# 2008–09 Guatemalan Liga Nacional

The 2008–09 Guatemalan Liga Nacional season was the 10th season in which the Apertura and Clausura format was used.
The season was divided into two tournaments; the Apertura, which is played from August to December, and the Clausura, which is played from January to May. The first six clubs in the standings at the end of each competition participate in the playoffs (a two-leg knock-out phase) to determine the champion; the first and second place teams qualify directly to the semi-finals, while the other two have to play in the quarter-finals. The winners of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments participate in the 2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League.

## Torneo Apertura

Final standings :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Municipal | 18 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 29 | 18 | +11 | 29 | Qualified to the playoffs semifinals. |
| 2 | Comunicaciones | 18 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 27 | 23 | +4 | 29 | Qualified to the playoffs semifinals. |
| 3 | Zacapa | 18 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 21 | 17 | +4 | 28 | Qualified to the playoffs quarterfinals. |
| 4 | Xelajú | 18 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 23 | 20 | +3 | 28 | Qualified to the playoffs quarterfinals. |
| 5 | Marquense | 18 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 22 | 27 | −5 | 24 | Qualified to the playoffs quarterfinals. |
| 6 | Xinabajul | 18 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 20 | 27 | −7 | 23 | Qualified to the playoffs quarterfinals. |
| 7 | Heredia | 18 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 23 | 24 | −1 | 21 | |
| 8 | Petapa | 18 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 16 | 20 | −4 | 21 | |
| 9 | Suchitepéquez | 18 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 31 | 29 | +2 | 20 | |
| 10 | Jalapa | 18 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 17 | 24 | −7 | 18 | |

### Top scorers

| Position | Player | Team | Goals |
| 1 | Adrián Apellaniz | Comunicaciones | 10 |
| 2 | Fabián Muñoz | Zacapa | 9 |
| 2 | Gastón Linares | Heredia | 9 |
| 2 | Carlos Castillo | Suchitepéquez | 9 |
| 5 | Rolando Fonseca | Comunicaciones | 7 |
| 5 | Jhonny Cubero | Xelajú | 7 |
| 7 | Francisco Pavón | Xelajú | 6 |
| 7 | Jorge Estrada | Marquense | 6 |
Final Update: December 1, 2008.

### Results

| Home \ Away | COM | HER | JAL | MAR | MUN | PET | SUC | XEL | XIN | ZAC |
| Comunicaciones | | 3–3 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 |
| Heredia | 2–2 | | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Jalapa | 0–2 | 1–0 | | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 |
| Marquense | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 3–4 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Municipal | 0–0 | 3–1 | 5–4 | 1–1 | | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 4–0 |
| Petapa | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Suchitepéquez | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 |
| Xelajú | 1–3 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | | 2–2 | 0–0 |
| Xinabajul | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | | 2–1 |
| Zacapa | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 6–0 | |
Colors: Blue = home team win; White = draw; Red = away team win.

### Playoffs

| Quarterfinals Dec. 3-7 | Quarterfinals Dec. 3-7 | Quarterfinals Dec. 3-7 | Quarterfinals Dec. 3-7 | Quarterfinals Dec. 3-7 | Semifinals Dec. 10-14 | Semifinals Dec. 10-14 | Semifinals Dec. 10-14 | Semifinals Dec. 10-14 | Semifinals Dec. 10-14 | Finals Dec. 17-21 | Finals Dec. 17-21 | Finals Dec. 17-21 | Finals Dec. 17-21 | Finals Dec. 17-21 |
| | | | | | 1 | Municipal | 2 | 2 | 4 | | | | | |
| 3 | Zacapa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | Xinabajul | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | | | |
| 6 | Xinabajul | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | | | | 1 | Municipal | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Comunicaciones | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| | | | | | 2 | Comunicaciones | 0 | 5 | 5 | | | | | |
| 4 | Xelajú | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 | Xelajú | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | | | |
| 5 | Marquense | 2 | 3 | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
Comunicaciones as tournament champion qualified to the 2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League.
* 2008 Apertura winner
* Comunicaciones 22nd title

## Torneo Clausura

Final standings :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Municipal | 18 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 26 | 13 | +13 | 32 | Qualified to the playoffs semifinals. |
| 2 | Heredia | 18 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 26 | 24 | +2 | 29 | Qualified to the playoffs semifinals. |
| 3 | Jalapa | 18 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 17 | 13 | +4 | 28 | Qualified to the playoffs quarterfinals. |
| 4 | Suchitepéquez | 18 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 25 | 23 | +2 | 27 | Qualified to the playoffs quarterfinals. |
| 5 | Xelajú | 18 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 18 | 16 | +2 | 27 | Qualified to the playoffs quarterfinals. |
| 6 | Comunicaciones | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 25 | 22 | +3 | 23 | Qualified to the playoffs quarterfinals. |
| 7 | Xinabajul | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 24 | 26 | −2 | 23 | |
| 8 | Marquense | 18 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 15 | 22 | −7 | 19 | |
| 9 | Petapa | 18 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 22 | 30 | −8 | 16 | |
| 10 | Zacapa | 18 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 14 | 23 | −9 | 16 | |

### Top scorers

| Position | Player | Team | Goals |
| 1 | Carlos González | Municipal | 10 |
| 2 | Carlos Asprilla | Petapa | 8 |
| 2 | Walter Estrada | Xinabajul | 8 |
| 4 | Carlos Castillo | Suchitepéquez | 7 |
| 4 | Carlos Leguizamón | Suchitepéquez | 7 |
| 6 | Evandro Ferreira | Heredia | 6 |
| 6 | Mario Castellanos | Heredia | 6 |

### Results

| Home \ Away | COM | HER | JAL | MAR | MUN | PET | SUC | XEL | XIN | ZAC |
| Comunicaciones | | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| Heredia | 0–0 | | 3–1 | 4–1 | 0–3 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Jalapa | 2–1 | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Marquense | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 0–2 |
| Municipal | 2–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 3–2 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| Petapa | 0–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 1–1 | | 3–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Suchitepéquez | 1–1 | 2–4 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | | 1–0 | 4–3 | 4–0 |
| Xelajú | 3–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Xinabajul | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | | 0–0 |
| Zacapa | 1–2 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | |
Colors: Blue = home team win; White = draw; Red = away team win.

### Playoffs

| Quarterfinals 1st leg: May 27/28 – 2nd leg: May 30/31 | Quarterfinals 1st leg: May 27/28 – 2nd leg: May 30/31 | Quarterfinals 1st leg: May 27/28 – 2nd leg: May 30/31 | Quarterfinals 1st leg: May 27/28 – 2nd leg: May 30/31 | Quarterfinals 1st leg: May 27/28 – 2nd leg: May 30/31 | Semifinals 1st leg: June 4 – 2nd leg: June 7 | Semifinals 1st leg: June 4 – 2nd leg: June 7 | Semifinals 1st leg: June 4 – 2nd leg: June 7 | Semifinals 1st leg: June 4 – 2nd leg: June 7 | Semifinals 1st leg: June 4 – 2nd leg: June 7 | Finals 1st leg: June 11 – 2nd leg: June 14 | Finals 1st leg: June 11 – 2nd leg: June 14 | Finals 1st leg: June 11 – 2nd leg: June 14 | Finals 1st leg: June 11 – 2nd leg: June 14 | Finals 1st leg: June 11 – 2nd leg: June 14 |
| | | | | | 2 | Heredia | 0 | 2 | 2 | | | | | |
| 3 | Jalapa | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | Jalapa | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | | | |
| 6 | Comunicaciones | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 3 | Jalapa | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| | | | | | | | | | | 1 | Municipal | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| | | | | | 1 | Municipal (aet) | 0 | 2 (1) | 3 | | | | | |
| 4 | Suchitepéquez | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | Suchitepéquez | 2 | 0 (0) | 2 | | | | | |
| 5 | Xelajú | 3 | 0 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
Jalapa as tournament champion qualified to the 2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League.
* 2009 Clausura winner
* Jalapa 2nd title

### Relegation

    At the end of the season, the 10th placed team (the team with the fewest points) in the aggregate table standings (the combined standings of both the Apertura and Clausura tournaments) is relegated to the second division automatically at the end of the Clausura tournament.

#### Aggregate table

Final standings :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation |
| 1 | Municipal | 36 | 16 | 13 | 7 | 55 | 31 | +24 | 61 | |
| 2 | Xelajú | 36 | 13 | 16 | 7 | 41 | 36 | +5 | 55 | |
| 3 | Comunicaciones | 36 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 52 | 45 | +7 | 52 | |
| 4 | Heredia | 36 | 15 | 5 | 16 | 49 | 48 | +1 | 50 | |
| 5 | Suchitepéquez | 36 | 11 | 14 | 11 | 56 | 52 | +4 | 47 | |
| 6 | Jalapa | 36 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 34 | 37 | −3 | 46 | |
| 7 | Xinabajul | 36 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 44 | 53 | −9 | 46 | |
| 8 | Zacapa | 36 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 35 | 40 | −5 | 44 | |
| 9 | Marquense | 36 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 37 | 49 | −12 | 43 | |
| 10 | Petapa (R) | 36 | 9 | 10 | 17 | 38 | 50 | −12 | 37 | Relegated to the First division |