The 2017 Categoría Primera A season (officially known as the 2017 Liga Águila season for sponsorship reasons) was the 70th season of Colombia's top-flight football league. Santa Fe were the defending champions having won the title in the 2016 season's Finalización tournament. The season started on 3 February and concluded on 17 December.
In the Torneo Apertura, Atlético Nacional won its sixteenth title after beating Deportivo Cali in the finals, while in the Torneo Finalización Millonarios defeated crosstown rivals Santa Fe in the finals to win its fifteenth title.
Format The league was played under the same format used since the 2015 season. The Apertura and Finalización tournaments were divided into three stages: a First Stage which was contested on a single round-robin basis, with each team playing the other teams once and playing a regional rival once more for a total of 20 matches. The top eight teams after the twenty rounds advanced to a knockout round, where they were pitted into four ties to be played on a home-and-away basis, with the four winners advancing to the semifinals and the winner of each semifinal advancing to the final of the tournament, which was played on a home-and-away basis as well. The winner of the final in each tournament was declared the tournament champion and will participate in the 2018 Copa Libertadores, as well as the top team in the aggregate table not yet qualified and the Copa Colombia champions. The next four best teams in the aggregate table qualified for the 2018 Copa Sudamericana.
Teams 20 teams took part, eighteen of them returning from last season plus América de Cali and Tigres, who were promoted from the 2016 Primera B. The former returned to the top tier after 5 years while the latter competed in the Primera A for the first time ever. Both promoted teams replaced Boyacá Chicó and Fortaleza who were relegated at the end of the last season.
Stadia and locations
Team Manager Home city Stadium Capacity Alianza Petrolera Juan Cruz Real Barrancabermeja Daniel Villa Zapata 10,400 América de Cali Jorge da Silva Cali Pascual Guerrero 33,130 Atlético Bucaramanga Jaime de la Pava Bucaramanga Alfonso Lópeza 28,000 Atlético Huila Néstor Craviotto Neiva Guillermo Plazas Alcid 22,000 Atlético Nacional Juan Manuel Lillo Medellín Atanasio Girardot 40,043 Cortuluá Néstor Otero Tuluá Pascual Guerrerob 33,130 Deportes Tolima Alberto Gamero Ibagué Manuel Murillo Toro 28,100 Deportivo Cali Sergio Angulo (caretaker) Cali Deportivo Calic 52,000 Deportivo Pasto Flabio Torres Pasto Departamental Libertad 20,665 Envigado Rubén Darío Bedoya Envigado Polideportivo Sur 11,000 Independiente Medellín Ismael Rescalvo (caretaker) Medellín Atanasio Girardot 40,043 Jaguares Hubert Bodhert Montería Jaraguay 12,000 Junior Julio Comesaña Barranquilla Metropolitano Roberto Meléndezd 49,692 La Equidad Luis Fernando Suárez Bogotá Metropolitano de Techoe 8,000 Millonarios Miguel Ángel Russo Bogotá Nemesio Camacho El Campín 36,343 Once Caldas Herney Duque (caretaker) Manizales Palogrande 28,678 Patriotas Diego Corredor Tunja La Independencia 20,630 Rionegro Águilas Diego Edison Umaña Rionegro Alberto Grisales 14,000 Santa Fe Gregorio Pérez Bogotá Nemesio Camacho El Campín 36,343 Tigres John Jairo Bodmer Bogotá Metropolitano de Techof 8,000 a: Played its Torneo Apertura home games at Estadio Álvaro Gómez Hurtado in Floridablanca due to remodeling works at Estadio Alfonso López. b: Temporarily plays its home games at Estadio Pascual Guerrero in Cali since Estadio Doce de Octubre failed to meet league requirements. Cortuluá used the Estadio Francisco Rivera Escobar in Palmira for its home game against Deportes Tolima. c: Deportivo Cali used the Estadio Pascual Guerrero for its home games against Atlético Huila and Cortuluá. d: Junior used the Estadio Jaime Morón León in Cartagena for its home games until late March due to works on the pitch at Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez. e: La Equidad used the Estadio El Campín for its home games against América de Cali and Atlético Nacional. f: Tigres used the Estadio El Campín for its home game against Atlético Nacional.
Managerial changes
TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentTorneo AperturaJunior Giovanni HernándezSacked21 November 2016Pre-season Alberto Gamero21 December 2016Patriotas Harold RiveraResigned5 December 2016 Diego Corredor14 December 2016Independiente Medellín Leonel ÁlvarezSacked7 December 2016 Luis Zubeldía14 December 2016Atlético Huila Virgilio PuertoEnd of caretaker spell12 December 2016 Jorge Vivaldo12 December 2016Deportivo Pasto José Fernando SantaSacked15 December 2016 Flabio Torres18 December 2016Atlético Bucaramanga Flabio Torres16 December 2016 Harold Rivera18 December 2016Deportes Tolima Alberto GameroSigned by Junior18 December 2016 Gregorio Pérez23 December 2016Millonarios Diego CoccaResigned21 December 2016 Miguel Ángel Russo22 December 2016Deportes Tolima Gregorio PérezSacked8 February7th Óscar Héctor Quintabani10 FebruaryAtlético Bucaramanga Harold Rivera5 March11th Fernando Castro9 MarchDeportivo Cali Mario YepesResigned9 March9th Héctor Cárdenas13 MarchJunior Alberto GameroSacked26 March19th Julio Comesaña29 MarchRionegro Águilas Néstor OteroResigned17 April18th Óscar Pérez4 MayOnce Caldas Hernán LisiMutual consent24 April16th Herney Duque24 AprilAtlético Huila Jorge Vivaldo22 May19th Jorge Bermúdez22 MayCortuluá Jaime de la PavaEnd of contract29 May20th Néstor Otero30 MayOnce Caldas Herney DuqueEnd of caretaker spell29 May16th Francisco Maturana2 JuneLa Equidad Arturo BoyacáSacked1 June13th Luis Fernando Suárez2 JuneDeportes Tolima Óscar Héctor Quintabani2 June17th José Eugenio Hernández6 JuneAtlético Huila Jorge BermúdezEnd of caretaker spell5 June15th Néstor Craviotto6 JuneIndependiente Medellín Luis ZubeldíaResigned6 June2nd, Quarterfinals Juan José Peláez11 JuneSanta Fe Gustavo Costas9 June9th Gregorio Pérez14 JuneTorneo FinalizaciónAtlético Nacional Reinaldo RuedaResigned20 JunePre-season Juan Manuel Lillo21 JuneAtlético Bucaramanga Fernando Castro30 July19th Jaime de la Pava2 AugustEnvigado Ismael Rescalvo2 August19th Rubén Darío Bedoya2 AugustRionegro Águilas Óscar PérezSacked6 August20th Diego Edison Umaña12 AugustDeportes Tolima José Eugenio Hernández22 August11th Alberto Gamero22 AugustAmérica de Cali Hernán TorresResigned2 September14th Jorge da Silva4 SeptemberIndependiente Medellín Juan José PeláezMutual consent15 October9th Ismael Rescalvo16 OctoberDeportivo Cali Héctor CárdenasSacked17 October11th Sergio Angulo17 OctoberAlianza Petrolera Jorge Luis Bernal22 October20th Juan Cruz Real24 OctoberOnce Caldas Francisco Maturana14 November18th Herney Duque14 November
Torneo Apertura
First stage The First stage began on 3 February and consisted of twenty rounds including a series of regional rivalries in the tenth round. It ended on 29 May with the top eight teams at the end of this stage advancing to the knockout phase.
Standings
Results
Knockout phase bracket
Quarterfinals
First leg
†: Match played behind closed doors.
Second leg
Semifinals
First leg
†: Match played behind closed doors.
Second leg
Finals
Atlético Nacional won 5–3 on aggregate.
Top goalscorers Rank Name Club Goals 1 Dayro MorenoAtlético Nacional 14 2 Feiver MercadoCortuluá 11 Jefferson DuqueDeportivo Cali 11 4 César AriasAlianza Petrolera 9 Santiago TréllezDeportivo Pasto 9 Cristian Martínez BorjaAmérica de Cali 9
Source: Dimayor
Torneo Finalización
First stage The First stage began on 7 July and featured the same format used in the Torneo Apertura, with reversed fixtures. It concluded on 19 November with the top eight teams at the end of this stage advancing to the knockout stage.
Standings
Results
Knockout phase bracket
Quarterfinals
First leg
Second leg
Semifinals
First leg
Second leg
Finals
Millonarios won 3–2 on aggregate.
Top goalscorers Rank Name Club Goals 1 Yimmi CharáJunior 11 Ayron del ValleMillonarios 11 Dayro MorenoAtlético Nacional 11 Carmelo ValenciaLa Equidad 11 5 Ángelo RodríguezDeportes Tolima 9 6 Wilson MoreloSanta Fe 8 Marco PérezDeportes Tolima 8 Agustín VuletichRionegro Águilas 8 9 Teófilo GutiérrezJunior 7 Pablo RojasJaguares 7
Source: Soccerway
Aggregate table
Relegation A separate table is kept to determine the teams that get relegated to the Categoría Primera B for the next season. The table includes an average 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. Team Relegation 1Atlético Nacional 79 76 87 242 120 2Independiente Medellín 70 73 69 212 120 3Millonarios 62 70 69 201 120 4Santa Fe 62 70 67 199 120 5Junior 69 65 62 196 120 6Deportivo Cali 67 66 53 186 120 7Deportes Tolima 68 57 53 179 120 8Patriotas 58 61 45 164 120 9Envigado 61 51 44 156 120 10Rionegro Águilas 54 60 39 153 120 11Once Caldas 57 51 42 150 120 12La Equidad 54 42 53 149 120 13Atlético Huila 57 42 48 147 120 14Alianza Petrolera 53 47 46 146 120 15Deportivo Pasto 39 44 56 139 120 16América de Cali 31 46 60 137 120 17Jaguares 31 46 59 136 120 18Atlético Bucaramanga 31 55 47 133 120 19Cortuluá (R) 45 45 42 132 120 Relegation to Categoría Primera B 20Tigres (R) 31 46 45 122 120 Source: DimayorRules for classification: 1st average; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored; 4th away goals scored.
See also 2017 Categoría Primera B season 2017 Copa Colombia 2018 Superliga Colombiana
References
External links Dimayor's official website