16 September 2020 | 12th | Roberto Torres | 16 September 2020 |
| Libertad | Ramón Díaz | Resigned | 24 September 2020 | 3rd | Gustavo Morínigo | 24 September 2020 |
| Torneo Clausura |||||||
| General Díaz | Robert Pereira | Sacked | 6 October 2020 | Pre-tournament | Julio Javier Doldán (caretaker) | 6 October 2020 |
| Olimpia | Daniel Garnero | Sacked | 26 October 2020 | 9th | Enrique Landaida (caretaker) | 26 October 2020 |
| River Plate | Celso Ayala | Sacked | 26 October 2020 | 12th | Carlos Aitor García | 26 October 2020 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | Carlos Humberto Paredes | Sacked | 8 November 2020 | 8th | Luis Escobar | 9 November 2020 |
| Olimpia | Enrique Landaida | End of caretaker spell | 11 November 2020 | 1st | Néstor Gorosito | 4 November 2020 |
| General Díaz | Julio Javier Doldán | End of caretaker spell | 11 November 2020 | 12th | Héctor Marecos | 11 November 2020 |
| 12 de Octubre | Mario Jara | Sacked | 12 November 2020 | 8th | Pedro Sarabia | 13 November 2020 |
| River Plate | Carlos Aitor García | Sacked | 7 December 2020 | 11th | Ariel Galeano (caretaker) | 8 December 2020 |
| Sol de América | Sergio Órteman | Sacked | 9 December 2020 | 7th | Celso Ayala | 9 December 2020 |
| Libertad | Gustavo Morínigo | Sacked | 16 December 2020 | 5th | Juan Samudio (caretaker) | 16 December 2020 |
* ↑ Taking office from 14 November 2020 onwards.

## Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

On 10 March, and following a 15-day suspension of all public or private mass gathering events ordered by the Paraguayan government as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Paraguayan Football Association announced that every match of its official competitions, including the Primera División, would be played behind closed doors during that period of time. However, on 13 March the APF announced the suspension of the tournament, following advise from its Medical Directorate.
On 28 May 2020, the APF and the presidents of the 12 Primera División clubs reached an agreement to resume the competition on 17 July, with the ninth round of the Torneo Apertura. The plan to resume competition included socialization of health protocols to the Paraguayan government and application of COVID-19 tests before the start of individual training sessions on 10 June, with collective training to resume between 16 and 22 June. On the early morning of 17 July, within hours of the planned resumption of the competition, the APF announced the postponement of the matches involving 12 de Octubre, Guaraní and San Lorenzo, due to the confirmation of COVID-19 cases in those clubs, and after consultation with its Medical Directorate as well as the presidents of the league's 12 clubs, the governing body officially announced the postponement of the return of the competition to at least 22 July.
Following new tests in those three clubs which reported negative results, the competition was eventually confirmed to resume on 21 July, with the River Plate vs. Nacional and Cerro Porteño vs. Libertad matches.
Due to the four-month suspension of the season caused by the pandemic, the format for the Torneo Clausura had to be altered. Instead of the originally scheduled double round-robin, there was a first stage in which teams played each other once for a total of 11 games, five of which at home and another away, with the remaining match (on the sixth matchday) being played on neutral ground. The top eight teams after that single round-robin stage qualified for a play-off stage, with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final to be played as single matches, and a penalty shootout deciding the winner in case of a draw.

## Torneo Apertura

The Campeonato de Apertura, named "Dr. Emilio Insfrán Villalba", was the 121st official championship of the Primera División and the first championship of the 2020 season. It started on 17 January and concluded on 4 October. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was scheduled to conclude on 31 May.

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Cerro Porteño (C) | 22 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 37 | 14 | +23 | 50 | Qualification for Copa Libertadores group stage |
| 2 | Olimpia | 22 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 54 | 20 | +34 | 45 | |
| 3 | Libertad | 22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 43 | 23 | +20 | 44 | |
| 4 | Guaraní | 22 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 30 | 16 | +14 | 41 | |
| 5 | River Plate | 22 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 23 | 30 | −7 | 29 | |
| 6 | Guaireña | 22 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 30 | 29 | +1 | 27 | |
| 7 | Nacional | 22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 25 | |
| 8 | Sportivo Luqueño | 22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 22 | 32 | −10 | 25 | |
| 9 | 12 de Octubre | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 23 | 39 | −16 | 21 | |
| 10 | Sol de América | 22 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 23 | 40 | −17 | 19 | |
| 11 | San Lorenzo | 22 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 18 | 36 | −18 | 16 | |
| 12 | General Díaz | 22 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 22 | 46 | −24 | 14 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | 12O | CCP | GEN | GFC | GUA | LIB | NAC | OLI | RIV | SSL | SOL | SLU |
| 12 de Octubre | — | 1–4 | 3–3 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–2 |
| Cerro Porteño | 1–0 | — | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 |
| General Díaz | 1–1 | 1–3 | — | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 |
| Guaireña | 3–3 | 1–2 | 2–1 | — | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 |
| Guaraní | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 |
| Libertad | 1–1 | 0–0 | 5–1 | 5–2 | 1–3 | — | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 |
| Nacional | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | — | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 |
| Olimpia | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 4–0 | — | 1–1 | 4–2 | 4–0 | 7–0 |
| River Plate | 0–2 | 0–2 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–4 | — | 4–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 |
| San Lorenzo | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Sol de América | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 0–0 | 2–1 | — | 1–0 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | 2–1 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | — |
* ↑ Match awarded 3–0 to Olimpia due to Guaraní fielding more foreign players than allowed. The match originally ended with Guaraní winning by a 4–2 score.

### Top goalscorers

| Rank | Name | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Sebastián Ferreira | Libertad | 13 |
| 2 | Roque Santa Cruz | Olimpia | 10 |
| 3 | Néstor Camacho | Olimpia | 9 |
| 4 | Óscar Cardozo | Libertad | 8 |
| 4 | Fernando Fernández | Guaraní | 8 |
| 4 | Pablo Zeballos | 12 de Octubre | 8 |
| 7 | Raúl Bobadilla | Guaraní | 7 |
| 7 | Diego Churín | Cerro Porteño | 7 |
| 7 | Derlis González | Olimpia | 7 |
| 7 | Isidro Pitta | Sportivo Luqueño / Olimpia | 7 |
| 7 | Jorge Recalde | Olimpia | 7 |
Source: Soccerway

## Torneo Clausura

The Campeonato de Clausura, named "Profesor Cristóbal Maldonado", was the 122nd official championship of the Primera División and the second championship of the 2020 season. It started on 16 October and concluded on 30 December with the final.

### First stage
#### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | 12 de Octubre | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 12 | +3 | 20 | Advance to play-offs |
| 2 | Nacional | 11 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 18 | 12 | +6 | 19 | Advance to play-offs |
| 3 | Cerro Porteño | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 11 | +5 | 19 | Advance to play-offs |
| 4 | Libertad | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 20 | 15 | +5 | 18 | Advance to play-offs |
| 5 | Guaraní | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 7 | +4 | 18 | Advance to play-offs |
| 6 | Olimpia | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 20 | 16 | +4 | 17 | Advance to play-offs |
| 7 | Sol de América | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 19 | 14 | +5 | 16 | Advance to play-offs |
| 8 | Guaireña | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 14 | −4 | 14 | Advance to play-offs |
| 9 | San Lorenzo | 11 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 15 | −2 | 12 | |
| 10 | Sportivo Luqueño | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 19 | −6 | 11 | |
| 11 | River Plate | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 17 | −7 | 9 | |
| 12 | General Díaz | 11 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 25 | −13 | 3 | |

#### Results

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

### Play-offs

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | 12 de Octubre | 1 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Guaireña | 2 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Guaireña | 2 | 8 | Guaireña | 0 | | | |
| | | | 5 | Guaraní | 1 | | | |
| 4 | Libertad | 1 | 5 | Guaraní | 1 | | | |
| 5 | Guaraní | 3 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Guaraní | 3 | | | | 5 | Guaraní | 2 (4) |
| | | | | | | 6 | Olimpia (p) | 2 (5) |
| 2 | Nacional | 0 | | | | | | | 6 | Olimpia (p) | 2 (5) |
| 7 | Sol de América | 1 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Sol de América | 1 | 7 | Sol de América | 2 | | | |
| | | | 6 | Olimpia | 4 | | | |
| 3 | Cerro Porteño | 1 (1) | 6 | Olimpia | 4 | | | |
| 6 | Olimpia (p) | 1 (4) | | | | | | |

#### Final
### Top goalscorers

| Rank | Name | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Jorge Recalde | Olimpia | 9 |
| 2 | Roque Santa Cruz | Olimpia | 7 |
| 3 | Pablo Velázquez | General Díaz | 6 |
| 4 | Óscar Cardozo | Libertad | 5 |
| 4 | Pablo Zeballos | 12 de Octubre | 5 |
| 6 | Cecilio Domínguez | Guaraní | 4 |
| 6 | Sebastián Ferreira | Libertad | 4 |
| 6 | Jorge Ortega | Sportivo Luqueño | 4 |
| 6 | Nildo Viera | Sol de América | 4 |
Source: Soccerway

## Aggregate table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Cerro Porteño (C) | 33 | 20 | 9 | 4 | 53 | 25 | +28 | 69 | Qualification for Copa Libertadores group stage |
| 2 | Olimpia (C) | 33 | 18 | 8 | 7 | 74 | 36 | +38 | 62 | Qualification for Copa Libertadores group stage |
| 3 | Libertad | 33 | 18 | 8 | 7 | 63 | 38 | +25 | 62 | Qualification for Copa Libertadores second stage |
| 4 | Guaraní | 33 | 16 | 11 | 6 | 41 | 23 | +18 | 59 | Qualification for Copa Libertadores first stage |
| 5 | Nacional | 33 | 10 | 14 | 9 | 40 | 34 | +6 | 44 | Qualification for Copa Sudamericana first stage |
| 6 | Guaireña | 33 | 9 | 14 | 10 | 40 | 43 | −3 | 41 | Qualification for Copa Sudamericana first stage |
| 7 | 12 de Octubre | 33 | 11 | 8 | 14 | 38 | 51 | −13 | 41 | Qualification for Copa Sudamericana first stage |
| 8 | River Plate | 33 | 10 | 8 | 15 | 33 | 47 | −14 | 38 | Qualification for Copa Sudamericana first stage |
| 9 | Sportivo Luqueño | 33 | 9 | 9 | 15 | 35 | 51 | −16 | 36 | |
| 10 | Sol de América | 33 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 42 | 54 | −12 | 35 | |
| 11 | San Lorenzo | 33 | 4 | 16 | 13 | 31 | 51 | −20 | 28 | |
| 12 | General Díaz | 33 | 3 | 8 | 22 | 34 | 71 | −37 | 17 | |
* ↑ Since the 2020 Copa Paraguay was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Paraguay, the spot awarded to its champions (Copa Sudamericana first stage) was passed over to the aggregate table fourth best-placed team not qualified for the Copa Libertadores.

## 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 will be relegated to the División Intermedia for the following season.
| Pos | Team | 2018 Pts | 2019 Pts | 2020 Pts | Total Pts | Total Pld | Avg | Relegation |
| 1 | Olimpia | 102 | 108 | 62 | 272 | 121 | 2.248 |
| 2 | Cerro Porteño | 82 | 80 | 69 | 231 | 121 | 1.909 |
| 3 | Libertad | 76 | 85 | 62 | 223 | 121 | 1.843 |
| 4 | Guaraní | 48 | 69 | 59 | 176 | 121 | 1.455 |
| 5 | Nacional | 65 | 52 | 44 | 161 | 121 | 1.331 |
| 6 | Sol de América | 63 | 57 | 35 | 155 | 121 | 1.281 |
| 7 | Guaireña | — | — | 41 | 41 | 33 | 1.242 |
| 8 | 12 de Octubre | — | — | 41 | 41 | 33 | 1.242 |
| 9 | River Plate | — | 52 | 38 | 90 | 77 | 1.169 |
| 10 | Sportivo Luqueño | 46 | 52 | 36 | 134 | 121 | 1.107 |
| 11 | San Lorenzo (R) | — | 49 | 28 | 77 | 77 | 1 | Relegation to División Intermedia |
| 12 | General Díaz (R) | 46 | 41 | 16 | 103 | 121 | 0.851 | Relegation to División Intermedia |
Updated to matches played on 19 December 2020. Source: APF