# 1949 Campeonato Profesional

The 1949 Campeonato Profesional was the second season of Colombia's top-flight football league. The tournament was started on April 25. 14 teams compete against one another and played each weekend. This tournament was famous for mark the beginning of El Dorado. Millonarios and Deportivo Cali, both with 44 points, played two final matches to decide the champion of the season. Santa Fe, the defending champion, was 3rd with 39 points.

## Background

The season was notable for being the beginning of El Dorado, during which many international football stars arrived to the Colombian league, especially from Argentina, due to the protests that were taking place in that country. The tournament began on 25 April 1949. The debutants teams were Atlético Bucaramanga, Boca Juniors de Cali, Deportivo Barranquilla, Deportivo Pereira and Huracán de Medellín. This year Universidad returned to Bogotá. Deportivo Barranquilla participated to replacing Atlético Junior, who was representing Colombia in the South American Championship. Barranquilla only played 21 of the 26 league matches.

## League system

Every team played two games against each other team, one at home and one away. Teams received two points for a win and one point for a draw. If two or more teams were tied on points, places were determined by goal difference. The team with the most points is the champion of the league.

## Teams

* 1. Barranquilla
* 2. Bogotá
* 3. Bucaramanga
* 4. Cali
* 5. Manizales
* 6. Medellín
* 7. Pereira
| Team | City | Stadium |
| América | Cali | Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero |
| Atlético Bucaramanga | Bucaramanga | Estadio Alfonso López |
| Atlético Municipal | Medellín$^a$ | Estadio San Fernando |
| Boca Juniors | Cali | Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero |
| Deportes Caldas | Manizales | Estadio Palogrande |
| Deportivo Barranquilla | Barranquilla | Estadio Romelio Martínez |
| Deportivo Cali | Cali | Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero |
| Deportivo Pereira | Pereira | Estadio Libaré |
| Huracán de Medellín | Medellín | Estadio San Fernando |
| Independiente Medellín | Medellín | Estadio San Fernando |
| Millonarios | Bogotá | Estadio El Campín |
| Once Deportivo | Manizales | Estadio Palogrande |
| Santa Fe | Bogotá | Estadio Alfonso López Pumarejo |
| Universidad | Bogotá | Estadio Alfonso López Pumarejo |
$^a$ Municipal played its home games at Itagüí

## Final standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Millonarios (C) | 26 | 20 | 4 | 2 | 99 | 35 | +64 | 44 |
| 2 | Deportivo Cali | 26 | 20 | 4 | 2 | 89 | 41 | +48 | 44 |
| 3 | Santa Fe | 26 | 17 | 5 | 4 | 102 | 50 | +52 | 39 |
| 4 | Deportes Caldas | 26 | 16 | 0 | 10 | 69 | 53 | +16 | 32 |
| 5 | Independiente Medellín | 26 | 12 | 5 | 9 | 58 | 60 | −2 | 29 |
| 6 | Universidad | 26 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 46 | 42 | +4 | 27 |
| 7 | Atlético Municipal | 26 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 40 | 60 | −20 | 24 |
| 8 | Boca Juniors | 26 | 9 | 5 | 12 | 45 | 58 | −13 | 23 |
| 9 | Once Deportivo | 26 | 9 | 2 | 15 | 40 | 66 | −26 | 20 |
| 10 | América | 26 | 7 | 4 | 15 | 53 | 67 | −14 | 18 |
| 11 | Atlético Bucaramanga | 26 | 7 | 4 | 15 | 48 | 81 | −33 | 18 |
| 12 | Huracán | 26 | 6 | 5 | 15 | 47 | 75 | −28 | 17 |
| 13 | Deportivo Barranquilla | 26 | 5 | 5 | 16 | 34 | 49 | −15 | 15 |
| 14 | Deportivo Pereira | 26 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 44 | 77 | −33 | 14 |

### Results

| Home \ Away | AME | BJ | BUC | CLI | DB | CLD | HUR | DIM | MIL | MUN | OND | PER | SFE | UNI |
| América | | 3–4 | 1–3 | 1–4 | 4–1 | 2–6 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 4–5 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 5–1 | 3–4 | 3–3 |
| Boca Juniors | 1–3 | | 2–3 | 3–5 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 5–1 | 4–3 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Atlético Bucaramanga | 1–2 | 2–1 | | 1–5 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–5 | 4–3 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 |
| Deportivo Cali | 1–0 | 4–1 | 6–1 | | 1–0 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 6–3 | 7–2 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 3–0 |
| Deportivo Barranquilla | 1–1 | 1–0 | 6–2 | 3–3 | | 1–0 | 7–2 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 |
| Deportes Caldas | 2–0 | 6–2 | 7–3 | 1–4 | 5–0 | | 5–2 | 2–1 | 1–5 | 2–3 | 4–1 | 5–4 | 0–3 | 0–2 |
| Huracán | 2–1 | 3–2 | 7–4 | 3–4 | 0–0 | 3–2 | | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 3–4 | 2–2 | 4–2 |
| Independiente Medellín | 2–2 | 6–3 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 5–3 | 2–0 | | 1–6 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 2–5 |
| Millonarios | 1–0 | 2–0 | 5–1 | 0–2 | 5–0 | 3–0 | 5–1 | 4–0 | | 6–0 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 |
| Atlético Municipal | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–6 | 1–2 | 2–4 | 1–5 | | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–6 | 1–1 |
| Once Deportivo | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–4 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–5 | 1–2 | | 2–1 | 2–6 | 1–0 |
| Deportivo Pereira | 3–3 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 4–4 | 0–5 | 1–1 | 4–4 | | 1–3 | 1–2 |
| Santa Fe | 7–3 | 5–0 | 5–0 | 4–3 | 6–2 | 2–3 | 10–2 | 3–1 | 3–6 | 3–3 | 4–1 | 10–3 | | 1–4 |
| Universidad | 6–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–5 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 0–4 | |
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Deportivo Barranquilla withdrew from the tournament, so the remaining games left in walkover
* ↑ Points awarded to Millonarios because two América players suspended participated in the match

### Top goalscorers

| Rank | Name | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Pedro Cabillón | Millonarios | 42 |
| 2 | Germán Antón | Santa Fe | 30 |
| 3 | Valeriano López | Deportivo Cali | 24 |
| 4 | Carlos Arango | Deportes Caldas | 19 |
| 4 | Guillermo Barbadillo | Deportivo Cali | 19 |
| 6 | Ricardo Aycardy | Deportivo Barranquilla | 18 |
| 7 | Luciano Campos | Independiente Medellín | 17 |
| 7 | Luis López García | Santa Fe | 17 |
| 7 | Ricardo Ruiz Peso | Deportivo Cali | 17 |
| 10 | Alfredo Castillo | Millonarios | 15 |
Source: RSSSF.com Colombia 1949
* 1949 Campeonato Profesional champion
* Millonarios First title