The 1995–96 Categoría Primera A season, known as Copa Mustang 1995–96 for sponsoring purposes, was the 49th season of the Categoría Primera A, Colombia's top-flight football league. The season started on 20 August 1995 and ended on 14 July 1996, being the first one played under the European format (from the Northern Hemisphere's fall to spring) following the format change approved in 1994. Deportivo Cali were the champions, winning their sixth domestic league title and first in 22 years with a scoreless draw against crosstown rivals América de Cali on the final day of the season.
Junior were the defending champions, but their title defense was ended at the semi-finals after placing last in their group.
Format The season was split into four stages: the Apertura and Finalización tournaments, the final stage, and the Liguilla Pre-CONMEBOL: In the Apertura tournament, played from August to December 1995, the 16 teams were divided into two groups of eight teams each with regional derby rivals being allocated into different groups. Teams played each other in a double round-robin fashion, followed by two rounds of regional derbies and two more extra rounds between the teams occupying the same position in each group. The top four teams at the end of the tournament were awarded bonus points, with the first one receiving 1.50 points, the second 1.00, the third 0.75, and the fourth getting 0.50 points. In the Finalización tournament, played from January to June 1996, the participating teams played each other twice in another double round-robin tournament for a total of 30 rounds. The top four teams were again awarded bonus points under the same allocation used for the Apertura, whilst the team topping the season's aggregate table (Reclasificación) was awarded an additional 1.00 bonus. For the final stage, teams were divided according to their placements in the aggregate table: the top eight teams advanced to the semi-finals, for which they were divided into two groups of four where they played every of their group rivals twice. Teams would start at zero points, except for the ones that got bonus points earlier in the season, who carried over those points to this stage. The top two teams in each group advanced to the final group, with the team that topped this group being crowned as league champion and qualifying for the 1997 Copa Libertadores along with the runner-up, whilst the team placing third would qualify for the 1996 Copa CONMEBOL and the fourth would advance to the Copa CONMEBOL play-off against the Liguilla Pre-CONMEBOL winner. The eight teams that failed to advance to the final stage played the Liguilla Pre-CONMEBOL, which was also divided into two stages and played under the same format as the final stage. The team that topped the Liguilla's final group would play the final group's fourth-placed team for the league's last Copa CONMEBOL berth.
Teams 16 teams competed in the season, the top 15 teams of the 1995 season and the 1995 Primera B champions Atlético Bucaramanga, who replaced the previous season's relegated team Cúcuta Deportivo.
Team Home city Stadium Capacity América de Cali Cali Pascual Guerrero 45,625 Atlético Bucaramanga Bucaramanga Alfonso López 28,000 Atlético Huila Neiva Guillermo Plazas Alcid 22,000 Atlético Nacional Medellín Atanasio Girardot 52,000 Cortuluá Tuluá Doce de Octubre 16,000 Deportes Quindío Armenia Centenario 29,000 Deportes Tolima Ibagué Manuel Murillo Toro 28,100 Deportivo Cali Cali Pascual Guerrero 45,625 Deportivo Pereira Pereira Hernán Ramírez Villegas 30,000 Envigado Envigado Polideportivo Sur 11,000 Independiente Medellín Medellín Atanasio Girardot 52,000 Junior Barranquilla Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez 60,000 Millonarios Bogotá Nemesio Camacho El Campín 48,300 Once Caldas Manizales Palogrande 36,553 Santa Fe Bogotá Nemesio Camacho El Campín 48,300 Unión Magdalena Santa Marta Eduardo Santos 23,000
Torneo Apertura The Torneo Apertura (also known as Copa Mustang I) began on 20 August and ended on 17 December 1995.
Group A
Group B
Torneo Finalización The Torneo Finalización (also known as Copa Mustang II) began on 14 January and ended on 13 May 1996.
Standings
Aggregate table An aggregate table known as Reclasificación including the games of both tournaments (Apertura and Finalización) was used to determine the teams that would advance to the Copa Mustang final stages, as well as the teams that would play the Liguilla Pre-CONMEBOL.
Final stages Semi-finals Group A
Group B
Final group
Liguilla Pre-CONMEBOL Liguilla semi-finals Group C
Group D
Liguilla final group
Top goalscorers Rank Player Club Goals 1 Iván ValencianoJunior 36 2 Víctor AristizábalAtlético Nacional 33 Edison MaflaDeportivo Cali 4 Adolfo ValenciaSanta Fe 25 5 Hugo ArrietaDeportivo Pereira 24 6 Manuel Acisclo CórdobaAtlético Huila 22 Rubén Darío HernándezSanta Fe 8 Antony de ÁvilaAmérica de Cali 21 Walter EscobarDeportivo Cali Daniel TílgerDeportes Quindío
Source: Historia del Fútbol Profesional Colombiano 70 Años
References
External links Dimayor official website Colombia 1995/96 RSSSF