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Liga Águila
Season	2018
Dates	2 February – 16 December 2018
Champions	Apertura: Deportes Tolima (2nd title); Finalización: Junior (8th title)
Relegated	Boyacá Chicó; Leones
Copa Libertadores	Deportes Tolima; Junior; Independiente Medellín; Atlético Nacional (cup winners)
Copa Sudamericana	Once Caldas; La Equidad; Rionegro Águilas; Deportivo Cali
Matches played	408
Goals scored	896 (2.2 per match)
Top goalscorer	Apertura: Germán Cano (12 goals); Finalización: Germán Cano (20 goals)
Biggest home win	Deportivo Cali 4–0 Boyacá Chicó; (14 February); Santa Fe 4–0 Jaguares; (25 February); Deportivo Cali 4–0 Rionegro Águilas; (3 March); La Equidad 4–0 Boyacá Chicó; (6 March); Alianza Petrolera 4–0 Jaguares; (18 March); Atlético Huila 4–0 América de Cali; (31 March); Santa Fe 4–0 Alianza Petrolera; (11 August); Patriotas 4–0 Jaguares; (27 August); Junior 4–0 Patriotas; (17 October); Deportivo Cali 4–0 Jaguares; (27 October); La Equidad 4–0 Patriotas; (28 October)
Biggest away win	Envigado 0–3 Santa Fe; (14 March); Junior 0–3 Envigado; (21 March); Envigado 0–3 Atlético Huila; (22 April); Patriotas 0–3 Ind. Medellín; (28 September); Rionegro Águilas 0–3 Santa Fe; (6 October); Alianza Petrolera 0–3 Junior; (5 November); Millonarios 0–3 Santa Fe; (11 November)
Highest scoring	Junior 4–3 Deportes Tolima; (9 October)
	← 2017 2019 →

The 2018 Categoría Primera A season (officially known as the 2018 Liga Águila season for sponsorship reasons) was the 71st season of Colombia's top-flight football league. The season began on 2 February and concluded on 16 December. Millonarios were the defending champions.

In the Torneo Apertura, Deportes Tolima won their second league title on 9 June, after tying with Atlético Nacional 2–2 on aggregate score in the finals and then beating them 4–2 on penalties^[1] and in the Torneo Finalización, Junior won their eighth title on 16 December, following a 5–4 win against Independiente Medellín on aggregate score in the finals.^[2]

Format

The league was played under the same format used since the 2015 season, with the exclusion of the regional derby matchday in the first stage of both the Apertura and Finalización tournaments being the only change to be applied for this season. Both tournaments were divided into three stages: a first stage which was contested on a single round-robin basis, with each team playing the other teams once for a total of 19 matches. The top eight teams after the nineteen rounds advanced to a knockout round, where they were drawn into four ties to be played on a home-and-away basis, with the four winners advancing to the semifinals and the winners of each semifinal advancing to the final of the tournament. The winners of the final in each tournament were declared as champions. Relegation to Categoría Primera B by average continued being used.^[3]

Teams

20 teams took part, eighteen of them returning from last season plus Boyacá Chicó and Leones, who were promoted from the 2017 Primera B. Leones became the first team to secure promotion, after winning the Torneo Finalización on 26 November 2017, and competed in the Primera A for the first time ever.^[4] On the other hand, Boyacá Chicó sealed their promotion on 6 December 2017, by winning the Primera B championship on penalty kicks against Leones.^[5] They returned to the top tier after just one year. Both promoted teams replaced Cortuluá and Tigres who were relegated at the end of the last season.

Stadia and locations

Aburrá Valley Metro Area

Bogotá

Boyacá Chicó, Patriotas

Aburrá Valley Metro Area teams:
Atlético Nacional
Envigado
Independiente Medellín
Leones
Bogotá teams:
La Equidad
Millonarios
Santa Fe

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Locations of the 2018 Categoría Primera A teams

Team	Manager	Home city	Stadium	Capacity
Alianza Petrolera	César Torres	Barrancabermeja	Daniel Villa Zapata	10,400
América de Cali	Fernando Castro	Cali	Pascual Guerrero	33,130
Atlético Bucaramanga	Óscar Serrano (caretaker)	Bucaramanga	Alfonso López	28,000
Atlético Huila	Dayron Pérez (caretaker)	Neiva	Guillermo Plazas Alcid^a	22,000
Atlético Nacional	Paulo Autuori	Medellín	Atanasio Girardot	40,043
Boyacá Chicó	Jhon Jaime Gómez	Tunja	La Independencia	20,630
Deportes Tolima	Alberto Gamero	Ibagué	Manuel Murillo Toro	28,100
Deportivo Cali	Gerardo Pelusso	Cali	Deportivo Cali	52,000
Deportivo Pasto	Jairo Enríquez (caretaker)	Pasto	Departamental Libertad	20,665
Envigado	Eduardo Lara	Envigado	Polideportivo Sur	11,000
Independiente Medellín	Octavio Zambrano	Medellín	Atanasio Girardot	40,043
Jaguares	Julio Méndez (caretaker)	Montería	Jaraguay^b	12,000
Junior	Julio Comesaña	Barranquilla	Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez^c	49,692
La Equidad	Luis Fernando Suárez	Bogotá	Metropolitano de Techo	8,000
Leones	Luis Amaranto Perea	Itagüí	Metropolitano Ciudad de Itagüí	12,000
Millonarios	Miguel Ángel Russo	Bogotá	Nemesio Camacho El Campín	36,343
Once Caldas	Hubert Bodhert	Manizales	Palogrande	28,678
Patriotas	Diego Corredor	Tunja	La Independencia	20,630
Rionegro Águilas	Jorge Luis Bernal	Rionegro	Alberto Grisales	14,000
Santa Fe	Guillermo Sanguinetti	Bogotá	Nemesio Camacho El Campín	36,343

a: Atlético Huila played their first three home games in the Torneo Apertura (against Deportivo Cali, Junior, and La Equidad) at Estadio Manuel Murillo Toro in Ibagué due to their regular stadium Estadio Guillermo Plazas Alcid not meeting DIMAYOR's stadium requirements.
b: Jaguares played their first three home games in the Torneo Apertura (against La Equidad, Deportes Tolima, and Patriotas) at Estadio Armando Tuirán Paternina in Sahagún due to works on the artificial lighting system at Estadio Jaraguay which enabled it to meet DIMAYOR's stadium requirements.
c: Junior played their home matches against Deportivo Pasto, Atlético Huila, and Rionegro Águilas at Estadio Romelio Martínez in Barranquilla instead of their regular stadium Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez.

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Torneo Apertura
Atlético Bucaramanga	Jaime de la Pava	Mutual consent	27 November 2017^[6]	Pre-season	Diego Cagna	15 December 2017^[7]
Atlético Nacional	Juan Manuel Lillo	Resigned	5 December 2017^[8]		Jorge Almirón	19 December 2017^[9]
Junior	Julio Comesaña		5 December 2017^[10]		Alexis Mendoza	14 December 2017^[11]
Jaguares	Hubert Bodhert		5 December 2017^[12]		José Manuel Rodríguez	5 December 2017^[13]
Once Caldas	Herney Duque	End of caretaker spell	7 December 2017		Hubert Bodhert	7 December 2017^[14]
Deportivo Cali	Sergio Angulo	End of caretaker spell	9 December 2017		Gerardo Pelusso	9 December 2017^[15]
Rionegro Águilas	Diego Edison Umaña	Sacked	10 December 2017^[16]		Hernán Torres	13 December 2017^[17]
América de Cali	Jorge da Silva	Resigned	24 March 2018^[18]	16th	Carlos Asprilla (caretaker)	26 March 2018^[19]
América de Cali	Carlos Asprilla	End of caretaker spell	1 April 2018	18th	Pedro Felício Santos	4 April 2018^[20]
Junior	Alexis Mendoza	Sacked	9 April 2018^[21]	3rd	Fernel Díaz (caretaker)	9 April 2018^[21]
Junior	Fernel Díaz	End of caretaker spell	11 April 2018	3rd	Julio Comesaña	12 April 2018^[22]
Santa Fe	Gregorio Pérez	Sacked	14 April 2018^[23]	13th	Agustín Julio (caretaker)	14 April 2018^[23]
Atlético Bucaramanga	Diego Cagna	Mutual consent	21 April 2018^[24]	12th	Adolfo León Holguín (caretaker)	22 April 2018^[25]
Rionegro Águilas	Hernán Torres	Resigned	17 May 2018^[26]	13th	Jorge Luis Bernal	31 May 2018^[27]
Atlético Bucaramanga	Adolfo León Holguín	End of caretaker spell	21 May 2018	16th	Carlos Mario Hoyos	21 May 2018^[28]
Santa Fe	Agustín Julio	End of caretaker spell	23 May 2018	12th	Guillermo Sanguinetti	12 June 2018^[29]
Independiente Medellín	Ismael Rescalvo	Mutual consent	6 June 2018^[30]	2nd, SFs	Octavio Zambrano	15 June 2018^[31]
Torneo Finalización
Deportivo Pasto	Flabio Torres	Resigned	6 August 2018^[32]	18th	Hernán Lisi	6 August 2018^[33]
América de Cali	Pedro Felício Santos	Sacked	19 August 2018^[34]	13th	Jersson González (caretaker)	20 August 2018^[35]
Atlético Bucaramanga	Carlos Mario Hoyos	Mutual consent	19 August 2018^[36]	15th	Óscar Serrano (caretaker)	20 August 2018^[37]
Envigado	Rubén Darío Bedoya	Resigned	21 August 2018^[38]	17th	Juan Carlos Ramírez (caretaker)	23 August 2018^[39]
Leones	Juan Carlos Álvarez	Mutual consent	24 August 2018^[40]	20th	Mauricio Martínez (caretaker)	24 August 2018^[40]
América de Cali	Jersson González	End of caretaker spell	25 August 2018	15th	Fernando Castro	26 August 2018^[41]
Leones	Mauricio Martínez	End of caretaker spell	27 August 2018	20th	Luis Amaranto Perea	27 August 2018^[42]
Jaguares	José Manuel Rodríguez	Resigned	27 August 2018^[43]	16th	Flavio Robatto	29 August 2018^[44]
Atlético Nacional	Jorge Almirón	Resigned	30 August 2018^[45]	5th	Hernán Darío Herrera (caretaker)	30 August 2018^[45]
Atlético Huila	Néstor Craviotto	Mutual consent	9 September 2018^[46]	20th	Dayron Pérez (caretaker)	10 September 2018^[46]
Alianza Petrolera	Juan Cruz Real	Sacked	23 September 2018^[47]	13th	Diego Estrada (caretaker)	24 September 2018^[47]
Envigado	Juan Carlos Ramírez	End of caretaker spell	24 September 2018	18th	Eduardo Lara	25 September 2018^[48]
Alianza Petrolera	Diego Estrada	End of caretaker spell	6 October 2018	15th	César Torres	7 October 2018^[49]
Deportivo Pasto	Hernán Lisi	Sacked	19 October 2018^[50]	17th	Jairo Enríquez (caretaker)	19 October 2018^[50]
Jaguares	Flavio Robatto	Resigned	28 October 2018^[51]	19th	Julio Méndez (caretaker)	28 October 2018^[51]
Atlético Nacional	Hernán Darío Herrera	End of caretaker spell	2 November 2018	7th	Paulo Autuori	2 November 2018^[52]

Torneo Apertura

First stage

The First stage began on 2 February and consisted of nineteen rounds with teams playing each other once. It ended on 6 May with the top eight teams at the end of this stage advancing to the knockout phase.

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Atlético Nacional	19	12	5	2	23	10	+13	41	Advance to the knockout phase
2	Independiente Medellín	19	11	2	6	32	23	+9	35
3	Deportes Tolima	19	9	6	4	22	14	+8	33
4	Atlético Huila	19	9	3	7	20	12	+8	30
5	Junior	19	8	6	5	19	16	+3	30
6	Deportivo Cali	19	9	2	8	26	17	+9	29
7	Patriotas	19	8	5	6	17	18	−1	29
8	Once Caldas	19	8	3	8	26	26	0	27
9	Millonarios	19	7	5	7	19	18	+1	26
10	Envigado	19	7	5	7	19	19	0	26
11	La Equidad	19	6	7	6	18	15	+3	25
12	Santa Fe	19	7	4	8	20	19	+1	25
13	Rionegro Águilas	19	6	7	6	18	22	−4	25
14	Jaguares	19	7	4	8	16	23	−7	25
15	Alianza Petrolera	19	6	5	8	24	26	−2	23
16	Atlético Bucaramanga	19	6	5	8	22	24	−2	23
17	América de Cali	19	6	4	9	22	31	−9	22
18	Deportivo Pasto	19	5	5	9	15	19	−4	20
19	Boyacá Chicó	19	4	4	11	16	32	−16	16
20	Leones	19	2	7	10	13	23	−10	13

Source: Dimayor, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Goal difference, 3) Goals for, 4) Away goals for, 5) Away goals against, 6) Drawing of lots.^[53]

Results

Home \ Away	APE	AME	BUC	HUI	NAC	BOY	TOL	CAL	PAS	ENV	DIM	JAG	JUN	EQU	LEO	MIL	ONC	PAT	RIO	SFE
Alianza Petrolera	—	—	—	2–1	1–2	—	—	—	0–2	—	2–2	4–0	—	—	1–0	—	4–1	—	2–0	2–1
América de Cali	2–1	—	2–1	—	—	3–0	1–1	2–1	—	0–1	—	—	2–2	1–1	—	—	—	2–0	—	—
Atlético Bucaramanga	4–1	—	—	0–1	0–0	—	—	—	3–1	—	2–4	—	—	—	2–2	—	1–2	—	2–2	1–0
Atlético Huila	—	4–0	—	—	—	0–1	0–0	1–0	2–0	—	—	1–2	1–0	3–1	—	—	—	2–0	—	—
Atlético Nacional	—	2–0	—	1–0	—	—	—	—	2–0	—	2–0	1–0	—	—	1–0	—	1–0	—	1–0	1–0
Boyacá Chicó	3–0	—	2–1	—	1–1	—	—	—	—	0–1	1–2	—	—	—	1–1	1–1	2–2	—	1–2	3–1
Deportes Tolima	3–1	—	0–1	—	0–1	1–0	—	0–1	—	2–1	—	—	2–1	4–1	—	1–0	—	—	—	0–0
Deportivo Cali	2–1	—	0–1	—	0–2	4–0	—	—	—	0–0	—	—	—	—	2–1	2–0	2–1	—	4–0	3–0
Deportivo Pasto	—	2–0	—	—	—	3–0	1–1	0–0	—	2–0	—	0–1	2–0	0–0	—	—	—	1–1	—	—
Envigado	0–0	—	1–1	0–3	2–2	—	—	—	—	—	2–0	—	—	—	1–1	—	1–0	—	2–0	0–3
Independiente Medellín	—	3–1	—	3–0	—	—	2–2	2–1	1–0	—	—	2–1	1–2	1–0	—	1–0	—	4–1	—	—
Jaguares	—	1–0	0–1	—	—	2–0	2–0	1–0	—	2–4	—	—	1–2	1–0	—	—	—	0–0	—	—
Junior	0–0	—	1–0	—	1–1	1–0	—	2–1	—	0–3	—	—	—	—	1–0	2–0	3–0	—	—	1–1
La Equidad	0–0	—	0–0	—	1–0	4–0	—	2–0	—	1–0	—	—	0–0	—	2–0	0–0	—	—	—	2–0
Leones	—	1–2	—	0–0	—	—	0–1	—	2–1	—	0–2	0–0	—	—	—	2–1	0–1	1–1	1–1	—
Millonarios	1–1	3–1	4–1	1–0	1–1	—	—	—	2–0	1–0	—	1–1	—	—	—	—	—	1–0	—	—
Once Caldas	—	2–2	—	1–0	—	—	0–1	—	3–0	—	3–2	2–0	—	3–2	—	0–1	—	2–0	1–2	—
Patriotas	2–1	—	1–0	—	3–1	2–0	0–0	1–3	—	1–0	—	—	1–0	0–0	—	—	—	—	—	—
Rionegro Águilas	—	2–1	—	0–0	—	—	1–3	—	0–0	—	2–0	1–1	0–0	2–1	—	3–1	—	0–1	—	—
Santa Fe	—	3–0	—	0–1	—	—	—	—	1–0	—	1–0	4–0	—	—	2–1	1–0	2–2	0–2	0–0	—

Source: Dimayor, Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Knockout phase bracket

Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals

1	Atlético Nacional	0	2	2

6	Deportivo Cali	1	0	1
					1	Atlético Nacional (p)	0	0	0 (4)

					4	Atlético Huila	0	0	0 (2)
4	Atlético Huila (p)	1	0	1 (3)

7	Patriotas	1	0	1 (1)
										1	Atlético Nacional	1	1	2 (2)

										3	Deportes Tolima (p)	0	2	2 (4)
2	Indep. Medellín	1	2	3

5	Junior	0	2	2
					2	Indep. Medellín	0	1	1 (3)

					3	Deportes Tolima (p)	1	0	1 (5)
3	Deportes Tolima	0	3	3

8	Once Caldas	1	0	1

Quarterfinals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Deportivo Cali	1–2	Atlético Nacional	1–0	0–2
Junior	2–3	Independiente Medellín	0–1	2–2
Once Caldas	1–3	Deportes Tolima	1–0	0–3
Patriotas	1–1 (1–3 p)	Atlético Huila	1–1	0–0

First leg

12 May 2018	Patriotas	1–1	Atlético Huila	Tunja
18:00	Rivas 21'	Report	López 90'	Stadium: Estadio La Independencia Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Bismark Santiago

12 May 2018	Deportivo Cali	1–0	Atlético Nacional	Palmira
20:00	Benedetti 78'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Deportivo Cali Attendance: 24,000 Referee: Nicolás Gallo

13 May 2018	Junior	0–1	Independiente Medellín	Barranquilla
17:15		Report	D. Moreno 58'	Stadium: Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez Attendance: 16,309 Referee: John Hinestroza

13 May 2018	Once Caldas	1–0	Deportes Tolima	Manizales
19:30	Amaya 55'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Palogrande Attendance: 9,500 Referee: Wilmar Roldán

Second leg

19 May 2018	Atlético Nacional	2–0 (2–1 agg.)	Deportivo Cali	Medellín
18:00	Moreno 51', 90+1' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Estadio Atanasio Girardot Attendance: 31,114 Referee: Gustavo Murillo

19 May 2018	Atlético Huila	0–0 (1–1 agg.) (3–1 p)	Patriotas	Neiva
20:00		Report		Stadium: Estadio Guillermo Plazas Alcid Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Andrés Rojas
	Penalties
	Ramírez López Ordóñez		Velásquez Álvarez Rendón Malagón

20 May 2018	Deportes Tolima	3–0 (3–1 agg.)	Once Caldas	Ibagué
17:15	Albornoz 39' Orozco 70' Peralta 82' (o.g.)	Report		Stadium: Estadio Manuel Murillo Toro Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Carlos Betancur

20 May 2018	Independiente Medellín	2–2 (3–2 agg.)	Junior	Medellín
19:30	Cano 30', 86'	Report	Hernández 18' Chará 62'	Stadium: Estadio Atanasio Girardot Attendance: 17,763 Referee: Luis Sánchez

Semifinals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Atlético Huila	0–0 (2–4 p)	Atlético Nacional	0–0	0–0
Deportes Tolima	1–1 (5–3 p)	Independiente Medellín	1–0	0–1

First leg

29 May 2018	Atlético Huila	0–0	Atlético Nacional	Bogotá
19:45		Report		Stadium: Estadio El Campín Attendance: 29,308 Referee: Alexander Ospina

30 May 2018	Deportes Tolima	1–0	Independiente Medellín	Ibagué
19:30	Rodríguez 54'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Manuel Murillo Toro Attendance: 16,000 Referee: John Hinestroza

Second leg

2 June 2018	Atlético Nacional	0–0 (0–0 agg.) (4–2 p)	Atlético Huila	Medellín
18:00		Report		Stadium: Estadio Atanasio Girardot Attendance: 24,270 Referee: Carlos Betancur
	Penalties
	Moreno Ramírez Lucumí Zúñiga Castellani		Ramírez López Candelo Correa

3 June 2018	Independiente Medellín	1–0 (1–1 agg.) (3–5 p)	Deportes Tolima	Medellín
17:30	Castro 60'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Atanasio Girardot Attendance: 18,398 Referee: Nicolás Gallo
	Penalties
	Ricaurte D. Moreno Calle Anchico		Villa Pérez Carrascal Banguero Rodríguez

Finals

6 June 2018

19:30 UTC−5

Deportes Tolima	0–1	Atlético Nacional
	Report	Moreno 57'

Estadio Manuel Murillo Toro, Ibagué

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: Andrés Rojas

9 June 2018

19:15 UTC−5

Atlético Nacional	1–2	Deportes Tolima
Hernández 66'	Report	Campuzano 47' (o.g.) Banguero 90+4'
Penalties
Moreno Henríquez Lenis Hernández	2–4	Villa Albornoz Banguero Pérez

Estadio Atanasio Girardot, Medellín

Attendance: 44,695

Referee: Luis Sánchez

Tied 2–2 on aggregate, Deportes Tolima won on penalties.

Liga Águila 2018 Apertura Champions
Deportes Tolima 2nd Title

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Club	Goals
1	Germán Cano	Independiente Medellín	12
2	Dayro Moreno	Atlético Nacional	9
2	Iván Rivas	Patriotas	9
4	Omar Duarte	Atlético Huila	8
	Edder Farías	Once Caldas
	Cristian Martínez Borja	América de Cali
	Humberto Osorio	Rionegro Águilas
8	Edwar López	Atlético Huila	7
	Yairo Moreno	Independiente Medellín
	Carlos Peralta	La Equidad
	José Sand	Deportivo Cali

Source: Dimayor