The 2021 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol Serie A, known as the LigaPro Betcris 2021 for sponsorship purposes, was the 63rd season of the Serie A, Ecuador's top tier football league, and the third under the management of the Liga Profesional de Fútbol del Ecuador (or LigaPro). The season began on 19 February and ended on 12 December 2021.
Independiente del Valle were the champions, winning their first league title by defeating Emelec in the finals by a 4–2 aggregate score. Barcelona were the defending champions, having won the previous season.
Format On 1 January 2021, LigaPro president Miguel Ángel Loor confirmed that the 2021 season would be contested by 16 teams and the competition would be played under the same format as the previous season. Three stages were played, with the first and second ones to be played as single round-robin tournaments with all teams playing each other once for a total of 15 matches per stage. The first stage fixture was reversed for the second stage, and the top teams at the end of each stage qualified for the final stage as well as the Copa Libertadores group stage. The finals were a double-legged series between the winners of both stages with a penalty shoot-out deciding the champion in case of a tie in points and goals scored. In case a team won both stages of the season, the finals would not be played and that team would win the championship.
An aggregate table including the matches of both the first and second stages was used to decide international qualification and relegation, with the best two teams (other than the stage winners) qualifying for the Copa Libertadores, the next best three teams qualifying for the Copa Sudamericana, while the remaining Copa Sudamericana berth would be awarded to the champions of the 2021 Copa Ecuador, which was eventually cancelled. The bottom two teams of the aggregate table at the end of the season will be relegated to Serie B.
Teams 16 teams competed in the season. LDU Portoviejo and El Nacional were relegated after finishing in the bottom two places of the aggregate table of the previous season, being replaced by 2020 Serie B champions 9 de Octubre and runners-up Manta.
Stadia and locations
Team City Stadium Capacity 9 de Octubre Guayaquil Modelo Alberto Spencer Herrera 42,000 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 Emelec Guayaquil Banco del Pacífico Capwell 40,020 Guayaquil City Guayaquil Christian Benítez Betancourt 10,152 Independiente del Valle Sangolquí Banco Guayaquil 12,000 LDU Quito Quito Rodrigo Paz Delgado 41,575 Macará Ambato Bellavista 16,467 Manta Manta Jocay 17,834 Mushuc Runa Ambato COAC Mushuc Runa 8,200 Olmedo Riobamba Olímpico 7,233 Orense Machala 9 de Mayo 16,456 Técnico Universitario Ambato Bellavista 16,467 Universidad Católica Quito Olímpico Atahualpa 35,258
Personnel and kits
Team Manager Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor 9 de Octubre Juan Carlos León Jasa Evolution GolTV Play Aucas Héctor Bidoglio Umbro Cooperativa San Francisco Ltda. Barcelona Fabián Bustos Marathon Pilsener Delfín Horacio Montemurro Baldo's Banco del Pacífico Deportivo Cuenca Guillermo Sanguinetti Lotto Chubb Seguros Emelec Ismael Rescalvo Adidas Tubos Pacífico Guayaquil City Pool Gavilánez Astro Cooperativa San Francisco Ltda. Independiente del Valle Renato Paiva Marathon CheryBanco Guayaquil LDU Quito Pablo Marini Puma Banco Pichincha Macará Paúl Vélez Boman Cooperativa San Francisco Ltda. Manta Fabián Frías Astro Atún Isabel Mushuc Runa Geovanny Cumbicus Boman Cooperativa Mushuc Runa Olmedo Héctor González Boman Cooperativa Daquilema Orense Andrés García Elohim Banco de Machala Técnico Universitario José Eugenio Hernández Boman Cooperativa San Francisco Ltda. Universidad Católica Miguel Rondelli Omar Andrade(caretakers) Umbro Banco Pichincha
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentFirst stageDelfín Horacio MontemurroEnd of caretaker spell19 December 2020Pre-season Paúl Vélez27 December 2020Mushuc Runa Ricardo DillonEnd of contract19 December 2020 Geovanny Cumbicus24 December 2020Independiente del Valle Miguel Ángel RamírezResigned20 December 2020 Renato Paiva25 December 2020Olmedo Geovanny CumbicusEnd of contract20 December 2020 Pablo Trobbiani27 December 2020Macará Paúl Vélez21 December 2020 Eduardo Favaro25 December 2020Aucas Darío TempestaSacked14 March 202110th Héctor Bidoglio16 March 2021Deportivo Cuenca Guillermo DuróPromoted to sporting director18 May 202112th Guillermo Sanguinetti18 May 2021Orense Patricio LaraSacked31 May 202114th Andrés García6 June 2021LDU Quito Pablo RepettoMutual consent16 June 20217th Pablo Marini25 June 2021Olmedo Pablo TrobbianiResigned13 July 202116th César Ramos (caretaker)14 July 2021Second stageDelfín Paúl VélezMutual consent31 July 20218th Horacio Montemurro4 August 2021Macará Eduardo FavaroSacked3 August 202115th Paúl Vélez5 August 2021Olmedo César RamosEnd of caretaker spell5 August 202116th Luis Espinel5 August 2021 Luis EspinelResigned28 September 2021 Nelson Brito28 September 2021Universidad Católica Santiago Escobar25 October 20214th Miguel Rondelli Omar Andrade25 October 2021Olmedo Nelson BritoMutual consent1 November 202116th Héctor González1 November 2021 Notes
First stage The first stage began on 19 February and ended on 19 July 2021.
Standings
Results
Second stage Standings
Results
Finals The finals (Third stage) were played by Emelec (first stage winners) and Independiente del Valle (second stage winners). The winners of the double-legged series were the Serie A champions and earned the Ecuador 1 berth in the 2022 Copa Libertadores, and the losers were the Serie A runners-up and earned the Ecuador 2 berth in the 2022 Copa Libertadores. By having the greater number of points in the aggregate table, Emelec played the second leg at home.
Independiente del Valle won 4–2 on aggregate.
Aggregate table
Top scorers {| class="wikitable" border="1" |- ! Rank ! Name ! Club ! Goals |- | align=center | 1 | Jonatan Bauman |Mushuc Runa / Independiente del Valle | align=center | 26 |- | align=center | 2 | Jhon Cifuente |Delfín | align=center | 17 |- | align=center | 3 | Lisandro Alzugaray |Universidad Católica | align=center | 15 |- | align=center | 4 | Diego Dorregaray |Deportivo Cuenca | align=center | 14 |- | rowspan=2 align=center | 5 | José Fajardo |9 de Octubre | rowspan=2 align=center | 12 |- | Francisco Fydriszewski |Aucas |- | rowspan=4 align=center | 7 | Facundo Barceló |Emelec | rowspan=4 align=center | 10 |- | Jhonny Quiñónez |Aucas |- | Sebastián Rodríguez |Emelec |- | Joao Rojas |Emelec
Source: FEF
References
External links LigaPro's official website Ecuadorian Football Federation