The 2017–18 Liga Nacional de Guatemala was the 65th professional season of the top-flight football league in Guatemala. The season was divided into two championships—the 2017 Apertura and the 2018 Clausura—each in an identical format and each contested by the same 12 teams.
Format The format for both championships are identical. Each championship will have two stages: a first stage and a playoff stage. The first stage of each championship is a double round-robin format. The teams that finish first and second in the standings will advance to the playoffs semifinals, while the teams that finish 3–6 will enter in the quarterfinals. The winner of each quarterfinal will advance to the semifinals. The winners of the semifinals will advance to the finals, which will determine the tournament champion.
Managerial changes
Beginning of the season Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table Malacateco Resigned May 2017 Mauricio Wright May 2017 th (Clausura 2018)
During the Apertura season Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table Sanarate Héctor Julián Trujillo Resigned October 2017 Horacio Cordero October 2017 th (Apertura 2015)Deportivo Marquense Óscar Ulises Sosa Sacked September 2017 Gabriel Castillo September 2017 th (Apertura 2015)Cobán Imperial Ariel Sena Sacked August 2017 Fabricio Benitez August 2017 th (Apertura 2015)Municipal Gustavo Machaín Sacked Oct 2017 Ever Hugo Almeida Oct 2017 th (Apertura 2015) C.D. Suchitepequez Walter Claverí Sacked Oct 2017 Erick González Oct 2017 th (Apertura 2015)
Between Apertura and Clausura seasons
TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyReplaced byDate of appointmentPosition in table Municipal Éver Hugo Almeida Contract finished December 2017 Hernan Medford December 2017 and Runners up (Apertura 2017) Suchitepéquez Erick González Contract finished December 2017 Agustin Castillo December 2017 (Apertura 2017) Sanarate Horacio Cordero Resigned December 2017 Pablo Centrone December 2017 th (Apertura 2015) Siquinalá Jairo Pérez Sacked December 2017 Daniel Berta December 2017 (Apertura 2017)
During the Apertura season
TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureReplaced byPosition in table Suchitepéquez Agustin Castillo Sacked February 2018 Eduardo Méndez 2018 th (Clausura 2018) Xelaju MC Ronald Gómez Sacked February 2018 Walter Claveri February 2018 th (Clausura 2018) Malacateco Mauricio Wright Resigned February 2018 Ronald Gómez February 2018 th (Clausura 2018) Comunicaciones Ronald González Sacked February 2018 Willy Coito Olivera February 2018 (Apertura 2017) Marquense Gabriel Castillo Sacked April 2018 Aldo Da Pozzo April 2018 th (Clausura 2018)
Apertura The 2017 Torneo Apertura began on 28 July 2017 and will end in December 2017.
Personnel and sponsoring Team Chairman Head coach Kitmaker Shirt sponsor Antigua Rafael Arreaga Mauricio Tapia TBD Banrural, Horcalba, Pepsi Cobán Imperial Irasema Meléndez Ariel Sena Puma TBD Comunicaciones Pedro Portilla Ronald González Puma Todo en Salud, Gatorade, Zeta Gas Guastatoya Amarini Villatoro TBD TBD Malacateco TBD Mauricio Wright TBD TBD Marquense TBD Néstor Emilio Soria TBD TBD Municipal TBD Gustavo Machaín TBD TBD Petapa Mynor Morales Ramiro Cepeda TBD TBD Sanarate TBD Héctor Julián Trujillo Siquinalá TBD Jairo Pérez Suchitepéquez TBD Walter Claverí TBD TBD Xelajú TBD Ronald Gómez RetoSports TBD
Table
Standings
Results
Final phase
Quarterfinals
Cobán Imperial wins on away goals
First leg
Second leg
Semifinals
Antigua GFC wins on away goals
First leg
Second leg
Finals
First leg
Second leg
Clausura The 2018 Torneo Clausura is expected to begin in January 2018 and end in May 2018.
Personnel and sponsoring Team Chairman Head coach Kitmaker Shirt sponsor Antigua Rafael Arreaga Mauricio Tapia TBD Pegamex Cobán Imperial TBD Fabricio Benítez Puma TBD Comunicaciones Pedro Portilla Willy Coito Olivera Puma Todo en Salud, Gatorade, Zeta Gas Guastatoya Lester Rodríguez Amarini Villatoro TBD TBD Malacateco TBD Ronald Gomez TBD TBD Marquense TBD Aldo Da Pozzo TBD TBD Municipal Gerardo Villa Hernán Medford TBD TBD Petapa TBD Ramiro Cepeda TBD TBD Sanarate TBD Pablo Centrone Siquinalá TBD Daniel Berta Suchitepéquez TBD Othoniel Arce TBD TBD Xelajú TBD Wálter Claverí RetoSports TBD
Table
Standings
(May 07, 2018) Publication of the date=15/04/2018 page 60
Results
Final phase
Quarterfinals
First leg
Second leg
Xelaju won 3-0 on aggregate.
Guastatoya won 5-1 on aggregate.
Semifinals
First leg
Second leg
Xelajú MC won 3-2 on aggregate.
Guastatoya won 1-0 on aggregate.
Finals
First leg
Second leg
List of foreign players in the league This is a list of foreign players in 2017-2018 season. The following players: have played at least one apertura game for the respective club. have not been capped for the Guatemala national football team on any level, independently from the birthplace
A new rule was introduced a few season ago, that clubs can only have five foreign players per club and can only add a new player if there is an injury or player/s is released.
Antigua GFC Agustin Herrera Alejandro Diaz José Antonio Mena Adrián De Lemos Calderón Allan Miranda Fabián Arsenio Castillo Manfred Russell Devaughn Elliot
Coban Imperial Maximiliano Lombardi Ignacio Flores Álvaro García Victor Guay
CSD Comunicaciones Javier Irazún Manfred Russell Isaac Acuna Cesar Morales Emiliano Lopez Diego Estrada Éric Scott
Guastatoya Josue Flores Omar Dominguez Miguel Puglia Jose Coreno Aaron Navarro José Gabriel Ríos
Deportivo Malacateco Rafael Lezcano Jhon Hurtado Juan Camilo Aguirre Anllel Porras Conejo
Deportivo Marquense Gerardo Putten Juan Osorio Tobón Danilo Suarez Jonathan Piñeiro Correa
(player released during the Apertura season) (player released between the Apertura and Clausura seasons) (player released during the Clausura season)
CSD Municipal Blas Perez Gastón Puerari Jaime Alas Felipe Baloy
Deportivo Petapa Víctor Bolivar Janderson Pereira Juliano Rangel Francois Swaby Hugo Acosta Rodrigo Cubilla
Sanarate Juan Lovato William Zapata
Siquinalá Quiarol Arzu Cesar García Verny Scott Diego Sanchez Corrales Pablo Mingorance
CD Suchitepéquez Kevin Santamaria Jesus Lozano Ze Paulo Othoniel Jaramillo
Club Xelajú MC Vladimir Castellon Juan Carlos Silva Juan Yax Brayan Adan Martinez
Aggregate table
CONCACAF Champions League playoff After the suspension of the National Football Federation of Guatemala was lifted by FIFA in June 2018, it was decided that the representative of Guatemala in the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League would be decided by a two-legged playoff between the 2017 Apertura champions (Antigua GFC) and the 2018 Clausura champions (Guastatoya). The draw for the order of legs was held on 27 June 2018.
References
External links http://www.prensalibre.com/Deportes/FutbolNacional https://web.archive.org/web/20150813211930/http://lared.com.gt/pages/sec_noticia/113 http://es.fifa.com/live-scores/nationalleagues/nationalleague=guatemala-liga-nacional-de-guatemala-2000000113/index.html