# 2018 Liga Dominicana de Fútbol

The 2018 Liga Dominicana de Fútbol season (known as the LDF Banco Popular for sponsorship reasons) is the fourth season of professional football in the Dominican Republic. Atlántico FC are the reigning champions, having won this first title last season. The season started on 7 April 2018 and ended on 27 October 2018.

## Team changes

While there is no promotion or relegation involving this league, there were changes to the composition of the league from last season. Bauger FC have left the league following last season. Meanwhile, three new teams have joined the league: Jarabacoa FC, Inter RD, and Atlético de San Francisco. Thus, the league now has 12 teams in total.

## Format changes

The format of the competition has changed for this season. The regular season will still consist of a double round robin between the participating teams. After this, a Liguilla round will be played between the top six finishers of the regular season, with a single round robin between the teams. The top 4 finishers of this phase will move on to the knockout phase of the playoffs, where the champion will be decided. The top team at the end of the regular season along with the playoff champion will qualify for the 2019 Caribbean Club Championship.

## Stadia and locations

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Atlántico FC | Puerto Plata | Estadio Leonel Plácido | 2,000 |
| Atlético San Cristóbal | San Cristóbal | Estadio Panamericano | 2,800 |
| Atlético de San Francisco | San Francisco de Macorís | Olímpico de San Francisco de Macoris | 500 |
| Atlético Vega Real | La Vega | Estadio Olímpico | 7,000 |
| Cibao FC | Santiago | Estadio Cibao FC | 5,000 |
| Club Atlético Pantoja | Santo Domingo | Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez | 27,000 |
| Club Barcelona Atlético | Santo Domingo Este | Estadio Parque del Este | 3,000 |
| Delfines del Este FC | La Romana | Estadio Municipal La Romana | 1,200 |
| Inter RD | Bayaguana | Complejo deportivo de Bayaguana | 1,800 |
| Jarabacoa FC | Jarabacoa | Estadio Olímpico | 7,000 |
| Moca FC | Moca | Estadio Complejo Deportivo Moca 86 | 7,000 |
| Universidad O&M F.C. | Santo Domingo | Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez | 27,000 |

## Regular season

The regular season began on 7 April 2018 and ended on 26 August 2018. The regular season winner qualified for the 2019 Caribbean Club Championship.

### Regular season table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Atlético de San Francisco | 22 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 48 | 21 | +27 | 48 | Liguilla and 2019 Caribbean Club Championship |
| 2 | Cibao FC | 22 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 49 | 25 | +24 | 46 | Liguilla |
| 3 | Club Atlético Pantoja | 22 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 31 | 20 | +11 | 45 | Liguilla |
| 4 | Moca FC | 22 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 35 | 26 | +9 | 38 | Liguilla |
| 5 | Atlético Vega Real | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 32 | 20 | +12 | 36 | Liguilla |
| 6 | Universidad O&M F.C. | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 37 | 30 | +7 | 36 | Liguilla |
| 7 | Atlántico FC | 22 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 26 | 24 | +2 | 35 | |
| 8 | Jarabacoa FC | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 29 | 30 | −1 | 25 | |
| 9 | Delfines del Este FC | 22 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 47 | −29 | 20 | |
| 10 | Atlético San Cristóbal | 22 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 28 | 39 | −11 | 17 | |
| 11 | Inter RD | 22 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 14 | 43 | −29 | 10 | |
| 12 | Club Barcelona Atlético | 22 | 1 | 5 | 16 | 17 | 39 | −22 | 8 | |

### Regular season results

| Home \ Away | ATL | ASC | ASF | AVR | CIB | CAP | CBA | DDE | IRD | JAR | MOC | UOM |
| Atlántico FC | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Atlético San Cristóbal | 2–2 | — | 2–5 | 0–3 | 2–6 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 8–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 |
| Atlético de San Francisco | 5–1 | 3–0 | — | 1–2 | 3–3 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 2–1 |
| Atlético Vega Real | 2–3 | 1–0 | 2–3 | — | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Cibao FC | 4–2 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | — | 4–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 |
| Club Atlético Pantoja | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–3 |
| Club Barcelona Atlético | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 2–2 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| Delfines del Este FC | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 2–0 | — | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–4 |
| Inter RD | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–4 | 2–0 | 0–0 | — | 0–2 | 0–3 | 1–3 |
| Jarabacoa FC | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 4–0 | — | 0–0 | 0–2 |
| Moca FC | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–6 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 8–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | 2–1 |
| Universidad O&M F.C. | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 5–4 | 2–4 | — |
* ↑ The match between Atlético Vega Real and Delfines del Este FC on 28 July was awarded to Atlético Vega Real 3-0 as Delfines del Este FC did not show up due to a player strike.

## Liguilla

The top 6 teams from the regular season participated in a single round robin tournament to determine who qualifies for the championship playoffs. The liguilla started on 1 September 2018 and ended on 30 September 2018.

### Ligilla table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Cibao FC | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 8 | Championship playoffs |
| 2 | Atlético de San Francisco | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 8 | Championship playoffs |
| 3 | Atlético Vega Real | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 8 | Championship playoffs |
| 4 | Club Atlético Pantoja | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | Championship playoffs |
| 5 | Universidad O&M F.C. | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 4 | |
| 6 | Moca FC | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 4 | |

### Liguilla results

| Home \ Away | ASF | AVR | CIB | CAP | MOC | UOM |
| Atlético de San Francisco | — | 0–1 | — | — | — | — |
| Atlético Vega Real | — | — | — | — | 1–1 | 0–5 |
| Cibao FC | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 1–2 | — | — |
| Club Atlético Pantoja | 0–1 | 1–2 | — | — | 2–2 | — |
| Moca FC | 1–1 | — | 0–2 | — | — | 0–0 |
| Universidad O&M F.C. | 0–1 | — | 2–5 | 1–2 | — | — |

## Championship playoffs

The top 4 finishers of the Liguilla qualify for this phase. These matches began on 6 October 2018 and ended on 27 October 2018.
| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | Cibao FC | 3 | 3 | 6 | | | |
| 4 | Club Atlético Pantoja | 2 | 2 | 4 | | | |
| 4 | Club Atlético Pantoja | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | Cibao FC | 1 |
| | | | | | 2 | Atlético de San Francisco | 0 |
| 2 | Atlético de San Francisco | 8 | 2 | 10 | 2 | Atlético de San Francisco | 0 |
| 3 | Atlético Vega Real | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | |

### Semifinals

The first legs were played on 6 and 7 October 2018 and the second legs were played on 20 and 21 October 2018.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Club Atlético Pantoja | 4–6 | Cibao FC | 2–3 | 2–3 |
| Atlético Vega Real | 1–10 | Atlético de San Francisco | 0–8 | 1–2 |

### Finals

Tha final was played on 27 October 2018.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Cibao FC | 1–0 | Atlético de San Francisco |