2003 Paraguayan Primera División season

Paraguayan Primera División
Season2003
Dates14 February – 26 October 2003
ChampionsLibertad
PromotedNacional
RelegatedSan Lorenzo
← 2002
2004 →

The 2003 Paraguayan Primera División season was held from 14 February to 26 October, with the participation of ten clubs. The tournament was divided into three stages: the Torneo Apertura, won by Libertad; the Torneo Clausura, also won by Libertad after defeating Olimpia in a penalty shootout tiebreaker. By winning both stages, Libertad was automatically crowned Overall Champion of the 2003 season, securing the tenth league title in its history.

Torneo Apertura 2003

The Torneo Apertura began on 14 February and concluded on 25 May.

First stage

The first stage was held from 14 February to 20 April. It followed a single round-robin format, with each team playing nine matches. The top six teams at the end of this phase advanced to the next round.

Standings

Pos. Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Libertad 9 6 3 0 13 3 +10 21
2 Cerro Porteño 9 5 3 1 20 8 +12 18
3 Olimpia 9 4 4 1 16 11 +5 16
4 Sol de América 9 3 4 2 12 7 +5 13
5 Tacuary 9 4 1 4 15 16 –1 13
6 Guaraní 9 3 3 3 18 20 –2 12
7 Sportivo Luqueño 9 3 2 4 14 12 +2 11
8 Sport Colombia 9 2 2 5 14 20 –6 8
9 12 de Octubre 9 1 4 4 8 18 –10 7
10 San Lorenzo 9 1 0 8 10 25 –15 3


Pld = Matches played; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Qualification for Final Stage of the Apertura Tournament

Results

Main article: 2003 Paraguayan Primera División season § Apertura results

Final stage

Semifinals

The top six teams from the first stage advanced to the semifinals, which were divided into two groups. Libertad and Cerro Porteño began this stage with a 2-point advantage for finishing first and second, respectively, in the initial standings. Each team played once against the others in their group. The team with the highest number of points in each group advanced to the final.

Group 1
Pos. Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Libertad 2 1 1 0 2 0 +2 6
2 Tacuary 2 1 1 0 2 0 +2 4
3 Olimpia 2 0 0 2 0 4 –4 0

Pld = Matches played; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Date Home team Score Away team
26 April Tacuary 2–0 Olimpia
4 May Libertad 0–0 Tacuary
11 May Libertad 2–0 Olimpia
Group 2
Pos. Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Guaraní 2 2 0 0 3 1 +2 6
2 Sol de América 2 1 0 1 4 3 +1 3
3 Cerro Porteño 2 0 0 2 3 6 –3 0


Date Match
April 26 Guaraní 1:0 Sol de América
May 1 Guaraní 2:1 Cerro Porteño
May 11 Cerro Porteño 2:4 Sol de América
Guaraní0–0Libertad
ABC Digital
Attendance: 5,242
Referee: Carlos Torres (Paraguay)
Libertad1–0 (0–0)Guaraní
Gustavo Morínigo 67' ABC Digital
Attendance: approx. 18,000

2003 Clausura Tournament

The tournament started on June 15 and concluded on October 30. The competition format was a round-robin, with 18 matchdays played.

Standings

Pos. Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Libertad[n 1] 18 9 6 3 32 20 +12 33
2 Olimpia[n 1] 18 9 6 3 30 18 +12 33
3 Cerro Porteño 18 9 5 4 24 15 +9 32
4 Guaraní 18 7 6 5 24 17 +7 27
5 Sportivo Luqueño 18 7 6 5 21 20 +1 27
6 Sol de América 18 4 7 7 17 16 +1 19
7 12 de Octubre 18 4 7 7 7 14 –7 19
8 San Lorenzo 18 4 6 8 18 32 –14 18
9 Tacuary 18 4 5 9 20 29 –9 17
10 Sport Colombia 18 4 4 10 22 34 –12 16


  1. ^ a b As Olimpia and Libertad finished tied on points, a playoff match was held to determine the champion.

Pos=Position; Pld=Matches played; W=Wins; D=Draws; L=Losses; GF=Goals for; GA=Goals against; GD=Goal difference; Pts=Points


Playoff match for the Clausura 2003 champion

Olimpia0–0 (5–6 pen)Libertad
Attendance: 16,954
Referee: Nelson Valenzuela (Paraguay)

Results

See Results of the Clausura Tournament.


Pre-Libertadores 2004

Guaraní and Olimpia finished second in the Apertura and Clausura tournaments respectively, so they played a match to decide the second qualifying spot for the 2004 Copa Libertadores.

Guaraní1–1 (1–0 at halftime)Olimpia
Ángel Ortiz 28' Juan Carlos Benítez 90'
Attendance: 1,319
Olimpia2–3 (0–2 at halftime)Guaraní
Gilberto Palacios 51'
Juan Carlos Benítez 80'		 Pablo Giménez 5'
Fabio Nunes 38'
Pablo Giménez 48'
Attendance: Approx. 1,500

With an aggregate score of 4–3, Guaraní qualified for the 2004 Copa Libertadores.

Pre-Libertadores Liguilla

The top four teams in the Clausura tournament standings (excluding those already qualified) played a mini-tournament for the final berth in the 2004 Copa Libertadores. Olimpia started with a one-point bonus for being the highest-placed team in the Clausura among the participants in the liguilla.

Pos. Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1. Olimpia 3 2 1 0 4 1 +3 8
2. Sportivo Luqueño 3 2 0 1 8 4 +4 6
3. Cerro Porteño 3 1 0 2 4 7 −3 3
4. Sol de América 3 0 1 2 5 9 −4 1

Pos = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Qualified for 2004 Copa Libertadores

Matchday 1

Sportivo Luqueño0–1Olimpia
Julio Enciso (p) 79'
Referee: Nelson Valenzuela (Paraguay)[1]
Cerro Porteño3–2Sol de América
Érwin Ávalos 64'
Julio dos Santos 67', 86'		 José Franco 37'
Marcial Garay 55'
Attendance: 1,478
Referee: Atilio Invernizzi (Paraguay)[2]

Matchday 2

Sportivo Luqueño5–2Sol de América
Christian Andersen 19'
Hugo Centurión 25', 58', 75'
Daniel Ferreira 67'		 José Franco 6'
Miguel Cárdenas 90+2' (p)
Referee: Juan Ruiz Díaz (Paraguay)[3]
Cerro Porteño0–2Olimpia
Francisco Esteche 9'
Julio Enciso 89'
Attendance: 9,143
Referee: Carlos Amarilla (Paraguay)[4]

Matchday 3

Olimpia1–1Sol de América
Diego Figueredo 84' Aureliano Torres 32' (p)
Attendance: Approx. 100
Referee: Hugo Vera (Paraguay)[5]
Sportivo Luqueño3–1Cerro Porteño
Héctor Sánchez 28', 31'
Arnaldo Medina 74'		 Osvaldo Hobecker 60'
Attendance: 151
Referee: Antonio Arias (Paraguay)[6]

Final season standings

First, the criteria used to determine each club's qualification type for the following year are outlined, along with an explanation of what each entails. This is followed by a detailed summary of the outcomes.

Aggregate table

The aggregate table is the result of adding the points obtained by each team in both the 2003 Apertura and Clausura tournaments.

Pos. Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1st Libertad 54 27 15 9 3 45 23 +22
2nd Cerro Porteño 50 27 14 8 5 44 23 +21
3rd Olimpia 49 27 13 10 4 46 29 +17
4th Guaraní 39 27 10 9 8 42 37 +5
5th Sportivo Luqueño 38 27 10 8 9 35 32 +3
6th Sol de América 32 27 7 11 9 29 23 +6
7th Tacuary 30 27 8 6 13 35 35 0
8th 12 de Octubre 26 27 5 11 11 15 32 –17
9th Sport Colombia 24 27 6 6 15 36 54 –18
10th San Lorenzo 21 27 5 6 16 28 57 –29

Pts = Points; Pld = Matches played; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference

Qualified for 2004 Copa Libertadores

Average points

The average points of a team is calculated by dividing its accumulated points over the last three seasons by the number of matches played during that period.

Promotion playoff

This is a two-legged knockout series, with each team playing one match at home, to determine which division each club will play in the following season. It is contested between the second-to-last team in the average points table and the second-placed team from the lower division. The rules stated that if both teams were level on points after the two matches, goal difference would be used to determine the winner. If the tie persisted, a penalty shoot-out would be held.

Promotion playoff

3 de Febrero1–2Tacuary
Adolfo Fatecha 90+2' Raúl Román 77', 81'
Attendance: 3,925
Referee: Ubaldo Aquino (Paraguay)[7]
Tacuary2–13 de Febrero
Diego Canesa 58'
Silvio Garay 90+1'		 Roberto Gamarra 15'
Attendance: 1,704
Referee: Epifanio González (Paraguay)[8]

With an aggregate score of 4–2, Tacuary remained in the Primera División for the 2004 season. With an aggregate score of 4–2, Tacuary remained in the Primera División.

Qualification for international tournaments

The accumulated points table was used to determine the APF representatives in CONMEBOL competitions for the following year.

  • 2004 Copa Libertadores (three qualifiers). The first spot went to the absolute champion of the 2003 Championship (Libertad). The second spot went to the Clausura or Apertura champion who was not the absolute champion of 2003 (Guaraní, due to a playoff between the two runners-up since Libertad won both tournaments). The third spot was awarded to the winner of the Pre-Libertadores playoff (Olimpia).

Relegation and promotion playoff

The average points table was used to determine relegation and the playoff participants:

  • Tacuary, having the second lowest average, had to play a two-legged promotion playoff against the Intermedia runner-up, 3 de Febrero. The first leg ended with a 2–1 victory for Tacuary. The decisive second leg was also won by Tacuary by 2–1. Ultimately, the team from the higher division secured its spot for one more season with a 4–2 aggregate score.

References

  1. ^ ABC Digital – De un penal dudoso, surge el gol que da respiro al decano.
  2. ^ ABC Digital – Un Ciclón "eclipsó" a Sol de América.
  3. ^ ABC Digital – Goleada luqueña eclipsó a Sol.
  4. ^ ABC Digital – Olimpia, cansado, pero práctico, festeja al final.
  5. ^ ABC Digital – Olimpia y Sol despiden el año con una igualdad.
  6. ^ ABC Digital – Luqueño cierra el año con festejo y Cerro solo cumple.
  7. ^ ABC Digital – Tacuary da un paso importante
  8. ^ ABC Digital – Tacuary venció al viento del este y se mantiene en primera
  9. ^ ABC Digital - Guaraní says goodbye to "Santo" with a blessed draw
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