# 2022 Venezuelan Primera División season

The 2022 Primera División season, officially Liga de Fútbol Profesional Venezolano or Liga FUTVE, was the 66th season of the Venezuelan Primera División, the top-flight football league in Venezuela, and the 41st season since the start of the professional era. The season began on 24 February and ended with the final match on 30 October 2022.
Metropolitanos won their first title in the competition, beating Monagas on penalty kicks after drawing 1–1 after extra time in the final. Deportivo Táchira were the defending champions.

## Format changes

On 6 October 2021, the Liga FUTVE initially announced the return of the Apertura and Clausura format for the 2022 season, with the top eight clubs advancing to a play-off stage in which international berths would be decided. It was also announced that clubs would be required to fully meet club licensing requirements in order to be allowed to take part in the competition.
The competition format was eventually confirmed by the Liga FUTVE on 12 January 2022 after a meeting with representatives from the 16 participating clubs. Instead of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments originally announced, the 16 clubs took part in a round-robin first stage in which they played each other twice (once at home and once away) for a total of 30 games, with the top 12 clubs advancing to the next round of the competition. The top four clubs, which qualified for the 2023 Copa Libertadores, advanced to a final stage (Fase Final Libertadores) where they played each other twice with the top two teams playing a single-legged final to decide the league champions. The teams placed 5th to 12th advanced to the Fase Final Sudamericana where they were divided into two groups of four, in which the top two of each group qualified for the 2023 Copa Sudamericana. The last-placed team in the first stage was relegated to Segunda División.

## Teams

On 30 December 2021, the Venezuelan Football Federation announced the results of the club licensing process for the 2022 season. Atlético Venezuela and Gran Valencia had their license applications denied, as well as the 2021 Segunda División champions Titanes, and were unable to take part in the competition. As a result, no teams were promoted and the 2022 Primera División season was played by 16 teams.
Relegated to 2022 Segunda División :
| 7 | Trujillanos (Occidental Group) |
| 7 | Yaracuyanos (Central Group) |
| 7 | LALA (Oriental Group) |
Failed club licensing process :
* Atlético Venezuela
* Gran Valencia
Promoted to 2022 Primera División :
* None (Titanes were denied a license)

### Stadia and locations

| Team | Manager | City | Stadium | Capacity |
| Academia Puerto Cabello | Juan Tolisano | Puerto Cabello | La Bombonerita | 7,500 |
| Aragua | Leonel Vielma | Maracay | Olímpico Hermanos Ghersi Páez | 14,000 |
| Carabobo | Enrique Maggiolo | Valencia | Misael Delgado | 10,400 |
| Caracas | Henry Meléndez (caretaker) | Caracas | Olímpico de la UCV | 23,940 |
| Deportivo La Guaira | Daniel Farías | Caracas | Olímpico de la UCV | 23,940 |
| Deportivo Lara | Jesús Ortiz | Barquisimeto | Farid Richa | 12,480 |
| Deportivo Táchira | Eduardo Saragó | San Cristóbal | Polideportivo de Pueblo Nuevo | 38,755 |
| Estudiantes de Mérida | Leonardo González | Mérida | Metropolitano de Mérida | 42,200 |
| Hermanos Colmenarez | Horacio Matuszyczk | Barinas | Agustín Tovar | 29,800 |
| Metropolitanos | José María Morr | Caracas | Olímpico de la UCV | 23,940 |
| Mineros de Guayana | Elías Emmons (caretaker) | Ciudad Guayana | Polideportivo Cachamay | 41,600 |
| Monagas | Jhonny Ferreira | Maturín | Monumental de Maturín | 51,796 |
| Portuguesa | Martín Brignani | Acarigua | General José Antonio Páez | 18,000 |
| Universidad Central | Edson Rodríguez | Caracas | Olímpico de la UCV | 23,940 |
| Zamora | Noel Sanvicente | Barinas | Agustín Tovar | 29,800 |
| Zulia | Adolfo Monsalve | Maracaibo | Sede Deportiva Lino Alonso | 500 |

#### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| First stage |||||||
| Zamora | Alfarabi Romero | End of caretaker spell | 21 October 2021 | Pre-season | Noel Sanvicente | 29 December 2021 |
| Academia Puerto Cabello | Jeremy Nowak | End of caretaker spell | 30 November 2021 | Pre-season | Francisco Perlo | 17 December 2021 |
| Deportivo Lara | Leonardo González | Resigned | 9 December 2021 | Pre-season | Jorge Durán | 29 December 2021 |
| Mineros | Pastor Márquez | Mutual agreement | 11 December 2021 | Pre-season | Gabriel Martínez Poch | 5 January 2022 |
| Carabobo | Enrique Maggiolo | End of contract | 15 December 2021 | Pre-season | Enrique García | 2 January 2022 |
| Caracas | Noel Sanvicente | End of contract | 15 December 2021 | Pre-season | Francesco Stifano | 27 December 2021 |
| Deportivo Táchira | Juan Tolisano | Signed by Deportes Antofagasta | 21 December 2021 | Pre-season | Alex Pallarés | 24 December 2021 |
| Estudiantes de Mérida | Leonel Vielma | Mutual agreement | 9 March 2022 | 15th | Ildemaro Fernández | 9 March 2022 |
| Estudiantes de Mérida | Ildemaro Fernández | End of caretaker spell | 21 March 2022 | 12th | Leonardo González | 21 March 2022 |
| Deportivo Lara | Jorge Durán | Mutual agreement | 27 March 2022 | 12th | Eder Mancilla | 28 March 2022 |
| Mineros de Guayana | Gabriel Martínez Poch | Resigned | 7 April 2022 | 12th | Kelvin Salazar | 7 April 2022 |
| Academia Puerto Cabello | Francisco Perlo | Mutual agreement | 13 April 2022 | 15th | Bladimir Morales | 14 April 2022 |
| Zulia | Henry Meléndez | Sacked | 15 April 2022 | 16th | Francisco Perlo | 19 April 2022 |
| Mineros de Guayana | Kelvin Salazar | End of caretaker spell | 21 April 2022 | 13th | Jorge Durán | 21 April 2022 |
| Universidad Central | Daniel Sasso | Mutual agreement | 4 May 2022 | 15th | Enrique Maggiolo | 6 May 2022 |
| Academia Puerto Cabello | Bladimir Morales | End of caretaker spell | 13 May 2022 | 13th | Juan Tolisano | 13 May 2022 |
| Aragua | Edson Rodríguez | Mutual agreement | 17 May 2022 | 9th | Leonel Vielma | 18 May 2022 |
| Carabobo | Enrique García | Sacked | 4 July 2022 | 6th | Antonio Franco | 4 July 2022 |
| Deportivo Lara | Eder Mancilla | Resigned | 14 July 2022 | 16th | Eduardo Saragó | 19 July 2022 |
| Hermanos Colmenarez | Luis Alberto Pacheco | Sacked | 25 July 2022 | 12th | Horacio Matuszyczk | 26 July 2022 |
| Deportivo Lara | Eduardo Saragó | Resigned | 27 July 2022 | 15th | Jesús Ortiz | 28 July 2022 |
| Portuguesa | Alí Cañas | Mutual agreement | 2 August 2022 | 10th | Martín Brignani | 10 August 2022 |
| Zulia | Francisco Perlo | Resigned | 12 August 2022 | 11th | Adolfo Monsalve | 13 August 2022 |
| Universidad Central | Enrique Maggiolo | Resigned | 16 August 2022 | 16th | Edson Rodríguez | 16 August 2022 |
| Deportivo Táchira | Alex Pallarés | Mutual agreement | 19 August 2022 | 5th | Eduardo Saragó | 20 August 2022 |
| Mineros de Guayana | Jorge Durán | Mutual agreement | 28 August 2022 | 14th | Elías Emmons | 31 August 2022 |
| Caracas | Francesco Stifano | Sacked | 19 September 2022 | 11th | Henry Meléndez | 19 September 2022 |
| Final stages |||||||
| Carabobo | Antonio Franco | Sacked | 7 October 2022 | 4th, Fase Final Libertadores | Enrique Maggiolo | 7 October 2022 |

##### Notes

* 1 2 3 4 5 Caretaker manager.
* ↑ Originally as caretaker manager, appointed on a permanent basis on 9 August 2022.

## First stage

The first stage started on 24 February 2022 and ended on 18 September 2022.

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Zamora | 30 | 14 | 13 | 3 | 44 | 24 | +20 | 55 | Advance to Fase Final Libertadores |
| 2 | Metropolitanos | 30 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 44 | 29 | +15 | 53 | Advance to Fase Final Libertadores |
| 3 | Monagas | 30 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 46 | 33 | +13 | 48 | Advance to Fase Final Libertadores |
| 4 | Carabobo | 30 | 11 | 13 | 6 | 36 | 22 | +14 | 46 | Advance to Fase Final Libertadores |
| 5 | Deportivo La Guaira | 30 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 46 | 42 | +4 | 46 | Advance to Fase Final Sudamericana |
| 6 | Deportivo Táchira | 30 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 38 | 33 | +5 | 44 | Advance to Fase Final Sudamericana |
| 7 | Academia Puerto Cabello | 30 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 38 | 41 | −3 | 41 | Advance to Fase Final Sudamericana |
| 8 | Hermanos Colmenarez | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 39 | 38 | +1 | 40 | Advance to Fase Final Sudamericana |
| 9 | Estudiantes de Mérida | 30 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 38 | 37 | +1 | 39 | Advance to Fase Final Sudamericana |
| 10 | Portuguesa | 30 | 7 | 16 | 7 | 26 | 27 | −1 | 37 | Advance to Fase Final Sudamericana |
| 11 | Caracas | 30 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 34 | 36 | −2 | 36 | Advance to Fase Final Sudamericana |
| 12 | Deportivo Lara | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 32 | 36 | −4 | 36 | Advance to Fase Final Sudamericana |
| 13 | Mineros de Guayana | 30 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 43 | 54 | −11 | 34 | |
| 14 | Zulia | 30 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 29 | 43 | −14 | 32 | |
| 15 | Universidad Central | 30 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 19 | 40 | −21 | 27 | |
| 16 | Aragua (R) | 30 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 32 | 49 | −17 | 24 | Relegation to Segunda División |

### Results

| Home \ Away | APC | ARA | CBO | CAR | DLG | LAR | TAC | ESM | HCO | MET | MIN | MON | POR | UCV | ZAM | ZUL |
| Academia Puerto Cabello | — | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 4–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 |
| Aragua | 0–1 | — | 1–1 | 4–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Carabobo | 0–1 | 5–1 | — | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Caracas | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | — | 3–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| Deportivo La Guaira | 2–1 | 3–3 | 3–2 | 2–0 | — | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–5 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Deportivo Lara | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | — | 2–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–0 |
| Deportivo Táchira | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 2–0 | — | 2–2 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 |
| Estudiantes de Mérida | 1–3 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | — | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 |
| Hermanos Colmenarez | 4–1 | 4–1 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | — | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Metropolitanos | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | — | 5–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Mineros de Guayana | 2–0 | 0–3 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | — | 1–3 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 0–3 |
| Monagas | 0–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | — | 2–4 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 |
| Portuguesa | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | — | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 |
| Universidad Central | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Zamora | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | — | 5–1 |
| Zulia | 4–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 | — |

## Fase Final Libertadores

The top four teams in the first stage contested Fase Final Libertadores, playing each other twice. The top two teams advanced to the final and also qualified for the group stage of the 2023 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 | Metropolitanos | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 9 | Advance to Final and qualification for Copa Libertadores group stage |
| 2 | Monagas | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 8 | Advance to Final and qualification for Copa Libertadores group stage |
| 3 | Carabobo | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 7 | Qualification for Copa Libertadores second stage |
| 4 | Zamora | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 7 | Qualification for Copa Libertadores first stage |

### Results

| Home \ Away | CBO | MET | MON | ZAM |
| Carabobo | — | 0–0 | 3–2 | 0–2 |
| Metropolitanos | 1–0 | — | 0–2 | 0–0 |
| Monagas | 2–1 | 0–2 | — | 1–1 |
| Zamora | 1–4 | 0–0 | 1–1 | — |

## Fase Final Sudamericana

Fase Final Sudamericana was contested by the teams ranked 5th to 12th in the first stage, which were drawn into two groups with the teams placed fifth and sixth in the previous stage being seeded into each group and played each other team in their group twice. The top two teams of each group qualified for the 2023 Copa Sudamericana.

### Group A
#### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Estudiantes de Mérida | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 8 | +4 | 11 | Qualification for Copa Sudamericana first stage |
| 2 | Caracas | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 11 | Qualification for Copa Sudamericana first stage |
| 3 | Hermanos Colmenarez | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 5 | |
| 4 | Deportivo La Guaira | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 5 | |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | CAR | DLG | ESM | HCO |
| Caracas | — | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 |
| Deportivo La Guaira | 1–2 | — | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Estudiantes de Mérida | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 3–2 |
| Hermanos Colmenarez | 0–0 | 4–0 | 2–5 | — |

### Group B
#### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Deportivo Táchira | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 11 | Qualification for Copa Sudamericana first stage |
| 2 | Academia Puerto Cabello | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 10 | Qualification for Copa Sudamericana first stage |
| 3 | Deportivo Lara | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 9 | |
| 4 | Portuguesa | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 4 | |

#### Results

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

## Final

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

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Kevin Viveros | Carabobo | 21 |
| 2 | Juan Camilo Zapata | Hermanos Colmenarez | 19 |
| 3 | Jovanny Bolívar | Deportivo La Guaira | 17 |
| 4 | Richard Blanco | Mineros de Guayana | 13 |
| 4 | Aquiles Ocanto | Monagas | 13 |
| 6 | Antonio Romero | Zamora | 11 |
| 6 | Guido Rouse | Zulia | 11 |
| 8 | Erickson Gallardo | Zamora | 10 |
| 8 | Charlis Ortiz | Metropolitanos | 10 |
| 10 | Samuel Sosa | Academia Puerto Cabello | 9 |
Source: Liga FUTVE