The 2021 División Intermedia season, named "Cincuentenario del Club Atlético 3 de Febrero y Homenaje al Lic. Miguel Ángel Cañete Alderete",[1] was the 103rd season of the second-tier league of Paraguayan football and 24th under the Paraguayan División Intermedia name. The season began on 9 April and ended on 26 October 2021. The fixtures for the season were announced on 15 January 2021.[2]
| Season | 2021 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 9 April – 26 October 2021 |
| Champions | General Caballero (JLM) (1st title) |
| Promoted | General Caballero (JLM) Resistencia Tacuary Sportivo Ameliano |
| Relegated | Deportivo Capiatá Fulgencio Yegros General Díaz |
| Copa Sudamericana | General Caballero (JLM) |
| Matches played | 306 |
| Goals scored | 752 (2.46 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Alex Arce (24 goals) |
| Biggest home win | 2 de Mayo 4–0 Sportivo Trinidense (6 June) Sportivo Ameliano 4–0 Fulgencio Yegros (22 July) Resistencia 4–0 Sportivo Iteño (15 August) Guaraní (T) 4–0 Dep. Capiatá (22 August) Tacuary 5–1 2 de Mayo (28 August) San Lorenzo 5–1 Sportivo Trinidense (18 October) Tacuary 4–0 Rubio Ñu (26 October) |
| Biggest away win | 2 de Mayo 1–8 San Lorenzo (26 October) |
| Highest scoring | 2 de Mayo 1–8 San Lorenzo (26 October) |
← 2019 2022 → | |
The competition returned after a one-year hiatus as the 2020 seasons of the lower-tier club tournaments of Paraguayan football were cancelled by the Paraguayan Football Association due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3]
General Caballero (JLM) won their first División Intermedia title with four matches to spare, following a 4–1 victory over Rubio Ñu on 27 September 2021.[4]
Format
edit18 teams took part in the competition, which was played under a double round-robin system with teams playing each other twice, once at home and once away for a total of 34 matches. The top three teams at the end of the season were promoted to the Paraguayan Primera División for the 2022 season, with the champions also qualifying for the 2022 Copa Sudamericana, while the fourth-placed team will play a play-off against the ninth-placed team of the Primera División relegation table for promotion to the top flight.[5]
The bottom three teams in the relegation table at the end of the season were relegated: teams located within 50 kilometres of Asunción were relegated to Primera División B, while teams from outside Greater Asunción and the Central Department were relegated to Primera División B Nacional.
Teams
edit18 teams competed in the season: 11 teams from the previous División Intermedia season plus the four teams relegated from Primera División in its 2019 and 2020 seasons (Deportivo Capiatá, Deportivo Santaní, General Díaz and San Lorenzo), the top two teams from the 2019 Primera División B (Sportivo Ameliano and Tacuary) and the 2019 Primera División B Nacional champions Guaraní from Trinidad.
Pastoreo F.C., who were entitled to enter this year's competition as 2019–20 Campeonato Nacional de Interligas champions, had their debut postponed to 2022 per decision by the APF's Executive Committee, since Guaraní de Trinidad already held the berth reserved to the Unión del Fútbol del Interior (UFI) for this season.[6]
Stadia and locations
edit
| Team | City | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 de Mayo | Pedro Juan Caballero | Río Parapití | 25,000 |
| 3 de Febrero | Ciudad del Este | Antonio Aranda | 23,500 |
| Atyrá | Atyrá | San Francisco de Asís | 10,000 |
| Deportivo Capiatá | Capiatá | Erico Galeano Segovia | 15,000 |
| Deportivo Santaní | San Estanislao | Juan José Vázquez | 8,000 |
| Fernando de la Mora | Asunción | Emiliano Ghezzi | 6,000 |
| Fulgencio Yegros | Ñemby | Parque Fulgencio Yegros | 1,000 |
| General Caballero (JLM) | Juan León Mallorquín | Ka'arendy | 3,000 |
| General Díaz | Luque | General Adrián Jara | 4,000 |
| Guaraní (T) | Trinidad | Los Fundadores | 1,000 |
| Independiente (CG) | Asunción | Ricardo Gregor | 4,000 |
| Resistencia | Asunción | Tomás Beggan Correa | 3,500 |
| Rubio Ñu | Asunción | La Arboleda | 8,000 |
| San Lorenzo | San Lorenzo | Gunther Vogel | 5,000 |
| Sportivo Ameliano | Asunción | José Tomás Silva[note 1] | 800 |
| Sportivo Iteño | Itá | Salvador Morga | 4,500 |
| Sportivo Trinidense | Asunción | Martín Torres | 3,000 |
| Tacuary | Asunción | Toribio Vargas[note 1] | 3,000 |
- ^ a b Using Estadio Roque Battilana in Asunción and Estadio General Adrián Jara in Luque as home stadiums for the season.
Standings
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | General Caballero (JLM) (C, P) | 34 | 22 | 7 | 5 | 67 | 31 | +36 | 73 | Promotion to Primera División and qualification for Copa Sudamericana first stage |
| 2 | Resistencia (P) | 34 | 16 | 13 | 5 | 44 | 22 | +22 | 61 | Promotion to Primera División |
| 3 | Tacuary (P) | 34 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 54 | 44 | +10 | 57 | |
| 4 | Sportivo Ameliano (P) | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 51 | 37 | +14 | 56 | Qualification for Promotion play-off |
| 5 | San Lorenzo | 34 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 60 | 44 | +16 | 53 | |
| 6 | Sportivo Trinidense | 34 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 48 | 48 | 0 | 52 | |
| 7 | Independiente (CG) | 34 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 38 | 30 | +8 | 51 | |
| 8 | 3 de Febrero | 34 | 11 | 15 | 8 | 48 | 44 | +4 | 48 | |
| 9 | Fernando de la Mora | 34 | 10 | 15 | 9 | 40 | 36 | +4 | 45 | |
| 10 | Atyrá | 34 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 47 | 45 | +2 | 43 | |
| 11 | Guaraní (T) | 34 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 34 | 37 | −3 | 41 | |
| 12 | Deportivo Santaní | 34 | 9 | 14 | 11 | 38 | 42 | −4 | 41 | |
| 13 | Rubio Ñu | 34 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 34 | 44 | −10 | 39 | |
| 14 | Sportivo Iteño | 34 | 8 | 15 | 11 | 26 | 39 | −13 | 39 | |
| 15 | Deportivo Capiatá | 34 | 8 | 15 | 11 | 34 | 47 | −13 | 39 | |
| 16 | 2 de Mayo | 34 | 9 | 9 | 16 | 39 | 55 | −16 | 36 | |
| 17 | General Díaz | 34 | 6 | 6 | 22 | 25 | 53 | −28 | 24 | |
| 18 | Fulgencio Yegros | 34 | 5 | 6 | 23 | 25 | 54 | −29 | 21 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Playoff game (only if needed to decide promotion between two teams), 3) Goal difference, 4) Goals for, 5) Away goals for, 6) Drawing of lots.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted
Results
editTop scorers
edit| Rank | Name | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Alex Arce
|
Sportivo Ameliano | 24 |
| 2 | Digno González
|
3 de Febrero | 22 |
| 3 | Gustavo Aguilar
|
Tacuary | 20 |
| 4 | Jorge Sanguina
|
Atyrá | 14 |
| Marcelo Ferreira
|
Independiente (CG) | ||
| Santiago Salcedo
|
San Lorenzo | ||
| 7 | Teodoro Arce
|
General Caballero (JLM) | 11 |
 Antonio Oviedo
|
Rubio Ñu | ||
| 9 | Ronald Roa
|
Deportivo Capiatá | 10 |
| Édgar Villalba
|
Deportivo Santaní | ||
| Adrián Alcaraz
|
Fernando de la Mora | ||
| Sergio Dietze
|
Guaraní (T) | ||
| Gustavo Legal
|
Sportivo Trinidense |
Source: APF
Promotion play-off
editThe fourth-placed team in the División Intermedia, Sportivo Ameliano, played a double-legged promotion play-off against Sportivo Luqueño, the ninth-placed team of the relegation table of the 2021 Primera División season. The winner was promoted to the 2022 Primera División.
| Sportivo Ameliano | 3–2 | Sportivo Luqueño |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Sportivo Luqueño | 1–1 | Sportivo Ameliano |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Sportivo Ameliano won 4–3 on aggregate and were promoted to Primera División.
Relegation
editRelegation 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 three teams with the lowest average were relegated to the Primera División B or Primera División B Nacional for the following season, depending on their geographical location.
| Pos |
Team |
2018 Pts |
2019 Pts |
2021 Pts |
Total Pts |
Total Pld |
Avg | Relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | General Caballero (JLM) | — | 41 | 73 | 114 | 64 | 1.781 | |
| 2 | Tacuary | — | — | 57 | 57 | 34 | 1.676 | |
| 3 | Sportivo Ameliano | — | — | 56 | 56 | 34 | 1.647 | |
| 4 | San Lorenzo | — | — | 53 | 53 | 34 | 1.559 | |
| 5 | Resistencia | 40 | 45 | 61 | 146 | 94 | 1.553 | |
| 6 | Fernando de la Mora | 51 | 43 | 45 | 139 | 94 | 1.479 | |
| 7 | 2 de Mayo | 46 | 55 | 36 | 137 | 94 | 1.457 | |
| 8 | Independiente (CG) | — | 41 | 51 | 92 | 64 | 1.438 | |
| 9 | Atyrá | — | 49 | 43 | 92 | 64 | 1.438 | |
| 10 | Sportivo Trinidense | 38 | 40 | 52 | 130 | 94 | 1.383 | |
| 11 | 3 de Febrero | — | 39 | 48 | 87 | 64 | 1.359 | |
| 12 | Rubio Ñu | 44 | 35 | 39 | 118 | 94 | 1.255 | |
| 13 | Guaraní (T) | — | — | 41 | 41 | 34 | 1.206 | |
| 14 | Deportivo Santaní | — | — | 41 | 41 | 34 | 1.206 | |
| 15 | Sportivo Iteño | 34 | 36 | 39 | 109 | 94 | 1.16 | |
| 16 | Deportivo Capiatá (R) | — | — | 39 | 39 | 34 | 1.147 | Relegation to Primera División B |
| 17 | Fulgencio Yegros (R) | 41 | 24 | 21 | 86 | 94 | 0.915 | |
| 18 | General Díaz (R) | — | — | 24 | 24 | 34 | 0.706 |
Source: APF
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "A la espera de la Intermedia 2021" (in Spanish). APF. 7 April 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ "La Intermedia conoce su fixture 2021" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ "Es oficial: ¡APF suspende Intermedia y 6 torneos más!" (in Spanish). Versus. 11 September 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ "General Caballero JLM es campeón de la Intermedia 2021" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 27 September 2021.
- ^ "Intermedia 2021: tres ascensos, promoción y clasificación a Sudamericana" (in Spanish). Tigo Sports. 31 December 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ "Pastoreo FC queda fuera de la temporada 2021" (in Spanish). ABC Color. 25 November 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2021.