The 2019 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol Serie A (officially known as the LigaPro Banco Pichincha 2019 for sponsorship reasons) was the 61st season of the Serie A, Ecuador's top tier football league, and the first under the management of the Liga Profesional de Fútbol del Ecuador (or LigaPro). LDU Quito were the defending champions, but were defeated in the finals by Delfín following a scoreless draw on aggregate score after two legs and a penalty shootout, in which the latter team won their first league title.
Format Starting from this season, the league was expanded from 12 to 16 teams and a new format was implemented. The first stage will be played as a double round-robin tournament with all teams playing each other twice, once at home and once away, for a total of 30 matches. The top eight teams at the end of the first stage will qualify for the playoffs, which will consist of three rounds: quarterfinals, semifinals, and final.
In the quarterfinals, the eight qualified teams were split into four ties to be played on a home-and-away basis: the best-placed team in the first round played against the eighth-best team, the second-best team against the seventh-best, and so on. The four winners advanced to the semifinals, with the winners of this stage playing the finals. In case of a tie in points and goals scored in the quarterfinals and semifinals, the best-placed team in each tie (according to the first stage standings) advanced to the following stage, whilst in a case of a tie in points and goals for in the final, a penalty shootout would be played to decide the champion.
Teams Sixteen teams competed in the 2019 Serie A season, twelve of whom took part in the previous season. El Nacional and Guayaquil City would have been relegated from Serie A after accumulating the fewest points during the 2018 season, however, the expansion of the league prevented their relegation to Serie B. The four remaining spots in the top tier were filled by the top four teams in Serie B in the previous season: Mushuc Runa, América de Quito, Fuerza Amarilla and Olmedo.
Stadia and locations
Team Home city Stadium Capacity América de Quito Quito Olímpico Atahualpa 35,258 Aucas Quito Gonzalo Pozo Ripalda 21,689 Barcelona Guayaquil Monumental Banco Pichincha 57,267 Delfín Manta Jocay 17,834 Deportivo Cuenca Cuenca Banco del Austro Alejandro Serrano Aguilar 18,549 El Nacional Quito Olímpico Atahualpa 35,258 Emelec Guayaquil Banco del Pacífico Capwell 38,963 Fuerza Amarilla Machala 9 de Mayo 16,456 Guayaquil City Guayaquil Christian Benítez Betancourt 10,152 Independiente del Valle Sangolquí Rumiñahui 7,233 LDU Quito Quito Rodrigo Paz Delgado 41,575 Macará Ambato Bellavista 16,467 Mushuc Runa Ambato COAC Mushuc Runa 6,000 Olmedo Riobamba Olímpico 7,233 Técnico Universitario Ambato Bellavista 16,467 Universidad Católica Quito Olímpico Atahualpa 35,258
Personnel and kits
Team Manager Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor América de Quito Darwin Veloz Astro Consorcio Pichincha Aucas Gabriel Schürrer Umbro Banco del Pacífico Barcelona Tabaré Silva Marathon Pilsener Delfín Fabián Bustos Yeliyan Fresh FishLa Esquina de Ales Deportivo Cuenca Tabaré Silva Joma Chubb Seguros El Nacional Marcelo Zuleta Lotto Aceros ANDECBanco General Rumiñahui Emelec Ismael Rescalvo Adidas Electrocables Fuerza Amarilla Luis Miguel Garcés Elohim Guayaquil City Pool Gavilánez Astro Independiente del Valle Miguel Ángel Ramírez Marathon CheryDirecTV LDU Quito Pablo Repetto Puma Banco Pichincha Macará Paúl Vélez Boman Cooperativa San Francisco Ltda. Mushuc Runa Martín Cardetti Elohim Cooperativa Mushuc Runa Olmedo Ricardo Dillon Boman Cooperativa DaquilemaGolTV Técnico Universitario José Eugenio Hernández Boman Cooperativa San Francisco Ltda. Universidad Católica Santiago Escobar Umbro Discover Card
Managerial changes
TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentDeportivo Cuenca Richard PáezResigned12 December 2018Pre-season Luis Soler13 December 2018El Nacional Eduardo FavaroEnd of contract12 December 2018 Marcelo Zuleta21 December 2018Aucas Darío TempestaSacked18 December 2018 Eduardo Favaro22 December 2018Barcelona Guillermo AlmadaSigned by Santos Laguna12 April 20195th José Gavica (caretaker)13 April 2019Emelec Mariano SosoResigned14 April 201910th Bolívar Vera (caretaker)16 April 2019Barcelona José GavicaEnd of caretaker spell21 April 20195th Leonardo Ramos22 April 2019Independiente del Valle Ismael RescalvoSigned by Emelec26 April 20191st Yuri Solano (caretaker)26 April 2019Aucas Eduardo FavaroSacked28 April 20197th Gabriel Schürrer1 May 2019Emelec Bolívar VeraEnd of caretaker spell30 April 20199th Ismael Rescalvo30 April 2019Técnico Universitario Fabián FríasSacked30 April 201914th José Eugenio Hernández2 May 2019Independiente del Valle Yuri SolanoEnd of caretaker spell7 May 20191st Miguel Ángel Ramírez7 May 2019América de Quito Francisco CorreaResigned13 May 201916th Luis Espinel16 May 2019Deportivo Cuenca Luis SolerSacked14 May 201911th Jerson Stacio (caretaker)14 May 2019Fuerza Amarilla Raúl Duarte21 May 201915th Diego Torres (caretaker)21 May 2019Deportivo Cuenca Jerson StacioEnd of caretaker spell25 May 201910th Tabaré Silva30 May 2019Fuerza Amarilla Diego Torres25 May 201915th Matías Tatangelo24 June 2019Mushuc Runa Geovanny CumbicusSacked28 May 201913th Martín Cardetti30 May 2019América de Quito Luis EspinelResigned24 September 201915th Darwin Veloz25 September 2019Fuerza Amarilla Matías Tatangelo27 September 201916th Luis Miguel Garcés9 October 2019Barcelona Leonardo Ramos30 October 20193rd Nelson Tapia (caretaker)31 October 2019 Nelson TapiaEnd of caretaker spell4 November 20192nd Tabaré Silva4 November 2019
First stage The First stage began on February 8 and ended on November 3. The top eight teams at the end of this stage advanced to the playoffs, while the bottom two were relegated.
Results
Playoffs
Quarter-finals
First leg
Second leg
Semi-finals
First leg
Second leg
Finals
Tied 0–0 on aggregate, Delfín won on penalties.
International qualification
Top goalscorers Rank Name Club Goals 1 Luis AmarillaUniversidad Católica 19 2 Raúl BecerraDeportivo Cuenca 18 3 Michael EstradaMacará 17 4 Fidel MartínezBarcelona 16 5 Carlos GarcésDelfín 14 Gonzalo MastrianiGuayaquil City Bruno VidesUniversidad Católica 8 Rodrigo AguirreLDU Quito 12 9 Jonathan BorjaEl Nacional 11 10 Roberto OrdóñezDelfín 10 Muriel OrlandoOlmedo
Source: Soccerway
See also Ecuadorian Serie A 2019 in Ecuadorian football 2019 Ecuadorian Serie B 2019 Súperliga Femenina 2019 Ecuadorian Women's Serie B
References
External links Official website