The 2020 Categoría Primera A season (officially known as the 2020 Liga BetPlay Dimayor season for sponsorship reasons) was the 73rd season of the Categoría Primera A, Colombia's top-flight football league. The season began on 23 January^[1] and concluded on 29 December 2020. América de Cali entered the season as defending champions having won the 2019 Finalización tournament, and managed to defend their title by beating Santa Fe 3–2 on aggregate in the finals, winning their fifteenth domestic league championship.^[2]

The competition was suspended from 13 March to 12 September due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Format

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the league season was planned to be played as follows:

• Two tournaments per year, with three stages each. The first stage would be contested on a single round-robin basis, with each team playing the other teams once plus an additional match against a regional rival for a total of 20 games.
• Due to the 2020 Copa América scheduled to be held in the country from mid-June to mid-July, and in order to conclude the Torneo Apertura on 24 May, the second stage for this tournament would be a knockout round contested by the top four teams at the end of the first stage, with the best-placed team at the end of the first stage facing the fourth-best placed team and the second-best placed team playing the third-best placed one in a double-legged series. The Torneo Finalización would feature the semifinal stage as it was played during the previous season.
• The finals in both tournaments would be contested by the winners of each semifinal tie or group, playing a double-legged series for the championship.
• The distribution of international qualification berths as well as the relegation system would not change.^[3][1]

On 25 July 2020, DIMAYOR's General Assembly decided to continue playing the Torneo Apertura as the only tournament to be held in the season, with the semifinal stage originally planned for the Torneo Finalización. The allocation of international qualification berths was also altered, with the Copa Libertadores berth originally allocated to the Finalización winners going to the league runners-up, and the fourth Copa Sudamericana berth going to the winner of a play-off involving the aggregate table fourth best team not qualified for the Copa Libertadores and the 12 teams that fail to qualify for the semifinal stage.^[4] Further format changes were confirmed on 13 August 2020, with DIMAYOR's General Assembly deciding to suspend relegation for this season and postpone it until the end of the first semester of 2021, in order to ensure teams could be able to play the same amount of matches as originally scheduled before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[5]

On 9 September 2020, DIMAYOR confirmed the format to be used for the remainder of the season, with the single round-robin stage started in the Torneo Apertura being resumed and played as planned and eight teams advancing out of the first stage. The semifinal stage was ultimately replaced by double-legged knockout series to decide the league champions, whilst the 12 teams that failed to qualify for the knockout stage would be sorted into three groups of four teams, with the group winners and the best group runners-up advancing to a single-legged semifinal stage and the winners of those semifinals facing each other in a single-legged final, with its winner playing against the aggregate table fourth-best placed team not qualified for the 2021 Copa Libertadores for the Colombia 4 berth to the 2021 Copa Sudamericana.^[6]

Teams

20 teams took part, eighteen of them returning from last season plus Deportivo Pereira and Boyacá Chicó, who were promoted from the 2019 Primera B. Both promoted teams replaced Unión Magdalena and Atlético Huila who were relegated at the end of the previous season by having finished as the bottom two teams of the relegation table.

Stadia and locations

Aburrá Valley Metro Area

Alianza Petrolera

Atlético Bucaramanga

Bogotá

Cali

Cúcuta Deportivo

Deportes Tolima

Deportivo Pasto

Deportivo Pereira

Jaguares

Junior

Once Caldas

Tunja

Rionegro Águilas

Aburrá Valley Metro Area teams:
Atlético Nacional
Envigado
Independiente Medellín
Tunja teams:
Boyacá Chicó
Patriotas
Bogotá teams:
La Equidad
Millonarios
Santa Fe
Cali teams:
América de Cali
Deportivo Cali

Locations of the 2020 Categoría Primera A teams

Team	Manager	City	Stadium	Capacity
Alianza Petrolera	Dayron Montesino (caretaker)	Barrancabermeja	Daniel Villa Zapata	10,400
América de Cali	Juan Cruz Real	Cali	Pascual Guerrero	33,130
		Armenia	Centenario[note 1]	20,716
Atlético Bucaramanga	Guillermo Sanguinetti	Bucaramanga	Alfonso López	28,000
		Barrancabermeja	Daniel Villa Zapata[note 2]	10,400
Atlético Nacional	Alejandro Restrepo (caretaker)	Medellín	Atanasio Girardot	40,043
Boyacá Chicó	Belmer Aguilar	Tunja	La Independencia	20,630
Cúcuta Deportivo	David Suárez	Cúcuta	General Santander	42,901
		Armenia	Centenario[note 3]	20,716
Deportes Tolima	Hernán Torres	Ibagué	Manuel Murillo Toro	28,100
		Bogotá	Metropolitano de Techo[note 4]	8,000
Deportivo Cali	Alfredo Arias	Palmira	Deportivo Cali	44,000
Deportivo Pasto	Diego Corredor	Pasto	Departamental Libertad	20,665
Deportivo Pereira	Alexis Márquez (caretaker)	Pereira	Hernán Ramírez Villegas	30,297
Envigado	José Arastey	Envigado	Polideportivo Sur	11,000
Independiente Medellín	Humberto Sierra (caretaker)	Medellín	Atanasio Girardot	40,043
Jaguares	Alberto Suárez	Montería	Jaraguay	12,000
Junior	Luis Amaranto Perea	Barranquilla	Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez	49,692
			Romelio Martínez[note 5]	8,600
La Equidad	Alexis García	Bogotá	Metropolitano de Techo	8,000
			Nemesio Camacho El Campín[note 6]	36,343
Millonarios	Alberto Gamero	Bogotá	Nemesio Camacho El Campín	36,343
Once Caldas	Hubert Bodhert	Manizales	Palogrande	28,678
Patriotas	Abel Segovia	Tunja	La Independencia	20,630
Rionegro Águilas	Francesco Stifano	Rionegro	Alberto Grisales	14,000
Santa Fe	Harold Rivera	Bogotá	Nemesio Camacho El Campín	36,343

1. ↑ Used by América de Cali for their home match against Boyacá Chicó.
2. ↑ Used by Atlético Bucaramanga for their home matches against Deportivo Cali and Deportes Tolima due to Estadio Alfonso López hosting the 2020 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament.
3. ↑ Used by Cúcuta Deportivo for their home matches from September onwards due to the poor state of the pitch of Estadio General Santander.
4. ↑ Used by Deportes Tolima for their quarter-final home match against Junior due to remodeling works at Estadio Manuel Murillo Toro.
5. ↑ Used by Junior for their home matches against Rionegro Águilas, Deportivo Pasto and Alianza Petrolera.
6. ↑ Used by La Equidad for their home match against Atlético Nacional for safety reasons.

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
La Equidad	Guillermo Rivera	End of caretaker spell	29 October 2019	Pre-season	Alexis García	7 January 2020[7]
Millonarios	Jorge Luis Pinto	Resigned	5 November 2019[8]		Alberto Gamero	3 December 2019[9]
Atlético Bucaramanga	Sergio Novoa	End of caretaker spell	5 November 2019		José Manuel Rodríguez	5 November 2019[10]
Rionegro Águilas	Flabio Torres	Sacked	5 November 2019[11]		Francesco Stifano	12 December 2019[12]
Cúcuta Deportivo	Guillermo Sanguinetti	End of contract	27 November 2019[13]		Jairo Patiño	5 January 2020[14]
Deportes Tolima	Alberto Gamero	Signed by Millonarios	3 December 2019[15]		Hernán Torres	6 December 2019[16]
Deportivo Pasto	Octavio Zambrano	Sacked	4 December 2019[17]		Diego Corredor	4 December 2019[17]
Deportivo Cali	Lucas Pusineri	Mutual consent	7 December 2019[18]		Alfredo Arias	13 December 2019[19]
Atlético Bucaramanga	José Manuel Rodríguez	Sacked	17 February 2020[20]	20th	Jorge Amado Nunes (caretaker)	17 February 2020[20]
Cúcuta Deportivo	Jairo Patiño		17 February 2020[21]	16th	Jorge Artigas	17 February 2020[22]
Atlético Bucaramanga	Jorge Amado Nunes	End of caretaker spell	23 February 2020	17th	Guillermo Sanguinetti	22 February 2020[23]
Jaguares	Juan Cruz Real	Resigned	12 March 2020[24]	16th	Alberto Suárez	17 July 2020[25]
América de Cali	Alexandre Guimarães	End of contract	14 June 2020[note 1][27]	8th	Juan Cruz Real	13 July 2020[28]
Boyacá Chicó	Jhon Jaime Gómez	Sacked	2 September 2020[29]	19th	Belmer Aguilar	2 September 2020[29]
Junior	Julio Comesaña	Resigned	14 September 2020[30]	6th	Luis Amaranto Perea	14 September 2020[30]
Independiente Medellín	Aldo Bobadilla	Mutual consent	28 September 2020[31]	13th	Javier Álvarez	2 October 2020[32]
Deportivo Pereira	Néstor Craviotto	Resigned	26 October 2020[33]	16th	Alexis Márquez (caretaker)	3 November 2020[34]
Atlético Nacional	Juan Carlos Osorio	Sacked	1 November 2020[35]	7th	Alejandro Restrepo (caretaker)[note 2]	5 November 2020[37]
Cúcuta Deportivo	Jorge Artigas	Resigned	3 November 2020[38]	19th	David Suárez	4 November 2020[39]
Independiente Medellín	Javier Álvarez		15 November 2020[40]	14th	Humberto Sierra (caretaker)	15 November 2020[40]
Alianza Petrolera	César Torres	Sacked	15 November 2020[41]	15th	Dayron Montesino (caretaker)	15 November 2020[41]
Patriotas	Nelson Gómez		17 November 2020[42]	18th	Abel Segovia	17 November 2020[43]

1. ↑ Contract suspended since 14 May 2020.^[26]
2. ↑ Pompilio Páez was caretaker manager for the second leg of the 2020 Copa Sudamericana second stage since Alejandro Restrepo lacked a CONMEBOL license.^[36]

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

On 13 March 2020, after a meeting with its member clubs, DIMAYOR announced the temporary suspension of the tournament, along with the Primera B and Copa Colombia ones, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[44]

On 29 June, and after an Assembly of its member clubs, DIMAYOR presented a timetable for the implementation of the biosecurity protocol to resume its competitions, with COVID-19 testing for players and staff members of every club scheduled to be held from 10 to 15 July, and individual training resuming the following day. The resumption of collective training sessions, scheduled for 20 August, would be subject to government approval. According to said timetable, the league was scheduled to resume on 27 August, pending the fulfillment of the previous stages as well as final approval by the Colombian government.^[45][46] On 25 July, it was announced that the competition would resume on 30 August with alterations in its format, and pending government approval.^[4] With the Ministry of Health authorizing stages 4 and 5 of the biosecurity protocol (collective trainings and competition, respectively) on 20 August, and due to some adjustments to the protocol requested by DIMAYOR, that date of resumption had to be pushed back for at least two weeks, to mid-September.^[47][48]

On 31 August, the Ministry of Health issued the resolution that approved the adjusted protocol and greenlit the start of collective training sessions for 1 September, while President of DIMAYOR Fernando Jaramillo confirmed that the tournament would resume on 19 September,^[49] with the postponed matches Deportivo Cali vs. Millonarios and Deportivo Pasto vs. Deportes Tolima to be played on 13 and 14 September, respectively.^[50] On 3 September, DIMAYOR confirmed that the league would resume on 12 September 2020, with the postponed matches as it was planned,^[51] while the rest of clubs were notified that the ninth round of the competition would be played in the weekend of 19–20 September, with a meeting to confirm the competition format to be held on 9 September.^[52]

On 18 September, the match Atlético Nacional vs. Deportes Tolima was suspended by DIMAYOR on advice from representatives from the Ministry of Health following the confirmation of positive COVID-19 cases in the latter team and despite having authorized the team's trip to Medellín to play the match. The match was scheduled to be played in the evening of that same day,^[53] and was eventually rescheduled for 30 September.

First stage

Knockout stage

Liguilla

Aggregate table

Copa Sudamericana play-off

The Liguilla winners played the aggregate table fourth best team not qualified for the 2021 Copa Libertadores in a single match for the Colombia 4 berth in the 2021 Copa Sudamericana. The match was hosted by the aggregate table fourth best team not qualified for the Copa Libertadores.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Club	Goals
1	Miguel Borja	Junior	14
2	Jáder Obrian	Rionegro Águilas	13
3	Cristian Arango	Millonarios	10
	Matías Mier	La Equidad
	Agustín Palavecino	Deportivo Cali
6	Jefferson Duque	Atlético Nacional	9
	Diego Herazo	Atlético Bucaramanga
	Adrián Ramos	América de Cali
9	Andrés Andrade	Atlético Nacional	7
	Ayron del Valle	Millonarios
	Jorge Luis Ramos	Santa Fe
	Pablo Sabbag	La Equidad

Source: Soccerway

Relegation

A separate table is kept to determine the teams that get relegated to the Categoría Primera B for the next season. This table is elaborated from a sum of all first stage games played for the current season and the previous two seasons. For purposes of elaborating the table, promoted teams are given the same point and goal tallies as the team in the 18th position at the start of the season.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no teams were relegated at the end of this season, with relegation being postponed until the end of the first semester of 2021 in order to ensure teams could be able to play the same amount of matches as originally scheduled.^[5]

Source: Dimayor
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored; 4th away goals scored.

Awards

Team of the year

Team of the Year[60] Goalkeeper Sebastián Viera (Junior) Defenders Walmer Pacheco (La Equidad) Jeison Palacios (Santa Fe) Edwin Velasco (América de Cali) Midfielders Fabián Sambueza (Santa Fe) Agustín Palavecino (Deportivo Cali) Andrés Andrade (Atlético Nacional) Matías Mier (La Equidad) Forwards Adrián Ramos (América de Cali) Duván Vergara (América de Cali) Miguel Borja (Junior) See also 2020 Categoría Primera B season 2020 Copa Colombia References 1 2 "Síntesis final de la asamblea extraordinaria de la DIMAYOR" (in Spanish). DIMAYOR. 31 October 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019. ↑ "¡América de Cali, bicampeón del fútbol colombiano!" (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 27 December 2020. ↑ "Síntesis del primer día de la Asamblea Extraordinaria de la DIMAYOR" (in Spanish). DIMAYOR. 30 October 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019. 1 2 "¡Aceptado! Así será el retorno del fútbol colombiano" (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 25 July 2020. 1 2 "El FPC no tendrá descenso en el 2020" (in Spanish). Marca Colombia. 13 August 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2020. ↑ "SÍNTESIS DE LA ASAMBLEA EXTRAORDINARIA DE LA DIMAYOR" (in Spanish). DIMAYOR. 9 September 2020. ↑ "Alexis García vuelve a ser 'asegurador': La Equidad oficializó su llegada para el 2020" (in Spanish). Gol Caracol. 7 January 2020. ↑ "Millonarios acepta la renuncia de Jorge Luis Pinto como DT" (in Spanish). AS Colombia. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019. ↑ "Oficial: Gamero firmó su contrato como nuevo técnico de Millonarios" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 4 December 2019. ↑ "'Willy' Rodríguez y 'Cenizo' Nunes, nuevo cuerpo técnico del Atlético" (in Spanish). Vanguardia. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019. ↑ "Van 15 cambios de DT: Flabio Torres no continuará en Rionegro Águilas" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019. ↑ "El venezolano Francesco Stifano, nuevo técnico de Rionegro Águilas" (in Spanish). Caracol Radio. 12 December 2019. ↑ "Guillermo Sanguinetti habla sobre su salida del Cúcuta" (in Spanish). W Radio. 12 December 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2020. ↑ "Por fin hubo noticias de Cúcuta: el club ya tiene nuevo entrenador" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 5 January 2020. ↑ "Así fue la emotiva despedida de Alberto Gamero en Deportes Tolima" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 4 December 2019. ↑ "Día de anuncios en Tolima: nuevo DT y se llevan una joven figura" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 6 December 2019. 1 2 "Octavio Zambrano deja el Pasto por falta de pago" (in Spanish). AS Colombia. 4 December 2019. ↑ "¡Confirmado! Lucas Pusineri deja la dirección técnica del Deportivo Cali" (in Spanish). El País. 7 December 2019. ↑ "¡Es oficial! Deportivo Cali definió a su nuevo entrenador para 2020" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 13 December 2019. 1 2 "Primer técnico despedido de 2020: el 'Willy' Rodríguez deja Bucaramanga" (in Spanish). Antena 2. 17 February 2020. ↑ "Y cayó el segundo: Jairo Patiño se va del Cúcuta Deportivo" (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 17 February 2020. ↑ "Oficial: Jorge Artigas es el nuevo técnico del Cúcuta Deportivo" (in Spanish). AS Colombia. 17 February 2020. ↑ "Sanguinetti vuelve a Colombia y tendrá otra experiencia en la Liga" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 22 February 2020. ↑ "Comienzo soñado y final decepcionante: sale otro técnico en la Liga" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 12 March 2020. ↑ "JAGUARES ANUNCIÓ EL REEMPLAZO DE JUAN CRUZ REAL, HOY EN AMÉRICA DE CALI" (in Spanish). Antena 2. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020. ↑ "América de Cali le suspendió el contrato a Alexandre Guimaraes" (in Spanish). El País. 29 May 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020. ↑ ""Guimaraes termina contrato el 14 de junio, estamos en proceso de desvinculación": Mauricio Romero" (in Spanish). El País. 1 June 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020. ↑ "Se viste de rojo: América presenta oficialmente a Juan Cruz Real" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 13 July 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020. 1 2 "Bélmer Aguilar tendrá su primera experiencia como técnico en Colombia" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020. 1 2 "Julio Comesaña se va campeón: renunció a dirección técnica de Junior" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020. ↑ "¡Y se acabó la paciencia! Bobadilla deja de ser técnico del Medellín" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 28 September 2020. ↑ "¡Es oficial! Medellín tiene nuevo entrenador tras salida de Bobadilla" (in Spanish). Futblred. 2 October 2020. ↑ "¡No va más! Néstor Craviotto renunció a su cargo como DT de Pereira" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 19 October 2020. ↑ "Fútbol colombiano: Deportivo Pereira oficializó a Alexis Márquez como técnico interino" (in Spanish). Gol Caracol. 3 November 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020. ↑ "Oficial: Atlético Nacional confirma la salida de Juan Carlos Osorio" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 1 November 2020. ↑ "ATLÉTICO NACIONAL ANUNCIÓ LOS ENCARGADOS DEL EQUIPO TRAS LA SALIDA DE OSORIO" (in Spanish). Antena 2. 1 November 2020. ↑ "Nacional define el DT que queda encargado al frente del equipo" (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020. ↑ "Cúcuta sigue en la mala, ahora se quedó sin cuerpo técnico" (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 3 November 2020. ↑ "Uno de la casa: Cúcuta ya tiene entrenador tras salida de Artigas" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 4 November 2020. 1 2 "Otro que se va: Javier Álvarez renunció al Medellín" (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 15 November 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020. 1 2 "MILLONARIOS COBRÓ CABEZA DE UN TÉCNICO; CÉSAR TORRES DEJA ALIANZA TRAS POLÉMICA GOLEADA" (in Spanish). Antena 2. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020. ↑ "Cero y van 13: equipo eliminado de cuartos anuncia salida de su DT" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 17 November 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020. ↑ "Patriotas tiene nuevo técnico y es un exjugador del Sevilla y del Real Madrid: Abel Segovia" (in Spanish). Gol Caracol. 17 November 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020. ↑ "Suspendido el fútbol profesional colombiano por coronavirus" (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 13 March 2020. ↑ "DIMAYOR envió comunicación a los clubes del FPC para la implementación del Protocolo de Bioseguridad" (in Spanish). DIMAYOR. 29 June 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020. ↑ "Ya hay una fecha para un posible inicio del fútbol colombiano" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 3 July 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020. ↑ "Regreso del FPC: Minsalud autoriza entrenamientos colectivos y competencia" (in Spanish). Deportes RCN. 20 August 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020. ↑ "Ya no sería el 12: el Gobierno contempla otra fecha para el fútbol" (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 27 August 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020. ↑ "¡Humo blanco! Así será el regreso del fútbol profesional" (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 31 August 2020. ↑ "El panorama se aclara: los dos juegos aplazados ya tienen fecha" (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 1 September 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020. ↑ "¡Se adelantó el FPC! Dimayor definió fecha y horario de aplazados" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 3 September 2020. ↑ "DIMAYOR comunicó a los clubes, fechas y opciones de sistemas de juego para la reactivación de las competencias" (in Spanish). DIMAYOR. 3 September 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2020. ↑ "Algo de razón: Dimayor aplazó Nacional vs Tolima por casos de covid-19" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 18 September 2020. ↑ "¿Qué va a pasar con el Cúcuta? La explicación de Dimayor" (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 12 November 2020. ↑ "RESOLUCIÓN NO. 022 DE 2020" (in Spanish). Dimayor. 15 November 2020. ↑ "En el escritorio, Once Caldas pierde el partido contra el Pereira" (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 28 October 2020. ↑ "REGLAMENTO LIGA BETPLAY DIMAYOR 2020" (PDF) (in Spanish). Dimayor.com.co. Retrieved 8 November 2020. ↑ "Los grupos y el fixture de la Liguilla de eliminados" (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2020. ↑ "¡Atención! Dimayor tomó la decisión de desafiliar al Cúcuta Deportivo" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 25 November 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020. ↑ "11 IDEAL DE LA LIGA BETPLAY DIMAYOR 2020" (in Spanish). Dimayor. 28 December 2020. External links Dimayor's official website (in Spanish)