2018 Bolivian Primera División season

The 2018 Bolivian Primera División season was the 41st season of Bolivia's top-flight football league and the first season under División de Fútbol Profesional management. Bolívar were the defending champions, having won the 2017 Clausura tournament.

Bolivian Primera División

Season	2018
Dates	27 January – 19 December 2018
Champions	Apertura: Jorge Wilstermann (14th title) Clausura: San José (4th title)
Relegated	Universitario
Copa Libertadores	Jorge Wilstermann San José The Strongest Bolívar
Copa Sudamericana	Royal Pari Oriente Petrolero Nacional Potosí Guabirá
Matches played	308
Goals scored	980 (3.18 per match)
Top goalscorer	Apertura: Carlos Saucedo (18 goals) Clausura: 3 players (20 goals each)
Biggest home win	San José 8–0 Destroyers (12 May) Bolívar 8–0 Real Potosí (16 December) The Strongest 8–0 Blooming (19 December)
Biggest away win	Real Potosí 0–6 Wilstermann (29 April)
Highest scoring	Bolívar 7–5 Royal Pari (7 October)
← 2016–17 2019 →

In the Torneo Apertura, Jorge Wilstermann won their fourteenth league title, and seventh in the professional era, after beating The Strongest on penalties in the third and last match of the finals on 6 June,^[1] and San José won their fourth league title in the Torneo Clausura on 19 December after tying with Royal Pari by a 1–1 score.^[2]

Format

Given that the league was expanded from 12 to 14 teams, the league format had a slight variation for this season. The Torneo Apertura was played in the first half of the year, with the 14 teams being split into two groups of seven teams each for the first stage, in which teams in each group played each other as well as a team from the other group (their derby rival) twice, for a total of 14 matches. The top four teams from each group qualified for the knockout stage, where they were sorted in four ties 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 six teams that failed to qualify for the knockout stage played another separate knockout tournament for a berth to the Copa Sudamericana.^[3] On the other hand, the Torneo Clausura was played in the second half of the year under a double round-robin system, with all teams playing each other twice for a total of 26 matches.^[4]

International qualification was as follows: the champions and runners-up of each tournament qualified for the 2019 Copa Libertadores, while the third-placed team in each tournament, as well as the fourth-placed in the Clausura and the winners of the Apertura's secondary knockout tournament would qualify for the 2019 Copa Sudamericana.^[3]

Teams

The number of teams for the 2018 season was increased by two, from twelve to fourteen. Aurora and Royal Pari were promoted to the top flight after winning the 2016–17 Copa Simón Bolívar and 2017 Copa Simón Bolívar, respectively. Petrolero was relegated to the ATF Championship after losing the relegation playoff to Destroyers, the 2016–17 Copa Simón Bolívar runner-up.

Aurora

Wilstermann

Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Bolívar, The Strongest

Nacional Potosí

Real Potosí

San José

Universitario

Guabirá

Sport Boys

Santa Cruz de la Sierra teams:
Blooming
Destroyers
Oriente Petrolero
Royal Pari

Locations of the 2018 Primera División teams.

Team	Manager	Home city	Home stadium	Capacity
Aurora	Marcos Ferrufino	Cochabamba	Félix Caprilesa	32,000
Blooming	Erwin Sánchez	Santa Cruz	Ramón Tahuichi Aguilera	38,000
Bolívar	Alfredo Arias	La Paz	Hernando Siles	42,000
Destroyers	Óscar Ramírez	Santa Cruz	Ramón Tahuichi Aguilera	38,000
Guabirá	Víctor Hugo Antelo	Montero	Gilberto Paradab	13,000
Jorge Wilstermann	Álvaro Peña	Cochabamba	Félix Caprilesa	32,000
Nacional Potosí	Alberto Illanes	Potosí	Víctor Agustín Ugarte	32,105
Oriente Petrolero	Ronald Arana	Santa Cruz	Ramón Tahuichi Aguilera	38,000
Real Potosí	Darwin Peña (caretaker)	Potosí	Víctor Agustín Ugarte	32,105
Royal Pari	Roberto Mosquera	Santa Cruz	Ramón Tahuichi Aguilera	38,000
San José	Eduardo Villegas	Oruro	Jesús Bermúdez	33,795
Sport Boys	César Vigevani	Warnes	Samuel Vaca	9,000
The Strongest	César Farías	La Paz	Hernando Siles	42,000
Universitario de Sucre	Adrián Romero	Sucre	Olímpico Patria	30,700

a: Aurora and Jorge Wilstermann played their Torneo Apertura home games at Estadio Capitán José Angulo in Sacaba due to the closure of Estadio Félix Capriles in preparation of the 2018 South American Games. Aurora played its Torneo Apertura home match against Jorge Wilstermann at Estadio Evo Morales in Ivirgarzama.^[5]
b: Guabirá played six of their seven home games in the Torneo Apertura first stage at Estadio Ramón Tahuichi Aguilera in Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Estadio Samuel Vaca in Warnes while their regular stadium Estadio Gilberto Parada underwent remodeling works.

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Torneo Apertura
Nacional Potosí	Ángel Pérez García	Sacked	8 February 2018[6]	6th (Serie B)	Edgardo Malvestiti	10 February 2018[7]
Sport Boys	Marcos Ferrufino		25 February 2018[8]	7th (Serie B)	César Vigevani	25 February 2018[8]
Blooming	Jeaustin Campos	Mutual consent	6 March 2018[9]	5th (Serie B)	Roly Paniagua (caretaker)	7 March 2018[10]
Blooming	Roly Paniagua	End of caretaker spell	25 March 2018[11]	4th (Serie B)	Erwin Sánchez	26 March 2018[11]
The Strongest	Carlos Ischia	Mutual consent	26 March 2018[12]	2nd (Serie B)	César Farías	29 March 2018[13]
Royal Pari	David de la Torre		4 April 2018[14]	7th (Serie B)	Miguel Abrigo (caretaker)	4 April 2018[14]
Aurora	Miguel Ángel Zahzú	Resigned	16 April 2018[15]	5th (Serie B)	Román Arriarán (caretaker)	16 April 2018[15]
Royal Pari	Miguel Abrigo	End of caretaker spell	17 April 2018[16]	7th (Serie B)	Roberto Mosquera	17 April 2018[16]
Oriente Petrolero	Néstor Clausen	Mutual consent	14 May 2018[17]	3rd (Serie A), QFs	Juan Manuel Llop	9 June 2018[18]
Real Potosí	Milton Maygua		14 May 2018[19]	5th (Serie A), SFs	Néstor Cari (caretaker)	16 May 2018[20]
Universitario de Sucre	Óscar Sanz	End of contract	15 May 2018[21]	7th (Serie A), QFs	Carlos Leeb	4 June 2018[22]
Torneo Clausura
Bolívar	Vinícius Eutrópio	Sacked	9 June 2018[23]	Pre-tournament	Alfredo Arias	16 June 2018[24]
Real Potosí	Néstor Cari	End of caretaker spell	13 June 2018		Wálter Botto	13 June 2018[25]
Aurora	Román Arriarán		18 June 2018		Roberto Pérez	18 June 2018[26]
Real Potosí	Wálter Botto	Sacked	4 August 2018[27]	13th	Sergio Apaza	4 August 2018[27]
Aurora	Roberto Pérez	Resigned	7 August 2018[28]	13th	Marcos Ferrufino	8 August 2018[29]
Destroyers	José Peña		13 August 2018[30]	11th	Cleibson Ferreira	14 August 2018[31]
Nacional Potosí	Edgardo Malvestiti	Sacked	21 August 2018[32]	10th	Alberto Illanes	22 August 2018[33]
Universitario de Sucre	Carlos Leeb		21 August 2018[34]	14th	Adrián Romero	22 August 2018[35]
Oriente Petrolero	Juan Manuel Llop	Resigned	20 September 2018[36]	6th	Luis Marín Camacho (caretaker)	21 September 2018[37]
Oriente Petrolero	Luis Marín Camacho	End of caretaker spell	30 September 2018	6th	Ronald Arana	1 October 2018[38]
Destroyers	Cleibson Ferreira	Resigned	26 October 2018[39]	11th	Óscar Ramírez	26 October 2018[39]
Real Potosí	Sergio Apaza	Sacked	19 December 2018[40]	13th	Darwin Peña (caretaker)	19 December 2018[40]

Torneo Apertura

The Torneo Apertura began on 27 January and ended on 6 June.

Standings

Serie A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Jorge Wilstermann	14	10	2	2	42	13	+29	32	Qualification to Championship playoff
2	Bolívar	14	7	4	3	30	16	+14	25
3	Oriente Petrolero	14	5	5	4	26	21	+5	20
4	Destroyers	14	3	7	4	22	28	−6	16
5	Real Potosí[a]	14	5	1	8	23	47	−24	13	Qualification to Copa Sudamericana playoff
6	Guabirá	14	2	5	7	23	28	−5	11
7	Universitario de Sucre	14	2	5	7	18	29	−11	11

Source: LFPB, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Goal difference, 3) Goals for, 4) Away goals for, 5) Drawing of lots.
Notes:

1. Real Potosí were deducted three points as punishment for failing to pay debts with former players and managers.^[41]

Serie B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	San José	14	9	4	1	29	11	+18	31	Qualification to Championship playoff
2	The Strongest	14	7	1	6	22	16	+6	22
3	Nacional Potosí	14	5	3	6	21	24	−3	18
4	Blooming[a]	14	7	2	5	18	20	−2	17
5	Royal Pari	14	3	5	6	13	19	−6	14	Qualification to Copa Sudamericana playoff
6	Aurora	14	3	5	6	14	21	−7	14
7	Sport Boys	14	3	5	6	14	22	−8	14

Source: LFPB, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Goal difference, 3) Goals for, 4) Away goals for, 5) Drawing of lots.
Notes:

1. Blooming were deducted six points as punishment for outstanding debts with former players Ignacio Ithurralde and Marcos Acosta.^[42][43]

Results

Home \ Away	AUR	BLO	BOL	DES	GUA	WIL	NAC	OPE	RPO	RPA	SJO	SBO	STR	UNI
Aurora	—	0–2	—	—	—	0–0	2–0	—	—	0–0	1–1	2–2	2–0	—
Blooming	1–0	—	—	—	—	—	1–2	1–1	—	2–2	0–1	1–0	2–1	—
Bolívar	—	—	—	1–1	2–0	5–1	—	0–0	5–1	—	—	—	3–0	2–0
Destroyers	—	—	2–2	—	4–4	0–2	—	3–1	2–0	0–2	—	—	—	1–0
Guabirá	—	—	4–1	0–0	—	1–3	—	1–2	6–0	—	—	1–1	—	2–2
Jorge Wilstermann	5–1	—	4–2	4–0	3–0	—	—	1–0	4–0	—	—	—	—	7–0
Nacional Potosí	1–1	4–3	—	—	—	—	—	—	2–3	2–2	2–2	3–0	0–1	—
Oriente Petrolero	—	1–2	0–0	4–4	5–2	3–1	—	—	3–1	—	—	—	—	4–2
Real Potosí	—	—	1–6	5–2	2–1	0–6	3–2	2–1	—	—	—	—	—	4–4
Royal Pari	3–0	0–1	—	2–2	—	—	1–0	—	—	—	0–2	1–2	0–2	—
San José	3–2	4–0	—	—	—	—	1–2	—	—	3–0	—	4–0	3–1	2–1
Sport Boys	1–2	0–2	—	—	1–1	—	4–0	—	—	0–0	0–0	—	3–2	—
The Strongest	2–1	4–0	2–0	—	—	—	0–1	—	—	3–0	1–1	3–0	—	—
Universitario de Sucre	—	—	0–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	—	1–1	3–1	—	1–2	—	—	—

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

Championship playoff

Quarterfinals

Teams			Scores
Team 1	Points	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg	Penalty shootout (if needed)
Jorge Wilstermann	6:0	Blooming	3–0	3–1	—
Nacional Potosí	0:6	Bolívar	1–2	0–1	—
Oriente Petrolero	0:6	The Strongest	0–1	1–5	—
Destroyers	3:3	San José	1–0	0–8	2–4

Semifinals

Teams			Scores
Team 1	Points	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg	Penalty shootout (if needed)
San José	0:6	Jorge Wilstermann	2–4	0–1	—
Bolívar	1:4	The Strongest	0–1	1–1	—

Third place play-off

Teams			Scores
Team 1	Points	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg	Tiebreaker match (if needed)
San José	6:0	Bolívar	4–0	2–0	—

Finals

30 May 2018

20:00 UTC−4

The Strongest	2–1	Jorge Wilstermann
Ballivián 42' Martelli 78'	Report	Alex Silva 62'

Estadio Hernando Siles, La Paz

Referee: Juan Nelio García

---

3 June 2018

15:00 UTC−4

Jorge Wilstermann	2–1	The Strongest
Serginho 3', 31'	Report	Martelli 45'

Estadio Capitán José Angulo, Sacaba

Referee: Ivo Méndez

---

6 June 2018

20:00 UTC−4

Jorge Wilstermann	2–2	The Strongest
Álvarez 9' Serginho 49'	Report	Martelli 40' Ortiz 78'
Penalties
Saucedo Chávez Ortiz Lucas Gaúcho Giménez Álvarez Vaca	3–2	Martelli Ortiz Escobar Valverde Ibargüen Vaca Cardozo

Estadio Olímpico Patria, Sucre

Referee: Ivo Méndez

División de Fútbol Profesional 2018 Torneo Apertura champions
Jorge Wilstermann 14th domestic title

Copa Sudamericana playoff

Quarterfinals

Teams			Scores
Team 1	Points	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg	Penalty shootout (if needed)
Sport Boys	4:1	Real Potosí	0–0	2–1	—
Guabirá	4:1	Aurora	1–0	0–0	—
Royal Pari	6:0	Universitario de Sucre	1–0	2–0	—

Semifinals

Teams			Scores
Team 1	Points	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg	Penalty shootout (if needed)
Royal Pari	3:3	Real Potosí	2–1	0–3	3–4
Guabirá	2:2	Sport Boys	2–2	0–0	5–4

Finals

Teams			Scores
Team 1	Points	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg	Tiebreaker match (if needed)
Guabirá	6:0	Real Potosí	4–1	2–0	—

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Club	Goals
1	Carlos Saucedo	San José	18
2	Gilbert Álvarez	Jorge Wilstermann	16
3	José Alfredo Castillo	Guabirá	12
4	Jefferson Tavares	Destroyers	9
5	José Alí Meza	Oriente Petrolero	8
6	Juanmi Callejón	Bolívar	7
	Ricardo Pedriel	Jorge Wilstermann
	Rodrigo Ramallo	San José
	Harold Reina	Nacional Potosí
	Marcos Riquelme	Bolívar

Source: LFPB

Torneo Clausura

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	San José (C)	26	17	2	7	71	38	+33	53	Qualification to Copa Libertadores group stage
2	The Strongest	26	16	2	8	65	29	+36	50	Qualification to Copa Libertadores second stage
3	Royal Pari	26	15	5	6	51	35	+16	50
4	Bolívar	26	15	2	9	72	45	+27	47
5	Jorge Wilstermann	26	13	5	8	42	30	+12	44
6	Sport Boys	26	12	5	9	44	47	−3	41
7	Nacional Potosí	26	11	5	10	43	40	+3	38
8	Oriente Petrolero	26	11	5	10	27	32	−5	38
9	Blooming	26	10	6	10	41	43	−2	36
10	Guabirá	26	9	3	14	37	48	−11	30
11	Aurora	26	8	3	15	25	40	−15	27
12	Real Potosí	26	6	4	16	30	68	−38	22
13	Universitario de Sucre[a]	26	6	5	15	18	50	−32	20
14	Destroyers	26	4	6	16	22	45	−23	18

Source: FBF, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Playoff game (only if needed to decide championship between two teams), 3) Goal difference, 4) Goals for, 5) Away goals for, 6) Drawing of lots.
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. Universitario de Sucre were deducted three points as punishment for failing to pay an outstanding debt with former manager Óscar Sanz.^[44]

Results

Home \ Away	AUR	BLO	BOL	DES	GUA	WIL	NAC	OPE	RPO	RPA	SJO	SBO	STR	UNI
Aurora	—	0–0	0–4	5–0	1–0	2–0	1–0	0–0	3–2	0–2	1–2	4–2	1–2	0–0
Blooming	2–1	—	3–2	1–0	2–3	0–3	3–1	2–0	5–0	1–1	1–3	2–1	2–1	7–1
Bolívar	3–0	3–0	—	5–1	3–0	2–1	2–0	3–0	8–0	7–5	4–2	3–3	1–1	6–0
Destroyers	1–0	1–1	0–2	—	1–2	0–0	0–2	0–0	2–1	2–0	3–0	2–3	0–1	1–1
Guabirá	3–0	3–1	2–0	3–2	—	4–0	2–2	0–1	2–2	1–2	2–0	2–3	0–2	2–0
Jorge Wilstermann	3–0	0–0	3–1	2–1	3–2	—	2–2	1–2	4–0	1–0	3–1	1–0	3–1	2–0
Nacional Potosí	2–1	0–0	6–1	0–0	3–2	1–0	—	3–0	2–0	3–1	2–5	1–1	2–3	2–0
Oriente Petrolero	2–0	0–3	2–1	1–0	0–0	1–1	1–0	—	7–2	1–0	1–3	1–1	2–1	2–0
Real Potosí	1–0	1–1	4–2	3–2	2–0	0–2	2–3	1–0	—	1–2	0–5	3–1	0–3	1–1
Royal Pari	4–1	3–2	4–2	1–1	2–1	2–2	5–1	1–0	2–1	—	1–1	4–1	1–0	3–0
San José	3–2	4–1	3–2	3–1	6–0	2–1	2–3	5–0	2–1	1–1	—	6–0	3–1	3–0
Sport Boys	2–0	1–0	4–1	3–0	2–0	2–1	2–1	0–1	4–1	0–3	3–0	—	2–2	2–1
The Strongest	0–1	8–0	0–1	4–1	6–0	4–1	2–0	2–1	5–1	3–1	4–2	6–0	—	2–1
Universitario de Sucre	0–1	2–1	1–3	1–0	2–1	0–2	2–1	2–1	0–0	0–1	0–4	1–1	2–1	—

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

División de Fútbol Profesional 2018 Torneo Clausura champions
San José 4th domestic title

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Club	Goals
1	Rolando Blackburn	The Strongest	20
	Jair Reinoso	San José
	Marcos Riquelme	Bolívar
4	Pablo Escobar	The Strongest	16
5	Juanmi Callejón	Bolívar	15
	John Jairo Mosquera	Royal Pari
7	William Ferreira	Bolívar	14
	Martín Prost	Sport Boys
9	José Alfredo Castillo	Guabirá	13
10	Harold Reina	Nacional Potosí	12
	Javier Sanguinetti	San José

Source: Soccerway

Aggregate table

The aggregate table was elaborated considering the results in the Torneo Apertura (only the first stage) and the Torneo Clausura. The bottom-placed team in this table at the end of the season was relegated, while the next lowest placed team played the relegation playoff. In addition to this, all international qualification berths left vacant at the end of the season were allocated through this table.^[45]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	San José (C)	40	26	6	8	99	49	+50	84	Qualification to Copa Libertadores group stage
2	Jorge Wilstermann (C)	40	23	7	10	85	42	+43	76
3	The Strongest	40	23	3	14	87	45	+42	72	Qualification to Copa Libertadores second stage
4	Bolívar	40	22	6	12	102	61	+41	72	Qualification to Copa Libertadores first stage
5	Royal Pari	40	18	10	12	65	53	+12	64	Qualification to Copa Sudamericana first stage
6	Oriente Petrolero	40	16	10	14	53	53	0	58
7	Nacional Potosí	40	16	8	16	64	64	0	56
8	Sport Boys	40	15	10	15	58	69	−11	55
9	Blooming[a]	40	17	8	15	59	62	−3	53
10	Guabirá	40	11	8	21	60	76	−16	41	Qualification to Copa Sudamericana first stage
11	Aurora	40	11	8	21	39	61	−22	41
12	Real Potosí[b]	40	11	5	24	53	115	−62	35
13	Destroyers (O)	40	7	13	20	44	73	−29	34	Qualification to Relegation playoff
14	Universitario de Sucre[c] (R)	40	8	10	22	36	79	−43	31	Relegation to Copa Simón Bolívar

Source: Boliviagol
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Playoff game (only if needed to decide teams for relegation), 3) Goal difference, 4) Goals for, 5) Away goals for, 6) Drawing of lots.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Blooming were deducted six points as punishment for outstanding debts with former players Ignacio Ithurralde and Marcos Acosta.^[42][43]
2. Real Potosí were deducted three points as punishment for failing to pay debts with former players and managers.^[41]
3. Universitario were deducted three points as punishment for failing to pay an outstanding debt with former manager Óscar Sanz.^[44]

Relegation/promotion playoff

The relegation playoff was played between:

• Destroyers (2018 División Profesional aggregate table 13th place)
• Avilés Industrial (2018 Copa Simón Bolívar runners-up)

The winners will play in the top flight for the 2019 season.

23 December 2018

15:30

Avilés Industrial	1–2	Destroyers
Costa 12'	Report	Álvarez 35' Tavares 45'

Estadio IV Centenario, Tarija

Referee: Luis Yrusta

---

26 December 2018

20:30

Destroyers	2–0	Avilés Industrial
Saravia 65' (pen.) Tavares 90+2'	Report

Estadio Ramón Tahuichi Aguilera, Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Referee: Raúl Orosco

Destroyers won 6–0 on points.