# 2017–18 Liga Panameña de Fútbol season

The 2017–18 Liga Panameña de Fútbol season (also known as the Liga Cable Onda) was the 28th season of top-flight football in Panama. The season began on 17 July 2017 and was scheduled to end in May 2018. Ten teams competed throughout the entire season.

## Teams

Atlético Nacional finished in 10th place in the overall table last season and were relegated to the Liga Nacional de Ascenso. Taking their place for this season are the overall champions of last season's Liga Nacional de Ascenso, Independiente.
| Club | Home city | Stadium |
| Alianza | Panama City | Cancha de Entranamiento Luis Tapia |
| Árabe Unido | Colón | Armando Dely Valdes |
| Atletico Veraguense | Santiago de Veraguas | Aristocles "Toco" Castillo |
| Chorrillo | Panama City | Estadio Maracaná |
| Independiente | La Chorrera | Estadio Maracaná |
| Plaza Amador | Panama City | Estadio Maracaná |
| San Francisco | La Chorrera | Estadio Agustín Sánchez |
| Santa Gema | Arraiján | Estadio Agustín Sánchez |
| Sporting San Miguelito | San Miguelito | Cancha de Entrenamiento Luis Tapia |
| Tauro | Panama City | Estadio Rommel Fernandez |

## Managerial changes
### Before the start of the season

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| TBD | TBD | Sacked | May 2017 | TBD | May 2017 | th (TBD) |
| Alianza | Mario Anthony Torres | Sacked | May 2017 | Juan Carlos Cubilla | May 2017 | th (TBD) |
| Atletico Veraguense | Andres Dominguez | Resigned | June 2017 | Edgar Ramos | June 2017 | th (TBD) |
| Santa Gema | Leopoldo Lee | Sacked | June 2017 | José Mario Anthony Torres | June 2017 | th (TBD) |
| Independiente | | Sacked | May 2017 | Jorge Dely Valdés | May 2017 | th (TBD) |
| San Francisco | Pascual Moreno | Interimship moved to full time coach | May 2017 | Pascual Moreno | May 2017 | th (TBD) |

### During the Apertura season

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| San Francisco | Pascual Moreno | Sacked | August 2017 | Andres Dominguez | August 2017 | 10th (Apertura 2017) |
| Alianza | Juan Carlos Cubilla | Sacked | August 2017 | Daniel Valencia | August 2017 | 10th (Apertura 2017) |
| Sporting San Miguelito | Javier Miller | Sacked | August 2017 | Víctor René Mendieta | August 2017 | 10th (Apertura 2017) |

### Between Apertura and Clausura seasons

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| Plaza Amador | Jair Palcios | Contract finished | November 2017 | Juan Carlos García | December 2017 | 12th (Apertura 2017) |
| Alianza | Daniel Valencia | Moved back to Assistant coach | November 2017 | Jair Palacios | November 2017 | 12th (Apertura 2017) |
| Atletico Veraguense | Edgar Ramos | Moved back to Assistant coach | November 2017 | Marcos Pimentel | November 2017 | 12th (Apertura 2017) |
| Independiente | Jorge Dely Valdés | Sacked | November 2017 | Donaldo Gonzales | November 2017 | 12th (Apertura 2017) |
| Arabe Unidos | Sergio Guzman | Sacked | December 2017 | Carlos Ruiz | January 2018 | 12th (Apertura 2017) |

### During the Clausura season

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| Atletico Veraguense | Marcos Pimentel | Sacked | February 2018 | Javier Reales | February 2018 | 10th (Clausura 2018) |
| Sporting San Miguelito | Victor Rene Mendieta | Sacked | February 2018 | Noel Guiterrez | February 2018 | 10th (Clausura 2018) |
| Chorillo | Richard | Resigned | March 2018 | Óscar Upegui | March 2018 | 10th (Clausura 2018) |

## 2017 Apertura
### Personnel and sponsoring (2017 Apertura)

| Team | Chairman | Head Coach | Kitmaker | Shirt sponsor |
| Alianza | TBD | Daniel Valencia x | keuka | Balboa |
| Árabe Unido | TBD | Juan Sergio Guzmán x | kelme | Pizza Hut |
| Atletico Veraguense | TBD | Edgar Ramos x | keuka | EGS, NCO |
| Chorrillo | | Richard Parra x | adidas | McDonald's, Cremoso |
| Independiente | | Jorge Dely Valdés x | adidas | |
| Plaza Amador | TBD | Jair Palacios x | umbro | Páguela Facil, Frosquito, Mercana |
| Santa Gema | | Jose Mario Torres x | kelme | ShowPro |
| San Francisco | Julio Quijano | Andres Dominguez x | puma | KFC, Canon, Banco General |
| Sporting San Miguelito | TBD | Javier Miller x | keuka | Kenwood, Hyundai |
| Tauro | TBD | Rolando Palma x | Patrick | Publica Amarias, Dominos, Estrella Azul, Argos, Capital Bank |

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Tauro | 18 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 25 | 13 | +12 | 34 | Qualified to the Final Round |
| 2 | Plaza Amador | 18 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 22 | 12 | +10 | 33 | Qualified to the Final Round |
| 3 | Árabe Unido | 18 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 21 | 11 | +10 | 33 | Qualified to the Final Round |
| 4 | Chorrillo | 18 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 21 | 17 | +4 | 26 | Qualified to the Final Round |
| 5 | Atletico Veraguense | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 22 | 27 | −5 | 25 | |
| 6 | Independiente | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 18 | −7 | 22 | |
| 7 | San Francisco | 18 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 23 | 24 | −1 | 20 | |
| 8 | Sporting San Miguelito | 18 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 17 | 22 | −5 | 17 | |
| 9 | Santa Gema | 18 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 14 | 21 | −7 | 15 | |
| 10 | Alianza | 18 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 12 | 23 | −11 | 14 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | ALI | ÁRU | ATV | CHO | IND | PA | SAN | SF | SSM | TAU |
| Alianza | | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 |
| Árabe Unido | 2–1 | | 4–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Atletico Veraguense | 3–1 | 2–1 | | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Chorrillo | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| Independiente | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 |
| Plaza Amador | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Santa Gema | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | | 0–2 | 2–3 | 0–0 |
| San Francisco | 3–0 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–3 | | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Sporting San Miguelito | 1–3 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 2–2 |
| Tauro | 2–0 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4–3 | 1–0 | |

### Second stage

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | Tauro | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | |
| 4 | Chorrillo | 0 | 2 | 2 | | | |
| 4 | Chorrillo | 0 | 2 | 2 | Chorrillo | Chorrillo | 5 |
| | | | | | Árabe Unido | Árabe Unido | 1 |
| 2 | Plaza Amador | 1 | 0 | 1(4) | Árabe Unido | Árabe Unido | 1 |
| 3 | Árabe Unido | 0 | 1 | 1(5) | | | |

#### Finals
##### Grand Final

* Apertura 2017 champions
* Chorrillo 3rd title

## 2018 Clausura
### Personnel and sponsoring (2018 Clausura)

| Team | Chairman | Head Coach | Kitmaker | Shirt sponsor |
| Alianza | TBD | Jair Palacios x | Lotto | Balboa |
| Árabe Unido | TBD | Carlos Ruiz Velásquez x | Puma | Pizza Hut |
| Independiente F.C. | | Donaldo Gonzalez x | Lotto | Subway |
| Atletico Veraguense | TBD | Javier Reales x | GEMS | EGS, NCO |
| Chorrillo | | Óscar Upegui x | Lotto | McDonald's, Cremoso |
| Plaza Amador | TBD | Juan Carlos García x | Diadora | Páguela Facil, Frosquito, Mercana |
| Santa Gema | | José Mario Anthony "Chalate" Torres x | Mitre | ShowPro |
| San Francisco | Julio Quijano | Andrés Domínguez x | Lotto | KFC, Canon, Banco General |
| Sporting San Miguelito | TBD | Noel Guiterrez x | Joma | Kenwood, Hyundai |
| Tauro | TBD | Sergio Angulo x | Patrick | Publicar Páginas Amarillas |

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Árabe Unido | 18 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 23 | 16 | +7 | 30 | Qualified to the Final Round |
| 2 | Independiente | 18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 28 | 21 | +7 | 29 | Qualified to the Final Round |
| 3 | San Francisco | 18 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 19 | 12 | +7 | 29 | Qualified to the Final Round |
| 4 | Tauro | 18 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 25 | 21 | +4 | 28 | Qualified to the Final Round |
| 5 | Alianza | 18 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 21 | 13 | +8 | 27 | |
| 6 | Chorrillo | 18 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 15 | 17 | −2 | 23 | |
| 7 | Sporting San Miguelito | 18 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 22 | 26 | −4 | 22 | |
| 8 | Santa Gema | 18 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 13 | −2 | 21 | |
| 9 | Plaza Amador | 18 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 16 | 20 | −4 | 19 | |
| 10 | Atletico Veraguense | 18 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 13 | 34 | −21 | 10 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | ATV | PA | SF | SSM |
| Alianza | | | 2–1 | |
| Árabe Unido | 2–0 | | | |
| Atletico Veraguense | | | | |
| Chorrillo | | 1–0 | | |
| Independiente | | | | |
| Plaza Amador | | | | |
| Santa Gema | | | | 1–1 |
| San Francisco | | | | |
| Sporting San Miguelito | | | | |
| Tauro | | | | |

### Second stage

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | Árabe Unido | 0 | 2 | 2 | | | |
| 4 | Tauro | 2 | 2 | 4 | | | |
| 4 | Tauro | 2 | 2 | 4 | Tauro | Tauro | 0 |
| | | | | | Independiente | Independiente | 1 |
| 2 | Independiente | 0 | 3 | 3 | Independiente | Independiente | 1 |
| 3 | San Francisco | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | |

#### Finals
##### Grand Final

* Clausura 2018 champions
* Independiente 1st title

## List of foreign players in the league

This is a list of foreign players for the 2017-2018. The following players:
* have played at least one game for the respective club.
* have not been capped for the Panama national football team on any level, independently from the birthplace
(player released mid season)

## Aggregate table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Árabe Unido | 36 | 16 | 15 | 5 | 44 | 27 | +17 | 63 | 2018 CONCACAF League |
| 2 | Tauro | 36 | 16 | 14 | 6 | 51 | 34 | +17 | 62 | 2018 CONCACAF League |
| 3 | Plaza Amador | 36 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 38 | 32 | +6 | 52 | |
| 4 | Independiente | 36 | 14 | 9 | 13 | 39 | 39 | 0 | 51 | 2019 CONCACAF Champions League |
| 5 | San Francisco | 36 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 42 | 36 | +6 | 49 | |
| 6 | Chorrillo | 36 | 11 | 16 | 9 | 37 | 35 | +2 | 49 | 2018 CONCACAF League |
| 7 | Alianza | 36 | 10 | 11 | 15 | 33 | 36 | −3 | 41 | |
| 8 | Sporting San Miguelito | 36 | 8 | 15 | 13 | 39 | 49 | −10 | 39 | |
| 9 | Santa Gema | 36 | 7 | 15 | 14 | 25 | 34 | −9 | 36 | |
| 10 | Atletico Veraguense | 36 | 9 | 8 | 19 | 35 | 61 | −26 | 35 | Relegation to 2018–19 Liga de Ascenso |