The 2020 Chilean Primera División, known as Campeonato Nacional AFP PlanVital 2020 for sponsorship reasons, was the 90th season of the Chilean Primera División, Chile's top-flight football league. The season started on 24 January 2020 and ended on 17 February 2021 with the relegation play-off. Universidad Católica were the defending champions, having won the previous tournament. They successfully defended their title, winning their fifteenth league championship and third in a row with a game to spare on 10 February 2021 after tying 0–0 at home with eventual league runners-up Unión La Calera.
The competition was suspended from 18 March to 29 August 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Format changes For this season, and given that the previous season was declared as concluded with no relegations to the Primera B, ANFP approved an expansion of the first tier to 18 teams, with two teams promoted from the second tier joining the 16 teams that competed in the top flight in 2019. The 18 teams played each other twice (once at home and once away) for a total of 34 matches. Qualification for the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana was awarded to the top eight teams at the end of the season. Originally, the Copa Chile champions would have been the fourth qualifier for the Copa Libertadores but since the 2020 Copa Chile would not be held before the start of the Copa Libertadores qualifying stages, its allocated berth was awarded to the fourth-placed team of the Campeonato Nacional instead.
Since there were no relegated teams in the previous season, in this season three teams were relegated to the second tier: the last-placed team in the standings of the 2020 season, the last-placed team in a relegation table which was elaborated considering the performance in both the 2019 and 2020 seasons, and the losers of a play-off between the teams placed second-to-last of both tables.
Teams Eighteen teams took part in the league in this season: the sixteen teams from the previous season, plus the 2019 Primera B champions Santiago Wanderers and Deportes La Serena, winners of the Primera B promotion play-offs.
Stadia and locations
Team City Stadium CapacityAudax Italiano Santiago (La Florida) Bicentenario de La Florida 12,000Cobresal El Salvador El Cobre 12,000Colo-Colo Santiago (Macul) Monumental David Arellano 47,347Coquimbo Unido Coquimbo Francisco Sánchez Rumoroso 18,750Curicó Unido Curicó La Granja 8,278Deportes Antofagasta Antofagasta Calvo y Bascuñán 21,178Deportes Iquique Iquique Tierra de Campeones 13,171Deportes La Serena La Serena La Portada 18,243Everton Viña del Mar Sausalito 22,360Huachipato Talcahuano Huachipato-CAP Acero 10,500O'Higgins Rancagua El Teniente 13,849Palestino Santiago (La Cisterna) Municipal de La Cisterna 8,000Santiago Wanderers Valparaíso Elías Figueroa Brander 20,575Unión Española Santiago (Independencia) Santa Laura-Universidad SEK 19,000Unión La Calera La Calera Nicolás Chahuán Nazar 9,200Universidad Católica Santiago (Las Condes) San Carlos de Apoquindo 14,118Universidad de Chile Santiago (Ñuñoa) Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos 48,665Universidad de Concepción Concepción Alcaldesa Ester Roa Rebolledo 30,448
Personnel and kits Team Head coach Kit manufacturer Sponsors Audax Italiano Pablo Sánchez Macron Traverso Cobresal Gustavo Huerta KS7 PF Colo-Colo Gustavo Quinteros Umbro MG Motor Coquimbo Unido Juan José Ribera CAFU PF Curicó Unido Martín Palermo OneFit Multihogar Deportes Antofagasta Héctor Tapia CAFU Minera Escondida Deportes Iquique Cristian Leiva Rete UNAP Deportes La Serena Miguel Ponce OneFit Everton Roberto Sensini Charly Claro Huachipato Juan Luvera (caretaker) OneFit PF O'Higgins Dalcio Giovagnoli Adidas Sun Monticello Palestino José Luis Sierra Capelli Sport Bank of Palestine Santiago Wanderers Miguel Ramírez Macron TPS Unión Española Jorge Pellicer Kappa Universidad SEK Unión La Calera Juan Pablo Vojvoda OneFit PF Universidad Católica Ariel Holan Under Armour BICE Universidad de Chile Rafael Dudamel Adidas Petrobras Universidad de Concepción Hugo Balladares KS7 PF
Managerial changes
TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentO'Higgins Marco Antonio FigueroaEnd of contract1 December 2019Pre-season Patricio Graff11 December 2019Curicó Unido Hugo VilchesSacked3 December 2019 Nicolás Larcamón5 December 2019Universidad Católica Gustavo QuinterosSigned by Tijuana4 December 2019 Ariel Holan12 December 2019Unión La Calera Walter CoyetteResigned5 December 2019 Juan Pablo Vojvoda29 December 2019Universidad de Concepción Francisco BozánEnd of contract10 December 2019 Eduardo Acevedo28 December 2019Coquimbo Unido Patricio GraffSigned by O'Higgins11 December 2018 Germán Corengia18 December 2019Audax Italiano Juan José RiberaMutual consent12 December 2019 Francisco Meneghini16 December 2019Colo-Colo Mario SalasSacked25 February 202014th Gualberto Jara (caretaker)25 February 2020Deportes Antofagasta Juan Manuel AzconzábalSigned by Unión de Santa Fe30 June 20205th Héctor Almandoz18 July 2020Coquimbo Unido Germán CorengiaSacked2 September 202016th Juan José Ribera6 September 2020Deportes Iquique Jaime VeraResigned24 September 202015th Cristian Leiva25 September 2020Deportes La Serena Francisco Bozán3 October 202018th Óscar Correa (caretaker)3 October 2020Colo-Colo Gualberto JaraEnd of caretaker spell3 October 202017th Gustavo Quinteros3 October 2020O'Higgins Patricio GraffMutual consent9 October 202015th Víctor Fuentes (caretaker)10 October 2020Deportes La Serena Óscar CorreaEnd of caretaker spell13 October 202018th Miguel Ponce13 October 2020O'Higgins Víctor Fuentes15 October 202016th Dalcio Giovagnoli16 October 2020Universidad de Chile Hernán CaputtoSacked3 November 20205th Marcelo Jara (caretaker)3 November 2020Palestino Ivo Basay9 November 202015th José Luis Sierra11 November 2020Universidad de Chile Marcelo JaraEnd of caretaker spell19 November 20206th Rafael Dudamel5 November 2020Curicó Unido Nicolás LarcamónResigned19 November 20205th Damián Muñoz (caretaker)19 November 2020 Damián MuñozEnd of caretaker spell25 November 20204th Martín Palermo23 November 2020Deportes Antofagasta Héctor AlmandozMutual consent2 December 20205th Diego Reveco (caretaker)2 December 2020Audax Italiano Francisco Meneghini4 December 202010th José Calderón (caretaker)9 December 2020Deportes Antofagasta Diego RevecoEnd of caretaker spell10 December 20206th Héctor Tapia10 December 2020Everton Javier TorrenteSacked17 December 202012th Roberto Sensini20 December 2020Audax Italiano José CalderónEnd of caretaker spell20 December 202015th Pablo Sánchez20 December 2020Universidad de Concepción Eduardo AcevedoResigned28 December 202013th Hugo Balladares30 December 2020Huachipato Gustavo FlorentínSacked6 January 202111th Juan Luvera (caretaker)6 January 2021Unión Española Ronald Fuentes28 January 20213rd César Bravo (caretaker)28 January 2021 César BravoEnd of caretaker spell31 January 20213rd Jorge Pellicer1 February 2021
Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic On 16 March 2020, the Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (ANFP) announced the suspension of the Campeonato Nacional as well as the rest of its tournaments due to the COVID-19 pandemic, starting from 18 March 2020.
On 8 June, ANFP's Council of Presidents decided to resume the league on 31 July with matches to be played behind closed doors and clubs having at least four weeks of training sessions, pending approval from the Chilean government. However, this original date had to be pushed back as clubs were only given approval to resume training sessions starting from 16 July, with the ANFP considering the weekend of 8 August as a new tentative date of resumption, following three weeks of training sessions.
On 19 August, in a press conference held at Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos in Santiago, Chilean President Sebastián Piñera confirmed 29 August as the date of resumption of both the first and second tier seasons, with games to be played behind closed doors. The first matches to be played would be the ones postponed from previous rounds, while the ninth round of the Campeonato Nacional would be played on the weekend of 4–6 September.
On 26 September the match between Colo-Colo and Deportes Antofagasta, scheduled to be played on that day at 11:00, was suspended due to the discovery of a positive COVID-19 case in the former team following their return from Brazil where they played a Copa Libertadores group stage match against Athletico Paranaense. It was eventually rescheduled for 10 November at 11:00, with Colo-Colo fined for the postponement of the match as well as the delay to submit their PCR test results prior to said match.
On 11 December, the ANFP announced the suspension of the Round 23 matches between Universidad de Chile and Deportes Iquique and between Unión La Calera and O'Higgins due to positive cases for COVID-19 being reported in Deportes Iquique and Unión La Calera.
Standings
Results
Top goalscorers Rank Name Club Goals 1 Fernando ZampedriUniversidad Católica 20 2 Joaquín LarriveyUniversidad de Chile 19 3 Cecilio WatermanUniversidad de Concepción 17 4 Cristian PalaciosUnión Española 15 Juan Sánchez SoteloHuachipato 6 Andrés VilchesUnión La Calera 14 7 Juan CuevasEverton 13 Enzo GutiérrezSantiago Wanderers Luis JiménezPalestino 10 Luciano AuedUniversidad Católica 10 Eduard BelloDeportes Antofagasta Federico CastroCuricó Unido Misael DávilaUnión Española
Source: Soccerway Relegation Weighted table For this season, a weighted table was elaborated by computing an average of the points earned per game over this season and the previous one, with the average of points earned in the 2019 season weighted by 60% and the average of points earned in the 2020 season weighted by 40%. Promoted teams only had their points in the 2020 season averaged, without weighting. The team placed last in this table at the end of the season was relegated, while the team placed second-to-last qualified for the relegation play-off.
Team Relegation 1Universidad Católica 53 24 65 34 2Palestino 38 24 51 34 3Unión La Calera 37 25 57 34 4Colo-Colo 40 24 39 34 5Unión Española 34 25 52 34 6Huachipato 34 24 46 34 7O'Higgins 34 24 45 34 8Cobresal 34 25 47 34 9Audax Italiano 34 24 41 34 10Santiago Wanderers — — — 44 34 11Coquimbo Unido 34 24 35 34 12Deportes Antofagasta 27 24 48 34 13Everton 29 24 43 34 14Universidad de Chile 24 24 52 34 15Curicó Unido 26 24 46 34 16Deportes La Serena — — — 39 34 17 23 24 41 34 18Deportes Iquique (R) 25 25 38 34 Relegation to Primera B Source: ANFP
Relegation play-off The relegation play-off was a single match played by the teams placed second-to-last in the season table and the weighted table, on neutral ground. If the same team was placed 17th in both tables, the play-off would not be played and that team would be automatically relegated, but if one of the teams in 17th position had been already relegated by placing last in either table, the team placed 16th in the table where the relegated team placed 17th would play the play-off. The losers were the third and last team relegated to the Primera B.
Awards AwardWinnerClubBest Player Matías DituroUniversidad CatólicaTop goalscorer Fernando ZampedriUniversidad CatólicaBest Foreign Player Matías DituroUniversidad CatólicaBest Manager Ariel HolanUniversidad CatólicaBest U-21 Player Carlos PalaciosUnión Española Team of the Season
Team of the SeasonGoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwards Matías Dituro (Universidad Católica) Eric Wiemberg (Unión La Calera) Valber Huerta (Universidad Católica) Santiago García (Unión La Calera) Yonathan Andía (Unión La Calera) Ignacio Saavedra (Universidad Católica) Juan Leiva (Unión La Calera) Luis Antonio Jiménez (Palestino) Carlos Palacios (Unión Española) Fernando Zampedri (Universidad Católica) Edson Puch (Universidad Católica)
See also 2020 Primera B de Chile
References
External links ANFP