Paraguayan Primera División

División Profesional

File:Logo of Paraguayan Primera División.png
Founded	1906
Country	Paraguay
Confederation	CONMEBOL
Number of clubs	12
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	División Intermedia
International cup(s)	Copa Libertadores Copa Sudamericana
Current champions	Libertad (2014 Clausura)
Most championships	Olimpia (39 titles)
TV partners	Unicanal
Website	APF
Current: 2015 Apertura

The División Profesional de la Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol (locally [diβiˈsjon pɾofesjoˈnal de la asosjaˈsjon paɾaˈɣwaʝa ðe ˈfutβol]; Professional Division of the Paraguayan Football Association), also known as the Primera División [pɾiˈmeɾa ðiβiˈsjon] (first division), or due to sponsorship reasons Copa TIGO [ˈkopa ˈtiɣo], is the top-flight professional football league in Paraguay. Currently, there are 12 teams in the first division.

The most successful club is Olimpia, who has won 39 titles. The current champion is Libertad. IFFHS ranked the league as the ninth strongest in the world in 2012, and the eleventh strongest in the world in 2013.

History

Liga Paraguaya's first game was played in 1906, after the director of the El Diario newspaper, Don Adolfo Riquelme, brought to his office on 18 June 1906, the representatives of the five existing football teams in Paraguay at that time (Olimpia, Guaraní, Libertad, General Díaz, and Nacional) to create the governing body of football in Paraguay: the Liga Paraguaya de Fútbol (known today as Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol). The representatives were William Paats and Junio Godoy (Olimpia) Ramón Caballero, Manuel Bella and Salvador Melián (Guaraní), Juan Escalada (Libertad), César Urdapilleta (General Díaz), and Vicente Gadea (Nacional). The Liga Paraguaya saw Club Guaraní as the first champion in 1906, after defeating Olimpia in the final.

The Primera División was founded in 1906 with 5 teams, and turned professional in 1935 when 10 clubs broke away from the amateur leagues to form a professional league. Since 1996 the format of tournament was changed to Torneo Apertura and Clausura, but since 2008 both tournaments are independents.

Traditionally, the dominance of Olimpia and Cerro Porteño went unchallenged for decades. All of this changed at the turn of the 21st century. Since then, Libertad has been the most dominant club, while Nacional and Guarani have also experienced success at the domestic level.

Format

The system of the tournaments is round-robin. 12 teams play two rounds of 11 dates either one (visit and home), in total 22 dates in each tournament. Each year tournaments are divided in two independents tournaments: the Torneo Apertura (Opening Tournament) from February to July, and the Torneo Clausura (Closing Tournament) from July to December.

Relegation is based on an averaging system. At the end of each season, the two teams with the worst three-year averages are relegated, and the two best teams in the "División Intermedia" (second division) are promoted to Primera División.

International cup participation

Since 2012, Paraguay have seven slots in international cups (three in the Copa Libertadores de America and four in the Copa Sudamericana). These seven slots will be filled by five teams.

In the Copa Libertadores, the winner of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments qualify automatically. The third representative (going into the first round play-off) is the best placed non-champion from the cumulative table of both the Apertura and Clausura.

In the Copa Sudamericana, the champion of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments qualify, with the 4th and 5th best placed teams from the Apertura and Clausura cumulatives.

First Division teams

The following are the teams in the first division in 2014:

Teams

Sol de América

Sportivo Luqueño

Deportivo Capiatá

General Díaz

Asunción

Asunción teams:
Cerro Porteño
Guaraní
Libertad
Nacional
Olimpia
Rubio Ñú

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Locations of the 2015 Primera División teams

Team	Home city	Stadium	Capacity
Cerro Porteño	Asunción	General Pablo Rojas	32,000
Deportivo Capiatá	Capiatá	Capiatá	6,000
Guaraní	Asunción	Rogelio Livieres	6,000
General Díaz	Luque	General Adrián Jara	3,500
Libertad	Asunción	Dr. Nicolás Leoz	10,000
Nacional	Asunción	Arsenio Erico	4,000
Olimpia	Asunción	Manuel Ferreira	15,000
Rubio Ñu	Asunción	La Arboleda	5,000
San Lorenzo	San Lorenzo	Gunther Vogel	5,000
Santaní	San Estanislao	Juan José Vázquez	8,000
Sol de América	Villa Elisa	Luis Alfonso Giagni	5,000
Sportivo Luqueño	Luque	Feliciano Cáceres	25,000

List of champions

Amateur era

Season	Champion	Runner-up	Third Place
1906	Guaraní (1)	Olimpia	Libertad
1907	Guaraní (2)	Olimpia	Libertad
1908	No Tournament
1909	Nacional (1)	Libertad	Olimpia
1910	Libertad (1)	Atlántida	Nacional
1911	Nacional (2)	Atlántida	Sol de América
1912	Olimpia (1)	Sol de América	Nacional
1913	Cerro Porteño (1)	Sol de América	Nacional
1914	Olimpia (2)	Cerro Porteño	River Plate
1915	Cerro Porteño (2)	Olimpia	Guaraní
1916	Olimpia (3)	Guaraní	Nacional
1917	Libertad (2)	Olimpia	Cerro Porteño
1918	Cerro Porteño (3)	Nacional	Olimpia
1919	Cerro Porteño (4)	River Plate	Olimpia
1920	Libertad (3)	Olimpia	Cerro Porteño
1921	Guaraní (3)	Nacional	Sol de América
1922	No Tournament
1923	Guaraní (4)	Olimpia	Libertad
1924	Nacional (3)	Libertad	Olimpia
1925	Olimpia (4)	Guaraní	Nacional
1926	Nacional (4)	Olimpia	River Plate Sol de América
1927	Olimpia (5)	Libertad Nacional	No third-place awarded
1928	Olimpia (6)	Libertad	Nacional
1929	Olimpia (7)	Libertad	Sportivo Luqueño River Plate
1930	Libertad (4)	River Plate	Olimpia
1931	Olimpia (8)	Libertad	No third-place awarded
1932	No Tournament
1933	No Tournament
1934	No Tournament

Professional Era

Season		Champion	Runner-up	Third Place
1935		Cerro Porteño (5)	Sol de América	Libertad
1936		Olimpia (9)	Atlántida	Nacional
1937		Olimpia (10)	Cerro Porteño	Guaraní
1938		Olimpia (11)	Cerro Porteño	Libertad
1939		Cerro Porteño (6)	Olimpia	Nacional
1940		Cerro Porteño (7)	Sol de América	Guaraní
1941		Cerro Porteño (8)	Olimpia	Nacional
1942		Nacional (5)	Cerro Porteño	Guaraní
1943		Libertad (5)	Olimpia	Sol de América
1944		Cerro Porteño (9)	Libertad	Guaraní
1945		Libertad (6)	Cerro Porteño	Presidente Hayes
1946		Nacional (6)	Sol de América	Cerro Porteño
1947		Olimpia (12)	Guaraní	Nacional
1948		Olimpia (13)	Cerro Porteño	Sportivo Luqueño
1949		Guaraní (5)	Nacional	Cerro Porteño
1950		Cerro Porteño (10)	Libertad	Olimpia
1951		Sportivo Luqueño (1)	Cerro Porteño	Nacional
1952		Presidente Hayes (1)	Libertad Sol de América	No third-place awarded
1953		Sportivo Luqueño (2)	Libertad Cerro Porteño	No third-place awarded
1954		Cerro Porteño (11)	Libertad	Olimpia
1955		Libertad (7)	Olimpia	Cerro Porteño
1956		Olimpia (14)	Libertad	Sol de América
1957		Olimpia (15)	Cerro Porteño Sol de América Guaraní	No third-place awarded
1958		Olimpia (16)	Cerro Porteño	Guaraní
1959		Olimpia (17)	Cerro Porteño	Sportivo Luqueño
1960		Olimpia (18)	Cerro Porteño	Sportivo Luqueño
1961		Cerro Porteño (12)	Olimpia	Sportivo Luqueño
1962		Olimpia (19)	Nacional	River Plate
1963		Cerro Porteño (13)	Olimpia	Libertad River Plate
1964		Guaraní (6)	Nacional Cerro Porteño	No third-place awarded
1965		Olimpia (20)	Guaraní
1966		Cerro Porteño (14)	Guaraní
1967		Guaraní (7)	Libertad
1968		Olimpia (21)	Cerro Porteño
1969		Guaraní (8)	Olimpia
1970		Cerro Porteño (15)	Guaraní
1971		Olimpia (22)	Cerro Porteño
1972		Cerro Porteño (16)	Olimpia
1973		Cerro Porteño (17)	Olimpia
1974		Cerro Porteño (18)	Olimpia
1975		Olimpia (23)	Sportivo Luqueño
1976		Libertad (8)	Cerro Porteño
1977		Cerro Porteño (19)	Libertad
1978		Olimpia (24)	Sol de América
1979		Olimpia (25)	Sol de América
1980		Olimpia (26)	Cerro Porteño
1981		Olimpia (27)	Sol de América
1982		Olimpia (28)	Nacional
1983		Olimpia (29)	Sportivo Luqueño	Libertad
1984		Guaraní (9)	Cerro Porteño	Olimpia
1985		Olimpia (30)	Nacional	Sol de América
1986		Sol de América (1)	Olimpia	Cerro Porteño
1987		Cerro Porteño (20)	Olimpia	Sol de América
1988		Olimpia (31)	Sol de América	Libertad
1989		Olimpia (32)	Guaraní	Cerro Porteño
1990		Cerro Porteño (21)	Libertad	Olimpia Sportivo Luqueño
1991		Sol de América (2)	Cerro Porteño	Olimpia Guaraní
1992		Cerro Porteño (22)	Libertad	Olimpia Sportivo Luqueño
1993		Olimpia (33)	Cerro Porteño	Guaraní
1994		Cerro Porteño (23)	Olimpia	Sport Colombia
1995		Olimpia (34)	Cerro Porteño	Guaraní Nacional
1996		Cerro Porteño (24)	Guaraní	Olimpia
1997		Olimpia (35)	Cerro Porteño	Guaraní
1998		Olimpia (36)	Cerro Porteño	Guaraní
1999		Olimpia (37)	Cerro Porteño	Colegiales
2000		Olimpia (38)	Guaraní	Cerro Porteño
2001		Cerro Porteño (25)	Sportivo Luqueño	12 de Octubre
2002		Libertad (9)	12 de Octubre	Cerro Porteño
2003		Libertad (10)	Guaraní	Olimpia
2004		Cerro Porteño (26)	Libertad	Tacuary
2005		Cerro Porteño (27)	Libertad	Nacional
2006		Libertad (11)	Cerro Porteño	Tacuary
2007		Libertad (12)	Sportivo Luqueño	Cerro Porteño
2008	Apertura	Libertad (13)	Nacional	Cerro Porteño
	Clausura	Libertad (14)	Guaraní	Cerro Porteño
2009	Apertura	Cerro Porteño (28)	Libertad	Nacional
	Clausura	Nacional (7)	Libertad	Guaraní
2010	Apertura	Guaraní (10)	Cerro Porteño	Olimpia
	Clausura	Libertad (15)	Cerro Porteño	Nacional
2011	Apertura	Nacional (8)	Olimpia	Libertad
	Clausura	Olimpia (39)	Cerro Porteño	Libertad
2012	Apertura	Cerro Porteño (29)	Olimpia	Libertad
	Clausura	Libertad (16)	Nacional	Guaraní
2013	Apertura	Nacional (9)	Guaraní	Cerro Porteño
	Clausura	Cerro Porteño (30)	Libertad	Deportivo Capiatá
2014	Apertura	Libertad (17)	Guaraní	Olimpia
	Clausura	Libertad (18)	Cerro Porteño	Guaraní

Titles by club

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning years	Runners-up years
Olimpia	39	22	1912, 1914, 1916, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1947, 1948, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1965, 1968, 1971, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2011 Clausura	1906, 1907, 1915, 1917, 1920, 1923, 1926, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1955, 1961, 1963, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1986, 1987, 1994, 2011 Apertura, 2012 Apertura
Cerro Porteño	31	29	1913, 1915, 1918, 1919, 1935, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1944, 1950, 1954, 1961, 1963, 1966, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2009 Apertura, 2012 Apertura, 2013 Clausura, 2015 Apertura,	1914, 1937, 1938, 1942, 1945, 1948, 1951, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1971, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2006, 2010 Apertura, 2010 Clausura, 2011 Clausura, 2014 Clausura,
Libertad	18	21	1910, 1917, 1920, 1930, 1943, 1945, 1955, 1976, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008 Apertura, 2008 Clausura, 2010 Clausura, 2012 Clausura, 2014 Apertura, 2014 Clausura	1909, 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1944, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1967, 1977, 1990, 1992, 2004, 2005, 2009 Apertura, 2009 Clausura, 2013 Clausura
Guaraní	10	14	1906, 1907, 1921, 1923, 1949, 1964, 1967, 1969, 1984, 2010 Apertura	1916, 1925, 1947, 1957, 1965, 1966, 1970, 1989, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2008 Clausura, 2013 Apertura, 2014 Apertura
Nacional	9	10	1909, 1911, 1924, 1926, 1942, 1946, 2009 Clausura, 2011 Apertura, 2013 Apertura	1918, 1921, 1927, 1949, 1962, 1964, 1982, 1985, 2008 Apertura, 2012 Clausura
Sol de América	2	11	1986, 1991	1912, 1913, 1935, 1940, 1946, 1952, 1957, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1988
Sportivo Luqueño	2	4	1951, 1953	1975, 1983, 2001, 2007
Presidente Hayes	1	0	1952	—

Topscorers

Main article: Primera División de Paraguay topscorers

External links

• RSSSF
• Paraguayan Football Association Official website