2021 Categoría Primera A season

Liga BetPlay Dimayor
Season	2021
Dates	16 January – December 2021
Matches played	33
Goals scored	66 (2 per match)
Top goalscorer	Apertura: Jefferson Duque and; David Lemos (3 goals each)
Biggest home win	Atlético Nacional 5–2 Dep. Pereira; (30 January)
Biggest away win	Águilas Doradas 0–2 Santa Fe; (30 January)
Highest scoring	Atlético Nacional 5–2 Dep. Pereira; (30 January); Millonarios 4–3 Once Caldas; (1 February)
	← 2020 2022 → All statistics correct as of 4 February 2021.

The 2021 Categoría Primera A season (officially known as the 2021 Liga BetPlay Dimayor season for sponsorship reasons) is the 74th season of the Categoría Primera A, Colombia's top-flight football league. The season began on 16 January and is scheduled to conclude in December 2021. América de Cali entered the season as defending champions having won back-to-back titles in the 2019 Finalización and 2020 tournaments.[1]

Format

The competition format for this season was approved by the General Assembly of DIMAYOR on 17 December 2020:[2][3]

Two tournaments with three stages each will be played in the season. The Torneo Apertura will be contested by 19 teams, while the Torneo Finalización will be played by 20 teams.
The first stage of both tournaments will be contested on a single round-robin basis, with each team playing the other teams once for a total of 18 or 19 games. The additional match against a regional rival will not be played in this season. The top eight teams after the 19 rounds of each tournament will qualify for the next stage.
The second stage will a knockout round contested by the top eight teams at the end of the first stage, with the top four teams being seeded for the quarter-finals and paired against a rival decided by draw. The quarter-finals will be played under a format of double-legged series with the winners advancing to the semi-finals, which will also be played over two legs.
The finals in both tournaments will be contested by the winners of each semi-final tie, playing a double-legged series for the championship.
One team will be relegated to Categoría Primera B at the end of the Torneo Apertura, being replaced in the Torneo Finalización by two teams promoted from the Primera B in order to return to 20 teams for the second half of the year. This is due to the decision of DIMAYOR's General Assembly to postpone relegation from the 2020 season to the end of the first semester of 2021, in order to ensure teams could be able to play the same amount of matches as originally scheduled before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the temporary suspension of the previous season.[4] At the end of the Torneo Finalización and the season, two teams will be relegated to the second tier.

Teams

21 teams will take part in the season, 19 of them returning from last season plus two teams to be promoted from the 2021 Primera B. Cúcuta Deportivo, who also competed in the top flight in 2020, will not take part in the competition this season as they entered liquidation, were forced to forfeit their final two games of the previous tournament, and were ultimately disaffiliated from DIMAYOR on 25 November 2020.[5][6][7]

Aburrá Valley Metro Area

Águilas Doradas

Alianza Petrolera

Atlético Bucaramanga

Bogotá

Cali

Tunja

Aburrá Valley Metro Area teams:
Atlético Nacional
Envigado
Independiente Medellín
Tunja teams:
Boyacá Chicó
Patriotas
Bogotá teams:
La Equidad
Millonarios
Santa Fe
Cali teams:
América de Cali
Deportivo Cali

Locations of the 2021 Categoría Primera A teams

Stadia and locations

Team	Manager	City	Stadium	Capacity
Águilas Doradas	Hubert Bodhert	Rionegro	Alberto Grisales	14,000
Alianza Petrolera	Wilson Gutiérrez	Barrancabermeja	Daniel Villa Zapata	10,400
América de Cali	Juan Cruz Real	Cali	Pascual Guerrero	33,130
Atlético Bucaramanga	Guillermo Sanguinetti	Bucaramanga	Alfonso López	28,000
Atlético Nacional	Alexandre Guimarães	Medellín	Atanasio Girardot	40,043
Boyacá Chicó	Mario García (caretaker)	Tunja	La Independencia	20,630
Deportes Tolima	Hernán Torres	Ibagué	Manuel Murillo Toro	28,100
Deportivo Cali	Alfredo Arias	Palmira	Deportivo Cali	44,000
Deportivo Pasto	Diego Corredor	Pasto	Departamental Libertad	20,665
Deportivo Pereira	Jorge Artigas	Pereira	Hernán Ramírez Villegas	30,297
Envigado	José Arastey	Envigado	Polideportivo Sur	11,000
Independiente Medellín	Hernán Darío Gómez	Medellín	Atanasio Girardot	40,043
Jaguares	Alberto Suárez	Montería	Jaraguay	12,000
Junior	Luis Amaranto Perea	Barranquilla	Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez	49,692
La Equidad	Alexis García	Bogotá	Metropolitano de Techo	8,000
Millonarios	Alberto Gamero	Bogotá	Nemesio Camacho El Campín	36,343
Millonarios	Alberto Gamero	Manizales	Palogrande[note 1]	28,678
Once Caldas	Eduardo Lara	Manizales	Palogrande	28,678
Patriotas	Abel Segovia	Tunja	La Independencia	20,630
Santa Fe	Harold Rivera	Bogotá	Nemesio Camacho El Campín	36,343

Used by Millonarios for their home match against Envigado due to Estadio El Campín being unavailable per measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic in Bogotá.

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Atlético Nacional	Alejandro Restrepo	End of caretaker spell	28 November 2020	Pre-season	Alexandre Guimarães	30 November 2020[8]
Alianza Petrolera	Dayron Montesino		9 December 2020		Wilson Gutiérrez	23 November 2020[9]
Independiente Medellín	Humberto Sierra		10 December 2020[10]		Hernán Darío Gómez	11 December 2020[11]
Águilas Doradas	Francesco Stifano	End of contract	12 December 2020[12]		Hubert Bodhert	4 January 2021[13]
Deportivo Pereira	Alexis Márquez	End of caretaker spell	22 December 2020		Jorge Artigas	30 December 2020[14]
Once Caldas	Hubert Bodhert	Resigned	1 January 2021[15]		Eduardo Lara	3 January 2021[16]
Boyacá Chicó	Belmer Aguilar	Sacked	14 January 2021[17]		Mario García (caretaker)	14 January 2021[17]

Torneo Apertura

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Deportivo Cali	4	3	1	0	4	1	+3	10	Advance to the knockout stage
2	Junior	4	3	0	1	5	3	+2	9
3	Atlético Nacional	4	2	1	1	7	3	+4	7
4	Jaguares	4	2	1	1	5	3	+2	7
5	Millonarios	3	2	1	0	5	3	+2	7
6	La Equidad	4	2	1	1	4	3	+1	7
7	Independiente Medellín	4	2	1	1	3	2	+1	7
8	Santa Fe	3	2	0	1	3	2	+1	6
9	Deportivo Pasto	3	1	2	0	3	2	+1	5
10	Deportes Tolima	3	1	2	0	2	1	+1	5
11	Atlético Bucaramanga	4	1	1	2	3	3	0	4
12	Águilas Doradas	3	1	1	1	3	4	−1	4
13	América de Cali	3	0	2	1	2	3	−1	2
14	Envigado	4	0	2	2	2	4	−2	2
15	Deportivo Pereira	4	0	2	2	4	8	−4	2
16	Once Caldas	3	0	1	2	5	7	−2	1
17	Patriotas	3	0	1	2	2	4	−2	1
18	Alianza Petrolera	3	0	1	2	3	6	−3	1
19	Boyacá Chicó	3	0	1	2	1	4	−3	1

Updated to match(es) played on 4 February 2021. Source: Dimayor, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Goal difference, 3) Goals for, 4) Away goals for, 5) Away goals against, 6) Effective time of play, 7) Drawing of lots.

Results

Home \ Away	AGU	APE	AME	BUC	NAC	BOY	TOL	CAL	PAS	PER	ENV	DIM	JAG	JUN	EQU	MIL	ONC	PAT	SFE
Águilas Doradas	—	—	—	—			—	—		—			—	—				—	0–2
Alianza Petrolera	1–2	—			—	—		—	—	2–2		—	—	—	—			—
América de Cali	1–1	—	—	0–0	—	—		—	—				—	—		a	—	—
Atlético Bucaramanga		—	—	—		2–0	—		—		—	0–1	—	—		—			—
Atlético Nacional	—		a	—	—		—	—	—	5–2		—			—	—	—		2–0
Boyacá Chicó	—			—	—	—		0–1		—		—			—		—	—	—
Deportes Tolima		—	—			—	—	—	—	—	—				1–0	—	1–1		—
Deportivo Cali			a	—		—		—		—	1–1	—	1–0	—	—	—	—	—
Deportivo Pasto	—				0–0	—		—	—	—	—	—			2–2	—	—		—
Deportivo Pereira		—	—	—	—		0–0	0–1		—	—		—	—		—			—
Envigado	—	—	—		—	—		—	0–1		—		1–1		—	—	—
Independiente Medellín	—		—	—	a		—			—	—	—		—		0–0	—	2–1	—
Jaguares		2–0		2–1	—	—	—	—	—		—	—	—			—	—
Junior			2–1		—	—	—		—		—	1–0	—	—	—		—	—
La Equidad	—		—	—	1–0		—		—	—		—	—	1–0	—			—
Millonarios	—	—	—		a	—		a			1–0	—		—	—	—	4–3	—	—
Once Caldas	—	—		—			—			—				1–2	—	—	—	—	—
Patriotas				—	—	1–1	—		—	—	—	—	—					—	—
Santa Fe	—	—	—		—			—			—		—	—	—	a		1–0	—

Updated to match(es) played on 4 February 2021. Source: Dimayor, Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

As of 4 February 2021

Rank	Name	Club	Goals
1	Jefferson Duque	Atlético Nacional	3
1	David Lemos	Once Caldas	3
3	Miguel Borja	Junior	2
	Bryan Castrillón	Deportivo Pereira
	Diego Herazo	La Equidad
	Juan Sebastián Herrera	Deportivo Pasto
	José Lloreda	Jaguares
	Santiago Moreno	América de Cali
	Agustín Palavecino	Deportivo Cali
	Pablo Sabbag	La Equidad
	Óscar Vanegas	Patriotas
	Agustín Vuletich	Independiente Medellín

Source: Soccerway

Relegation

A separate table is kept to determine the teams that get relegated to the Categoría Primera B for the next season. This table is elaborated from a sum of all first stage games played for the current season and the previous two seasons. For purposes of elaborating the table, promoted teams are given the same point and goal tallies as the team in the 18th position at the start of the season.

Due to the postponement of promotion and relegation from the previous season to the end of the first semester of 2021 and the disaffiliation of Cúcuta Deportivo, one team will be relegated to Primera B at the end of the Torneo Apertura.

Pos	Team	2018 Pts	2019 Pts	2020 Pts	2021 Pts	Total Pld	Total GF	Total GA	Total GD	Total Pts	Relegation
1	Atlético Nacional	71	66	35	7	102	150	100	50	179
2	Deportes Tolima	72	64	37	5	101	139	85	54	178
3	Deportivo Cali	58	67	34	10	102	137	98	39	169
4	Junior	62	63	33	9	102	123	80	43	167
5	Independiente Medellín	69	59	20	7	102	148	122	26	155
6	Millonarios	51	67	30	7	101	130	107	23	155
7	Once Caldas	63	56	29	1	101	125	105	20	149
8	América de Cali	47	67	33	2	101	129	122	7	149
9	Santa Fe	56	46	40	6	101	123	87	36	148
10	La Equidad	61	42	32	7	102	115	102	13	142
11	Águilas Doradas	57	40	31	4	101	111	123	–12	132
12	Atlético Bucaramanga	58	46	21	4	102	106	122	–16	129
13	Deportivo Pasto	35	54	34	5	101	99	100	–1	128
14	Envigado	46	47	23	2	102	108	124	–16	118
15	Alianza Petrolera	42	55	20	1	101	105	133	–28	117
16	Patriotas	49	50	17	1	101	85	120	–34	116
17	Jaguares	39	38	17	7	102	86	146	–60	101
18	Deportivo Pereira	39	38	18	2	102	81	145	–64	97
19	Boyacá Chicó	39	38	15	1	101	74	150	–72	93	Relegation to Categoría Primera B

Source: Dimayor
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored; 4th away goals scored.

References

"¡América de Cali, bicampeón del fútbol colombiano!" (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 27 December 2020.
"SÍNTESIS DE LA ASAMBLEA EXTRAORDINARIA DE LA DIMAYOR" (in Spanish). Dimayor. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
"La Liga 2021-I ya tiene fecha: así se jugará el campeonato colombiano" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
"El FPC no tendrá descenso en el 2020" (in Spanish). Marca Colombia. 13 August 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
"¿Qué va a pasar con el Cúcuta? La explicación de Dimayor" (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
"RESOLUCIÓN NO. 022 DE 2020" (in Spanish). Dimayor. 15 November 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
"¡Atención! Dimayor tomó la decisión de desafiliar al Cúcuta Deportivo" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 25 November 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
"Alexandre Guimarães es nuevo técnico de Atlético Nacional" (in Spanish). AS Colombia. 30 November 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
"Wilson Gutiérrez, nuevo director técnico de Alianza Petrolera" (in Spanish). AS Colombia. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
"Independiente Medellín confirmó la salida de Humberto Sierra" (in Spanish). Minuto 30. 11 December 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
"Con emotivo video: DIM presentó a Hernán Darío Gómez como su nuevo DT" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 11 December 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
"Confirmado. Francesco Stifano no va más como DT de Águilas Doradas" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 12 December 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
"Hubert Bodhert, nuevo director técnico de Águilas Doradas" (in Spanish). AS Colombia. 4 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
"Deportivo Pereira ya se prepara para el 2021: anunció a Jorge Artigas como nuevo entrenador" (in Spanish). Gol Caracol. 30 December 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
"Once Caldas arranca el 2021 sin director técnico: sorpresiva decisión" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 1 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
"Once Caldas tiene nuevo entrenador tras salida de Hubert Bodhert" (in Spanish). Antena 2. 3 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
"Bélmer Aguilar dejó de ser el técnico de Chicó, sin jugarse la primera fecha del fútbol colombiano" (in Spanish). Gol Caracol. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2021.

External links

Dimayor's official website (in Spanish)

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[MIL-8] Used by Millonarios for their home match against Envigado due to Estadio El Campín being unavailable per measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic in Bogotá.

[1] "¡América de Cali, bicampeón del fútbol colombiano!" (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 27 December 2020.

[2] "SÍNTESIS DE LA ASAMBLEA EXTRAORDINARIA DE LA DIMAYOR" (in Spanish). Dimayor. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.

[3] "La Liga 2021-I ya tiene fecha: así se jugará el campeonato colombiano" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.

[Relegation-4] "El FPC no tendrá descenso en el 2020" (in Spanish). Marca Colombia. 13 August 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.

[Liquidation_CUC-5] "¿Qué va a pasar con el Cúcuta? La explicación de Dimayor" (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.

[6] "RESOLUCIÓN NO. 022 DE 2020" (in Spanish). Dimayor. 15 November 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.

[7] "¡Atención! Dimayor tomó la decisión de desafiliar al Cúcuta Deportivo" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 25 November 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.

[9] "Alexandre Guimarães es nuevo técnico de Atlético Nacional" (in Spanish). AS Colombia. 30 November 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.

[10] "Wilson Gutiérrez, nuevo director técnico de Alianza Petrolera" (in Spanish). AS Colombia. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.

[11] "Independiente Medellín confirmó la salida de Humberto Sierra" (in Spanish). Minuto 30. 11 December 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.

[12] "Con emotivo video: DIM presentó a Hernán Darío Gómez como su nuevo DT" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 11 December 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.

[13] "Confirmado. Francesco Stifano no va más como DT de Águilas Doradas" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 12 December 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.

[14] "Hubert Bodhert, nuevo director técnico de Águilas Doradas" (in Spanish). AS Colombia. 4 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.

[15] "Deportivo Pereira ya se prepara para el 2021: anunció a Jorge Artigas como nuevo entrenador" (in Spanish). Gol Caracol. 30 December 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.

[16] "Once Caldas arranca el 2021 sin director técnico: sorpresiva decisión" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 1 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.

[17] "Once Caldas tiene nuevo entrenador tras salida de Hubert Bodhert" (in Spanish). Antena 2. 3 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.

[Aguilar-18] "Bélmer Aguilar dejó de ser el técnico de Chicó, sin jugarse la primera fecha del fútbol colombiano" (in Spanish). Gol Caracol. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2021.

Categoría Primera A (Liga BetPlay Dimayor)
2021 teams	Águilas Doradas Alianza Petrolera América de Cali Atlético Bucaramanga Atlético Nacional Boyacá Chicó Deportes Tolima Deportivo Cali Deportivo Pasto Deportivo Pereira Envigado Independiente Medellín Jaguares Junior La Equidad Millonarios Once Caldas Patriotas Santa Fe
Former teams	Atlético Huila Boca Juniors Centauros Villavicencio Cortuluá Cúcuta Deportivo Deportes Quindío Deportivo Barranquilla Deportivo Unicosta Fortaleza Huracán Leones Libertad Once Deportivo Oro Negro Real Cartagena Sporting Tigres Uniautónoma Unión Magdalena Universidad
Competition	El Dorado Foreign players Seasons & winners Teams Venues
Statistics and records	Records All-time table Topscorers
Seasons	1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1995–96 1996–97 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Associated competitions	Categoría Primera B Copa Colombia Superliga Colombiana Copa Libertadores de América Copa Sudamericana
Early competitions	Campeonato Nacional Copa Centenario Batalla de Boyacá

2021 in South American football (CONMEBOL)
« 2020 2022 »
Domestic leagues	Argentina Bolivia Brazil (2020, 2021) Chile (2020, 2021) Colombia Ecuador Paraguay Peru Uruguay (2020, 2021) Venezuela
Domestic cups	Argentina Brazil (2020, 2021) Chile (2020, 2021) Colombia (2020, 2021) Ecuador Paraguay Peru Venezuela
League cups	Argentina (2020, 2021)
Super cups	Argentina Brazil Chile (2020, 2021) Colombia Ecuador Paraguay Peru Uruguay
CONMEBOL competitions	Copa Libertadores (2020 (final stages, final), 2021 (qualifying stages, group stage, final stages, final)) Copa Sudamericana (2020 (final stages, final), 2021 (first stage, group stage, final stages, final)) Recopa Sudamericana Copa Libertadores Femenina (2020, 2021)