2020 Venezuelan Primera División season

The 2020 Primera División season, officially Liga de Fútbol Profesional Venezolano or Liga FUTVE, is the 39th professional season of Venezuela's top-flight football league. Caracas are the defending champions.

Liga FUTVE
Season2020
Dates30 January – TBD 2020
Matches played54
Goals scored113 (2.09 per match)
Top goalscorerMarco Bustillo
(4 goals)
Biggest home winCaracas 5–1 Est. Mérida
(2 February)
Caracas 4–0 Zulia
(16 February)
Est. Mérida 4–0 Carabobo
(22 February)
Biggest away winMetropolitanos 1–3 Aragua
(31 January)
Yaracuyanos 0–2 Mineros
(14 February)
Dep. Táchira 0–2 Zamora
(21 February)
Highest scoringCaracas 5–1 Est. Mérida
(2 February)
← 2019
2021 →
All statistics correct as of 9 March 2020.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on 12 March the Liga FUTVE announced the suspension of the seventh round of matches, scheduled for the weekend of 14–15 March. That same day, the FVF announced the suspension of every footballing activity in the country.[1] On 15 March, the Liga FUTVE cancelled a meeting originally scheduled for 18 March and also confirmed the indefinite suspension of the Primera División tournament.[2]

On 15 May, and after an emergency meeting held the previous day via video conference, the FVF announced the "permanent suspension" of the Primera and Segunda División seasons due to the inability to resume play under the conditions initially stated in the league regulations, effectively voiding the standings and results of matches played up until the suspension of the season. At the same time, the Federation's Commission of Club Competitions was tasked with elaborating a new tournament with a format and regulations suited to the necessary conditions for its execution, considering the application of sporting merit, club licensing requirements, and medical protocols.[3]

Format changes

The league format changed for the 2020 season. No Apertura and Clausura tournaments would be held and the 20 teams would face each other in a home-and-away round-robin tournament, for a total of 38 matches per team. The top eight teams of the first stage would advance to the semi-final stage, depending on eligibility requirements for CONMEBOL tournaments. The bottom two teams would be relegated. In the semi-final stage, the eight teams would be divided in two groups of four teams each, facing the other teams in their group twice. The two group winners would advance to the Serie Final to decide the league champions.[4]

Teams

On 24 January, Llaneros was administratively relegated to the Segunda División by FVF as ordered by FIFA due to a lawsuit by former player Leonardo Ossa, whom the club failed to pay an outstanding debt. Llaneros will play in the second tier during the 2020 season,[5] therefore the league was contested by 19 teams and only one team would be relegated.

Stadia and locations
Locations of the 2020 Primera División teams
Relegated to 2020 Segunda División
16 Llaneros (administrative relegation)
19 Estudiantes de Caracas
20 Deportivo Anzoátegui
Promoted to 2020 Primera División
1 Yaracuyanos
2 GV Maracay
Team Manager City Stadium Capacity
Academia Puerto Cabello Carlos MaldonadoPuerto CabelloLa Bombonerita7,500
Aragua Enrique GarcíaMaracayOlímpico Hermanos Ghersi Páez14,000
Atlético Venezuela Henry MeléndezCaracasBrígido Iriarte
Olímpico de la UCV[note 1]		10,000
23,940
Carabobo Antonio FrancoValencia
San Felipe		Misael Delgado
Florentino Oropeza[note 2]		10,400
10,000
Caracas Noel SanvicenteCaracasOlímpico de la UCV23,940
Deportivo La Guaira Daniel FaríasCaracasOlímpico de la UCV23,940
Deportivo Lara Leonardo GonzálezCabudare
Barquisimeto		Metropolitano de Cabudare
Farid Richa[note 3]		47,913
12,480
Deportivo Táchira Juan TolisanoSan CristóbalPolideportivo de Pueblo Nuevo38,755
Estudiantes de Mérida Martín BrignaniMéridaMetropolitano de Mérida
Guillermo Soto Rosa[note 4]		42,200
14,000
GV Maracay Bladimir MoralesMaracay
San Felipe		Giuseppe Antonelli
Florentino Oropeza[note 5]		7,500
10,000
LALA Rubén YoriCiudad GuayanaPolideportivo Cachamay41,600
Metropolitanos José María MorrCaracasOlímpico de la UCV23,940
Mineros Richard PáezCiudad GuayanaPolideportivo Cachamay41,600
Monagas Jhonny FerreiraMaturínMonumental de Maturín51,796
Portuguesa José ParadaAcariguaGeneral José Antonio Páez18,000
Trujillanos Martín CarrilloValeraJosé Alberto Pérez25,000
Yaracuyanos Jesús AlonsoSan FelipeFlorentino Oropeza10,000
Zamora José Manuel ReyBarinasAgustín Tovar29,800
Zulia Álex García KingMaracaiboJosé "Pachencho" Romero40,800
  1. Used by Atlético Venezuela as temporary home stadium while Estadio Brígido Iriarte is being remodeled.
  2. Used by Carabobo as home stadium for their matches against Gran Valencia and Monagas while Estadio Misael Delgado was being remodeled.
  3. Used by Deportivo Lara as temporary home stadium while Estadio Metropolitano de Cabudare is being remodeled.
  4. Used by Estudiantes de Mérida as temporary home stadium while Estadio Metropolitano de Mérida was being remodeled.
  5. Used by GV Maracay as home stadium for their matches against Yaracuyanos and Mineros.

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Carabobo Jhonny Ferreira Mutual consent 11 December 2019[6] Pre-season Antonio Franco 13 December 2019[7]
Monagas May Montoya End of caretaker spell 12 December 2019 Jhonny Ferreira 12 December 2019[8]
Mineros Laydeker Navas 14 December 2019 Richard Páez 14 December 2019[9]
Zamora Rubén Benítez 24 December 2019 José Manuel Rey 24 December 2019[10]
Zulia Alexander Rondón Replaced 3 January Álex García King 3 January[11]
LALA Delvalle Rojas Sacked 16 January[12] Rubén Yori 21 January[13]

First stage

The first stage began on 30 January. Each team would play each other twice for 36 matchdays. It was scheduled to end on 25 October with the top eight teams advancing to the semi-finals and the bottom team being relegated. The first stage standings and matches up to the suspension of the league on 12 March were voided by the FVF on 15 May.[3]

Standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Zamora 6 5 1 0 10 2 +8 16
2 Caracas 6 4 2 0 12 2 +10 14
3 Deportivo Lara 6 4 1 1 9 4 +5 13
4 Monagas 6 3 3 0 10 4 +6 12
5 Atlético Venezuela 6 3 2 1 7 5 +2 11
6 Estudiantes de Mérida 6 3 1 2 10 9 +1 10
7 Deportivo La Guaira 5 2 2 1 6 4 +2 8
8 Trujillanos 5 2 2 1 2 2 0 8
9 Zulia 5 2 1 2 7 10 −3 7
10 Aragua 5 2 0 3 4 4 0 6
11 Academia Puerto Cabello 5 1 3 1 4 5 −1 6
12 Metropolitanos 6 2 0 4 9 11 −2 6
13 Yaracuyanos 6 1 3 2 5 7 −2 6
14 Mineros 6 2 0 4 4 7 −3 6
15 Carabobo 6 1 3 2 2 6 −4 6
16 Portuguesa 6 1 2 3 3 7 −4 5
17 Deportivo Táchira 5 1 1 3 2 6 −4 4
18 GV Maracay 6 0 2 4 2 8 −6 2
19 LALA 6 0 1 5 5 10 −5 1
Source: Liga FUTVE, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.

Results
Home \ Away APC ARA AVE CBO CAR DLG LAR TAC ESM GVM LAL MET MIN MON POR TRU YAR ZAM ZUL
Academia Puerto Cabello — — — — — — — — — — 2–1 — — — — — — 0–0 —
Aragua — — — — 0–1 — 0–1 1–0 — — — — — — — — — — —
Atlético Venezuela — — — — — — — — — 1–0 — 2–1 — 2–2 — — — — —
Carabobo — — — — — 0–0 — — — 0–0 — — — 0–0 — — — — —
Caracas 1–1 — — — — — — — 5–1 — — — — — — — — — 4–0
Deportivo La Guaira — — — — 0–1 — — — — — — — — — 2–0 — 2–2 — —
Deportivo Lara 3–1 — — — — — — 2–0 — — — — — — — — — — 2–1
Deportivo Táchira 0–0 — — — — — — — — — — 2–1 — — — — — 0–2 —
Estudiantes de Mérida — — 2–1 4–0 — — — — — — 2–1 — — — — — — — —
GV Maracay — — — — — — — — — — — — 1–2 — — — 0–0 — —
LALA — — — — — 1–2 — — — — — — — 1–1 — 0–1 — — —
Metropolitanos — 1–3 — — — — — — — 2–1 — — 3–0 — — — — — —
Mineros — — 0–1 0–1 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Monagas — — — — — — — — — 3–0 — — — — 2–0 — 2–1 — —
Portuguesa — — — — — — — — 0–0 — — — 1–0 — — — — — 2–2
Trujillanos — — — — 0–0 — 0–0 — — — — — — — 1–0 — — — —
Yaracuyanos — — 0–0 — — — — — 2–1 — — — 0–2 — — — — — —
Zamora — 1–0 — — — — 2–1 — — — — 3–1 — — — 2–0 — — —
Zulia — — — 2–1 — — — — — — 2–1 — — — — — — — —
Source: Liga FUTVE, Soccerway
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Marco Bustillo Metropolitanos 4
2 Alexis Blanco Caracas 3
Edder Farías Atlético Venezuela
Robert Hernández Caracas
Mauricio Márquez Zamora
Yanowsky Reyes Zulia

Source: Soccerway

References
  1. "Suspendida próxima jornada de la Liga Futve" (in Spanish). Líder. 12 March 2020.
  2. "Liga FUTVE fue suspendida de forma indefinida por el COVID-19" (in Spanish). Sportsvenezuela.com. 15 March 2020.
  3. "FVF suspende la temporada 2020 de la Liga FutVe" (in Spanish). Líder. 15 May 2020.
  4. "Temporada 2020 de la Liga FUTVE arrancará el 26 de enero". Liga FUTVE (in Spanish). 8 January 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  5. "La FVF acató decisión de la FIFA y el Club Llaneros EF fue descendido a segunda división". FVF (in Spanish). 24 January 2020.
  6. "Carabobo Fútbol Club". twitter.com (in Spanish). 11 December 2019.
  7. "Antonio Franco asumirá las riendas del Carabobo FC". El Carabobeño (in Spanish). 13 December 2019.
  8. "Jhonny Ferreira regresa al Monagas SC como Director Técnico en el 2020". balonazos.com (in Spanish). 12 December 2018.
  9. "Richard Páez firmó su contrato con Mineros de Guayana para el 2020". balonazos.com (in Spanish). 14 December 2019.
  10. "José Manuel Rey es oficializado en el banquillo del Zamora FC". balonazos.com (in Spanish). 12 December 2018.
  11. "Alex García King es el nuevo director técnico del Zulia FC". Panorama (in Spanish). 3 January 2020.
  12. "Vallito no sigue como DT en Lala". Primicia (in Spanish). 17 January 2020.
  13. "Rubén "Borolo" Yori toma las riendas del Lala FC". Correo del Caroní (in Spanish). 21 January 2020.
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