The 2018 FBF División Profesional was the 41st season of Bolivia's top-flight football league and the first season under División de Fútbol Profesional management. Bolívar were the defending champions, having won the 2017 Clausura tournament.
In the Torneo Apertura, Jorge Wilstermann won their fourteenth league title, and seventh in the professional era, after beating The Strongest on penalties in the third and last match of the finals on 6 June, and San José won their fourth league title in the Torneo Clausura on 19 December after tying with Royal Pari by a 1–1 score.
Format Given that the league was expanded from 12 to 14 teams, the league format had a slight variation for this season. The Torneo Apertura was played in the first half of the year, with the 14 teams being split into two groups of seven teams each for the first stage, in which teams in each group played each other as well as a team from the other group (their derby rival) twice, for a total of 14 matches. The top four teams from each group qualified for the knockout stage, where they were sorted in four ties played on a home-and-away basis, with the four winners advancing to the semifinals and the winners of each semifinal advancing to the final of the tournament. The six teams that failed to qualify for the knockout stage played another separate knockout tournament for a berth to the Copa Sudamericana. On the other hand, the Torneo Clausura was played in the second half of the year under a double round-robin system, with all teams playing each other twice for a total of 26 matches.
International qualification was as follows: the champions and runners-up of each tournament qualified for the 2019 Copa Libertadores, while the third-placed team in each tournament, as well as the fourth-placed in the Clausura and the winners of the Apertura's secondary knockout tournament would qualify for the 2019 Copa Sudamericana.
Teams The number of teams for the 2018 season was increased by two, from twelve to fourteen. Aurora and Royal Pari were promoted to the top flight after winning the 2016–17 Copa Simón Bolívar and 2017 Copa Simón Bolívar, respectively. Petrolero was relegated to the ATF Championship after losing the relegation playoff to Destroyers, the 2016–17 Copa Simón Bolívar runner-up.
TeamManagerHome cityHome stadiumCapacityAurora Marcos FerrufinoCochabambaFélix Caprilesa32,000Blooming Erwin SánchezSanta CruzRamón Tahuichi Aguilera38,000Bolívar Alfredo AriasLa PazHernando Siles42,000Destroyers Óscar RamírezSanta CruzRamón Tahuichi Aguilera38,000Guabirá Víctor Hugo AnteloMonteroGilberto Paradab13,000Jorge Wilstermann Álvaro PeñaCochabambaFélix Caprilesa32,000Nacional Potosí Alberto IllanesPotosíVíctor Agustín Ugarte32,105Oriente Petrolero Ronald AranaSanta CruzRamón Tahuichi Aguilera38,000Real Potosí Darwin Peña (caretaker)PotosíVíctor Agustín Ugarte32,105Royal Pari Roberto MosqueraSanta CruzRamón Tahuichi Aguilera38,000San José Eduardo VillegasOruroJesús Bermúdez33,795Sport Boys César VigevaniWarnesSamuel Vaca9,000The Strongest César FaríasLa PazHernando Siles42,000Universitario de Sucre Adrián RomeroSucreOlímpico Patria30,700
a: Aurora and Jorge Wilstermann played their Torneo Apertura home games at Estadio Capitán José Angulo in Sacaba due to the closure of Estadio Félix Capriles in preparation of the 2018 South American Games. Aurora played its Torneo Apertura home match against Jorge Wilstermann at Estadio Evo Morales in Ivirgarzama. b: Guabirá played six of their seven home games in the Torneo Apertura first stage at Estadio Ramón Tahuichi Aguilera in Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Estadio Samuel Vaca in Warnes while their regular stadium Estadio Gilberto Parada underwent remodeling works.
Managerial changes
TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentTorneo AperturaNacional Potosí Ángel Pérez GarcíaSacked8 February 20186th (Serie B) Edgardo Malvestiti10 February 2018Sport Boys Marcos Ferrufino25 February 20187th (Serie B) César Vigevani25 February 2018Blooming Jeaustin CamposMutual consent6 March 20185th (Serie B) Roly Paniagua (caretaker)7 March 2018Blooming Roly PaniaguaEnd of caretaker spell25 March 20184th (Serie B) Erwin Sánchez26 March 2018The Strongest Carlos IschiaMutual consent26 March 20182nd (Serie B) César Farías29 March 2018Royal Pari David de la Torre4 April 20187th (Serie B) Miguel Abrigo (caretaker)4 April 2018Aurora Miguel Ángel ZahzúResigned16 April 20185th (Serie B) Román Arriarán (caretaker)16 April 2018Royal Pari Miguel AbrigoEnd of caretaker spell17 April 20187th (Serie B) Roberto Mosquera17 April 2018Oriente Petrolero Néstor ClausenMutual consent14 May 20183rd (Serie A), QFs Juan Manuel Llop9 June 2018Real Potosí Milton Maygua14 May 20185th (Serie A), SFs Néstor Cari (caretaker)16 May 2018Universitario de Sucre Óscar SanzEnd of contract15 May 20187th (Serie A), QFs Carlos Leeb4 June 2018Torneo ClausuraBolívar Vinícius EutrópioSacked9 June 2018Pre-tournament Alfredo Arias16 June 2018Real Potosí Néstor CariEnd of caretaker spell13 June 2018 Wálter Botto13 June 2018Aurora Román Arriarán18 June 2018 Roberto Pérez18 June 2018Real Potosí Wálter BottoSacked4 August 201813th Sergio Apaza4 August 2018Aurora Roberto PérezResigned7 August 201813th Marcos Ferrufino8 August 2018Destroyers José Peña13 August 201811th Cleibson Ferreira14 August 2018Nacional Potosí Edgardo MalvestitiSacked21 August 201810th Alberto Illanes22 August 2018Universitario de Sucre Carlos Leeb21 August 201814th Adrián Romero22 August 2018Oriente Petrolero Juan Manuel LlopResigned20 September 20186th Luis Marín Camacho (caretaker)21 September 2018Oriente Petrolero Luis Marín CamachoEnd of caretaker spell30 September 20186th Ronald Arana1 October 2018Destroyers Cleibson FerreiraResigned26 October 201811th Óscar Ramírez26 October 2018Real Potosí Sergio ApazaSacked19 December 201813th Darwin Peña (caretaker)19 December 2018
Torneo Apertura The Torneo Apertura began on 27 January and ended on 6 June.
Standings Serie A
Serie B
Results
Championship playoff Quarterfinals
TeamsScoresTeam 1Team 21st leg2nd legPenalty shootout (if needed)Jorge Wilstermann6:0Blooming3–03–1—Nacional Potosí0:6Bolívar1–20–1—Oriente Petrolero0:6The Strongest0–11–5—Destroyers3:3San José1–00–82–4
Semifinals
TeamsScoresTeam 1Team 21st leg2nd legPenalty shootout (if needed)San José0:6Jorge Wilstermann2–40–1—Bolívar1:4The Strongest0–11–1—
Third place play-off
TeamsScoresTeam 1Team 21st leg2nd legTiebreaker match(if needed)San José6:0Bolívar4–02–0—
Finals
Copa Sudamericana playoff Quarterfinals
TeamsScoresTeam 1Team 21st leg2nd legPenalty shootout (if needed)Sport Boys4:1Real Potosí0–02–1—Guabirá4:1Aurora1–00–0—Royal Pari6:0Universitario de Sucre1–02–0—
Semifinals
TeamsScoresTeam 1Team 21st leg2nd legPenalty shootout (if needed)Royal Pari3:3Real Potosí2–10–33–4Guabirá2:2Sport Boys2–20–05–4
Finals
TeamsScoresTeam 1Team 21st leg2nd legTiebreaker match(if needed)Guabirá6:0Real Potosí4–12–0—
Top goalscorers Rank Name Club Goals 1 Carlos SaucedoSan José 18 2 Gilbert ÁlvarezJorge Wilstermann 16 3 José Alfredo CastilloGuabirá 12 4 Jefferson TavaresDestroyers 9 5 José Alí MezaOriente Petrolero 8 6 Juanmi CallejónBolívar 7 Ricardo PedrielJorge Wilstermann Rodrigo RamalloSan José Harold ReinaNacional Potosí Marcos RiquelmeBolívar
Source: LFPB
Torneo Clausura Standings
Results
Top goalscorers
Rank Name Club Goals 1 Rolando BlackburnThe Strongest 20 Jair ReinosoSan José Marcos RiquelmeBolívar 4 Pablo EscobarThe Strongest 16 5 Juanmi CallejónBolívar 15 John Jairo MosqueraRoyal Pari 7 William FerreiraBolívar 14 Martín ProstSport Boys 9 José Alfredo CastilloGuabirá 13 10 Harold ReinaNacional Potosí 12 Javier SanguinettiSan José
Source: Soccerway
Aggregate table The aggregate table was elaborated considering the results in the Torneo Apertura (only the first stage) and the Torneo Clausura. The bottom-placed team in this table at the end of the season was relegated, while the next lowest placed team played the relegation playoff. In addition to this, all international qualification berths left vacant at the end of the season were allocated through this table.
Relegation/promotion playoff The relegation playoff was played between: Destroyers (2018 División Profesional aggregate table 13th place) Avilés Industrial (2018 Copa Simón Bolívar runners-up)
The winners will play in the top flight for the 2019 season.
Destroyers won 6–0 on points.
References
External links Official website of the LFPB