The 2023 Primera División season (officially the Copa de Primera Tigo – Ueno 2023 for sponsorship reasons) was the 89th season of the Paraguayan Primera División, the top-flight professional football league in Paraguay. The season consisted of two tournaments, Apertura and Clausura, and it began on 27 January and ended on 1 December 2023. The fixtures for the season were announced on 14 November 2022.
In the Torneo Apertura, Libertad were the champions, clinching their twenty-third title with three matches in hand following a 1–0 win over Olimpia and a 2–1 defeat for Cerro Porteño against General Caballero (JLM) on 20 May. Libertad also won the Torneo Clausura, securing their twenty-fourth league championship with two games in hand and a 1–0 victory over Sportivo Luqueño on 12 November. Olimpia started the season as defending champions, having won the 2022 Clausura tournament.
Teams Twelve teams competed in this season: the top ten teams in the relegation table of the 2022 season, and the top two teams in the 2022 Paraguayan División Intermedia (Sportivo Trinidense and Sportivo Luqueño). The promoted teams replaced Sol de América and 12 de Octubre, who were relegated to the second tier at the end of the previous season.
Pos.Relegated from 2022 Primera División11thSol de América12th12 de Octubre
Pos.Promoted from 2022 División Intermedia1stSportivo Trinidense2ndSportivo Luqueño
Stadia and locations
Team City Stadium CapacityCerro Porteño Asunción General Pablo Rojas 45,000General Caballero (JLM) Juan León Mallorquín Ka'arendy 10,000Guaireña Villarrica Parque del Guairá 12,000Guaraní Asunción Rogelio Livieres 6,000Libertad Asunción Tigo La Huerta 10,000Nacional Asunción Arsenio Erico 4,000Olimpia Asunción Tigo Manuel Ferreira 25,000Resistencia Asunción Luis Alfonso Giagni 11,000Sportivo Ameliano Asunción Martín Torres 3,000Sportivo Luqueño Luque Feliciano Cáceres 23,000Sportivo Trinidense Asunción Martín Torres 3,000Tacuary Asunción Luis Alfonso Giagni 11,000 Notes
Personnel and kits Team Manager Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor Cerro Porteño Víctor Bernay (caretaker) Puma Tigo, Visión Banco General Caballero (JLM) Fabián Ponce (caretaker) Kappa Sanatorio San Sebastián Guaireña Humberto Ovelar Kyrios Coopeduc, CLS Remates Guaraní Pablo de Muner Kyrios Tigo Libertad Ariel Galeano Puma Tigo Nacional Juan Pablo Pumpido Kappa Banco Continental, Coca-Cola Olimpia Francisco Arce Nike Tigo, Visión Banco Resistencia Carlos Recalde Lotto Pulp, CPS Sportivo Ameliano Humberto García Garcis Ayres, FerreShop, Slots del Sol Sportivo Luqueño Julio César Cáceres Kyrios Comercial Vírgen del Rosario, Banco Río Sportivo Trinidense José Arrúa Saltarín Rojo Noroda, Lácteos Trébol, Chorti Beef Tacuary Vinícius Eutrópio Saltarín Rojo Argor, Fleming
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentTorneo AperturaSportivo Luqueño Miguel Ángel ZahzúResigned23 October 2022Pre-season Gustavo Florentín27 October 2022Resistencia Mario JaraSacked17 November 2022 Miguel Ángel Zahzú24 November 2022Sportivo Ameliano Juan Pablo PumpidoResigned20 November 2022 Humberto García22 November 2022Guaraní Fernando JuberoMutual agreement24 November 2022 Hernán Rodrigo López24 November 2022Guaireña Troadio DuarteEnd of contract28 November 2022 Roberto Torres30 November 2022Tacuary Robert PereiraSacked3 February 202312th Carlos Humberto Paredes6 February 2023Cerro Porteño Francisco Arce6 February 20233rd Diego Gavilán6 February 2023 Diego GavilánEnd of caretaker spell11 February 20233rd Facundo Sava12 February 2023General Caballero (JLM) Humberto OvelarSacked26 February 20237th Troadio Duarte27 February 2023Olimpia Julio César Cáceres6 March 20235th Carlos Aitor García6 March 2023Resistencia Miguel Ángel ZahzúResigned6 March 202311th Sergio Órteman6 March 2023Olimpia Carlos Aitor GarcíaEnd of caretaker spell12 March 20232nd Diego Aguirre11 March 2023Tacuary Carlos Humberto ParedesSacked27 March 202312th Badayco Maciel28 March 2023Guaireña Roberto TorresMutual agreement2 April 202310th Luciano Theiler4 April 2023Tacuary Badayco MacielEnd of caretaker spell12 April 202312th Iván Almeida13 April 2023Resistencia Sergio ÓrtemanSacked9 May 202310th Carlos Recalde9 May 2023Sportivo Luqueño Gustavo FlorentínResigned30 May 2023 8th Julio César Cáceres31 May 2023Guaraní Hernán Rodrigo LópezSacked10 June 20234th Juan Pablo Pumpido9 June 2023Torneo ClausuraCerro Porteño Facundo SavaSacked9 July 202311th Víctor Bernay9 July 2023 Víctor BernayEnd of caretaker spell19 July 20237th Diego Gavilán19 July 2023Olimpia Diego AguirreSacked20 July 202311th Francisco Arce21 July 2023Guaireña Luciano Theiler8 August 20239th Humberto Ovelar8 August 2023Guaraní Juan Pablo Pumpido13 August 2023 Buenaventura Ferreira13 August 2023Nacional Pedro Sarabia23 August 20238th Juan Pablo Pumpido26 August 2023Guaraní Buenaventura FerreiraEnd of caretaker spell27 August 20236th Pablo de Muner23 August 2023Tacuary Iván AlmeidaSacked17 September 20237th Aldo Bobadilla18 September 2023Cerro Porteño Diego Gavilán18 September 20232nd Víctor Bernay18 September 2023Libertad Daniel GarneroSigned by Paraguay20 September 20231st Ariel Galeano22 September 2023Tacuary Aldo BobadillaResigned18 October 202312th Vinícius Eutrópio20 October 2023General Caballero (JLM) Troadio DuarteSacked12 November 20239th Fabián Ponce13 November 2023
Torneo Apertura The Torneo Apertura, named "Homenaje al Dr. Marcelo Pecci", was the 127th official championship of the Primera División and the first championship of the 2022 season. It started on 27 January and ended on 11 June.
Standings
Results
Top scorers Rank Name Club Goals 1 Óscar CardozoLibertad 10 2 Marcelo PérezSportivo Luqueño 8 3 Pedro DelvalleSportivo Trinidense 7 4 Claudio AquinoCerro Porteño 6 Néstor CamachoGuaraní Lorenzo MelgarejoLibertad Cristhian OcamposNacional Elías SarquisSportivo Ameliano Iván ValdezTacuary Héctor VillalbaLibertad
Source: Soccerway
Torneo Clausura The Torneo Clausura, named "Centenario del Club Tacuary", was the 128th official championship of the Primera División and the second and last championship of the 2022 season. It began on 7 July and ended on 1 December.
Standings
Results
Top scorers Rank Name Club Goals 1 Óscar CardozoLibertad 11 2 Gustavo AguilarNacional 9 3 Elvio VeraSportivo Ameliano 8 4 Oscar GiménezSportivo Trinidense 7 Héctor VillalbaLibertad 6 Cecilio DomínguezCerro Porteño 6 Alfio OviedoCerro Porteño Kevin ParzajukGuaireña José VerdúnGuaireña
Source: Soccerway
Aggregate table
Relegation Relegation is determined at the end of the season by computing an average of the number of points earned per game over the past three seasons. The two teams with the lowest average were relegated to the División Intermedia for the following season.
Pos Team 2021Pts 2022Pts 2023Pts TotalPts TotalPld Avg Relegation 1 Libertad 65 91 99 255 124 2 Cerro Porteño 66 98 81 245 124 3 Olimpia 51 92 62 205 124 4 Nacional 50 71 65 186 124 5 Sportivo Trinidense — — 65 65 44 6 Guaraní 61 55 65 181 124 7 Sportivo Ameliano — 48 57 105 88 8 Sportivo Luqueño — — 51 51 44 9 — 51 49 100 88 10 Tacuary — 53 44 97 88 11 Guaireña (R) 44 50 41 135 124 12 Resistencia (R) — 49 36 85 88 Source: APF
Season awards On 4 December 2023, a ceremony was held at the headquarters of the Paraguayan Football Association in Luque to announce the winners of the season awards (Premios de Primera), who were chosen based on voting by the managers of the Primera División teams, local sports journalists, the APF's Referee Commission, the public, as well as the tournament's official broadcaster Tigo Sports and official statistics.
AwardWinnerClubBest Player Óscar CardozoLibertadRevelation Player Romeo BenítezGuaraníPeople's Player Damián BobadillaCerro PorteñoBest Goal Jorge Ortega()TacuaryBest Goalkeeper Martín SilvaLibertadBest Manager Daniel GarneroLibertadBest RefereeJuan Gabriel BenítezBest Assistant RefereeEduardo CardozoBest VAR RefereeCarlos Paul BenítezTop Scorer Óscar Cardozo ()LibertadFair Play TeamLibertadMost Minutes played by U-18sLibertad ()
See also 2023 Copa Paraguay 2023 Paraguayan División Intermedia
References
External links APF's official website