The 2019 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol Serie A (officially known as the LigaPro
Banco Pichincha
The Banco Pichincha is the largest private-sector bank in Ecuador, by capitalization and by number of depositors. It is the primary bank of the Pichincha Group (''Grupo Pichincha''), a business group that includes the companies associated with th ...
2019 for sponsorship reasons) was the 61st season of the
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...
, Ecuador's top tier
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
league, and the first under the management of the Liga Profesional de Fútbol del Ecuador (or LigaPro).
LDU Quito
Liga Deportiva Universitaria (), often referred to as Liga de Quito, LDU, is an Ecuadorian professional football club based in Quito. They play in the Serie A, the highest level of the Ecuadorian professional football league. They play their ho ...
were the defending champions, but were defeated in the finals by
Delfín following a scoreless draw on aggregate score after two legs and a penalty shootout, in which the latter team won their first league title.
Format
Starting from this season, the league was expanded from 12 to 16 teams and a new format was implemented. The first stage will be played as a double round-robin tournament with all teams playing each other twice, once at home and once away, for a total of 30 matches. The top eight teams at the end of the first stage will qualify for the playoffs, which will consist of three rounds: quarterfinals, semifinals, and final.
In the quarterfinals, the eight qualified teams were split into four ties to be played on a home-and-away basis: the best-placed team in the first round played against the eighth-best team, the second-best team against the seventh-best, and so on. The four winners advanced to the semifinals, with the winners of this stage playing the finals. In case of a tie in points and goals scored in the quarterfinals and semifinals, the best-placed team in each tie (according to the first stage standings) advanced to the following stage, whilst in a case of a tie in points and goals for in the final, a penalty shootout would be played to decide the champion.
Teams
Sixteen teams competed in the 2019 Serie A season, twelve of whom took part in the previous season.
El Nacional and
Guayaquil City would have been relegated from Serie A after accumulating the fewest points during the
2018 season, however, the expansion of the league prevented their relegation to Serie B. The four remaining spots in the top tier were filled by the top four teams in Serie B in the previous season:
Mushuc Runa,
América de Quito
Club Deportivo América, commonly known as América de Quito, is a football club based in Quito, Ecuador. A top-level club in Ecuador for decades, they were relegated to the second division in 1988 and later to the country's third-tier Segunda ...
,
Fuerza Amarilla and
Olmedo.
Stadia and locations
Personnel and kits
Managerial changes
First stage
The First stage began on February 8 and ended on November 3. The top eight teams at the end of this stage advanced to the
playoffs
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
, while the bottom two were relegated.
Results
Playoffs
Quarter-finals
First leg
Second leg
Semi-finals
First leg
Second leg
Finals
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''Tied 0–0 on aggregate, Delfín won on penalties.''
International qualification
Top goalscorers
Source
Soccerway
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See also
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Ecuadorian Serie A
The Liga Pro Betcris, simply known as the Liga Pro, or the Serie A, is a professional football league in Ecuador. At the top of the Ecuadorian football league system, it is the country's premier football competition. Contested by sixteen clubs, i ...
*
2019 in Ecuadorian football
*
2019 Ecuadorian Serie B
*
2019 Súperliga Femenina
*
2019 Ecuadorian Women's Serie B
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2019 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Futbol Serie A
Ecuadorian Serie A seasons
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...