2019 Uruguayan Primera División season

The 2019 Liga Profesional de Primera División season, also known as the Campeonato Uruguayo 2019, was the 116th season of Uruguay's top-flight football league, and the 89th in which it is professional. The season was named as "100 Años de Racing Club de Montevideo" and was originally scheduled to begin on 9 February but its start was pushed back for one week to 16 February.^[1][2] The season ended on 15 December with Nacional winning their forty-seventh title by beating Peñarol in the semifinal. Peñarol were the defending champions, having won back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018.

Liga Profesional de Primera División

Season	2019
Dates	16 February – 15 December 2019
Champions	Nacional (47th title)
Relegated	Racing Rampla Juniors Juventud
Copa Libertadores	Nacional Peñarol Cerro Largo Progreso
Copa Sudamericana	Liverpool Plaza Colonia River Plate Fénix
Matches played	299
Goals scored	804 (2.69 per match)
Top goalscorer	Apertura: Leonardo Fernández (12 goals) Intermedio: Juan Ignacio Ramírez (8 goals) Clausura: Gonzalo Bergessio and Jonathan Dos Santos (7 goals each)
Biggest home win	Nacional 6–0 River Plate (6 April)
Biggest away win	Liverpool 0–5 Danubio (11 May)
Highest scoring	Fénix 4–4 Liverpool (24 February) Liverpool 3–5 Progreso (2 March) Liverpool 6–2 Defensor Sporting (16 March) Fénix 4–4 Nacional (20 April)
← 2018 2020 →

Teams

Montevideo

Boston River

Cerro Largo

Juventud

Plaza Colonia

Locations of the 2019 season teams outside Montevideo.

Cerro

Danubio

Defensor Sporting

Fénix

Liverpool

Wanderers

Nacional

Peñarol

Progreso

Racing

Rampla Juniors

River Plate

Locations of the 2019 Primera División teams within Montevideo.

El Tanque Sisley, who did not compete in the 2018 season, as well as the two bottom-placed teams in the relegation table of the 2018 season, Torque and Atenas, were relegated to the Segunda División for the 2019 season. They will be replaced by Cerro Largo, Juventud, and Plaza Colonia, who were promoted from the Segunda División.

Club	Manager	City	Stadium	Capacity
Boston River	Martín García	Montevideo Florida	Complejo Rentistas Campeones Olímpicos	10,600 7,000
Cerro	Julio César Antúnez	Montevideo	Luis Tróccoli	24,000
Cerro Largo	Danielo Núñez	Melo	Antonio Ubilla	9,000
Danubio	Mauricio Larriera	Montevideo	Jardines del Hipódromo	14,401
Defensor Sporting	Ignacio Risso	Montevideo	Luis Franzini	18,000
Fénix	Juan Ramón Carrasco	Montevideo	Parque Capurro	5,500
Juventud	Pablo Tiscornia	Las Piedras	Parque Artigas	12,000
Liverpool	Osvaldo Canobbio (caretaker)	Montevideo	Belvedere	10,000
Montevideo Wanderers	Alfredo Arias	Montevideo	Parque Alfredo Víctor Viera	7,420
Nacional	Álvaro Gutiérrez	Montevideo	Gran Parque Central	34,000
Peñarol	Diego López	Montevideo	Campeón del Siglo	40,000
Plaza Colonia	Matías Rosa	Colonia	Parque Juan Prandi	4,500
Progreso	Leonel Rocco	Montevideo	Parque Abraham Paladino	8,000
Racing	Eduardo Favaro	Montevideo	Osvaldo Roberto	8,500
Rampla Juniors	Eduardo Espinel	Montevideo	Olímpico	9,500
River Plate	Jorge Fossati	Montevideo	Parque Federico Omar Saroldi	5,624

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Torneo Apertura
Progreso	Marcelo Méndez	Resigned	6 November 2018[3]	Pre-season	Leonel Rocco	21 November 2018[4]
Rampla Juniors	Julio César Antúnez	End of contract	12 November 2018[5]		Julio César Toresani	14 November 2018[6]
Montevideo Wanderers	Eduardo Espinel	Mutual agreement	23 November 2018[7]		Román Cuello	28 November 2018[8]
Defensor Sporting	Eduardo Acevedo	Resigned	5 December 2018[9]		Jorge da Silva	13 December 2018[10]
Nacional	Alexander Medina		7 December 2018[11]		Eduardo Domínguez	27 December 2018[12]
Cerro	Fernando Correa	End of contract	10 December 2018[13]		Jorge González	20 December 2018[14]
Danubio	Pablo Peirano		12 December 2018[15]		Marcelo Méndez	17 December 2018[16]
Boston River	Alejandro Apud	Resigned	18 December 2018[17]		Gastón Machado	24 December 2018[18]
Rampla Juniors	Julio César Toresani	Sacked	26 February 2019[19]	16th	Gastón de los Santos (caretaker)	27 February 2019[20]
Rampla Juniors	Gastón de los Santos	End of caretaker spell	4 March 2019	16th	Rosario Martínez	5 March 2019[21]
Nacional	Eduardo Domínguez	Sacked	17 March 2019[22]	15th	Álvaro Gutiérrez	17 March 2019[23]
Plaza Colonia	Mario Szlafmyc	Resigned	27 March 2019[24]	14th	Matías Rosa	27 March 2019[24]
Defensor Sporting	Jorge da Silva	Mutual consent	1 April 2019[25]	16th	Ignacio Risso	1 April 2019[26]
Cerro	Jorge González	Sacked	7 April 2019[27]	16th	Richard Martínez	8 April 2019[28]
Racing	Juan Tejera	Resigned	1 June 2019[29]	12th	Alejandro Apud	13 June 2019[30]
Torneo Intermedio
River Plate	Jorge Giordano	Mutual consent	10 June 2019[31]	Pre-tournament	Jorge Fossati	13 June 2019[32]
Boston River	Gastón Machado	Sacked	29 July 2019[33]	8th, Serie A	Martín García	30 July 2019[34]
Rampla Juniors	Rosario Martínez		19 August 2019[35]	6th, Serie B	Gastón de los Santos (caretaker)	19 August 2019[35]
Cerro	Richard Martínez		21 August 2019[36]	7th, Serie B	Santiago Kalemkerian (caretaker)	22 August 2019[36]
Rampla Juniors	Gastón de los Santos	End of caretaker spell	25 August 2019	6th, Serie B	Eduardo Espinel	26 August 2019[37]
Cerro	Santiago Kalemkerian		31 August 2019	7th, Serie B	Julio César Antúnez	29 August 2019[38]
Juventud	Álvaro Fuerte	Sacked	31 August 2019[39]	6th, Serie A	Pablo Tiscornia	3 September 2019[40]
Montevideo Wanderers	Román Cuello		1 September 2019[41]	8th, Serie B	Alfredo Arias	2 September 2019[42]
Danubio	Marcelo Méndez	Resigned	2 September 2019[42]	8th, Serie A	Mauricio Larriera	4 September 2019[43]
Torneo Clausura
Racing	Alejandro Apud	Resigned	23 September 2019[44]	16th	Eduardo Favaro	24 September 2019[45]
Liverpool	Paulo Pezzolano	Signed by Pachuca	25 November 2019[46]	8th	Osvaldo Canobbio (caretaker)	25 November 2019[46]

Torneo Apertura

The Torneo Apertura, named "Sr. Juan Lazaroff", was the first tournament of the 2019 season. It began on 16 February and ended on 5 June.

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Peñarol	15	9	4	2	27	11	+16	31	Qualification for Championship playoff
2	Fénix	15	8	4	3	36	26	+10	28
3	Nacional	15	7	6	2	32	17	+15	27
4	Cerro Largo	15	8	3	4	23	12	+11	27
5	Danubio	15	8	3	4	22	17	+5	27
6	Montevideo Wanderers	15	6	5	4	21	22	−1	23
7	Progreso	15	6	4	5	27	25	+2	22
8	Liverpool	15	5	5	5	29	29	0	20
9	Boston River	15	5	5	5	18	22	−4	20
10	Rampla Juniors	15	5	3	7	16	23	−7	18
11	Defensor Sporting	15	4	4	7	21	27	−6	16
12	Racing	15	4	3	8	20	30	−10	15
13	Juventud	15	4	2	9	21	22	−1	14
14	Plaza Colonia	15	3	5	7	15	21	−6	14
15	River Plate	15	3	5	7	14	30	−16	14
16	Cerro	15	3	3	9	14	23	−9	12

Source: AUF, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Playoff game, in case two teams are tied for first place.
If there are more than two teams tied in points: 2) Goal difference, 3) Goals for, 4) Head-to-head record, 5) Drawing of lots, 6) Playoff game, in case two teams are still tied for first place.

Results

Home \ Away	BOR	CRR	CRL	DAN	DFS	FNX	JUV	LIV	WAN	NAC	PEÑ	PCO	PRO	RAC	RAJ	RIV
Boston River	—	—	2–3	—	—	1–3	—	0–4	—	—	0–4	2–2	—	2–1	1–1	2–0
Cerro	0–1	—	—	—	0–2	—	1–0	—	3–0	0–2	—	1–1	0–2	—	—	—
Cerro Largo	—	4–1	—	2–0	—	2–0	—	—	—	2–2	1–0	1–0	0–0	—	—	2–0
Danubio	1–0	1–0	—	—	1–1	—	4–3	—	0–2	2–0	—	—	3–2	—	—	—
Defensor Sporting	0–0	—	0–3	—	—	2–4	1–4	—	1–1	—	0–1	4–1	—	—	—	1–1
Fénix	—	2–1	—	5–1	—	—	—	4–4	—	4–4	1–2	—	—	2–0	3–1	—
Juventud	0–1	—	1–0	—	—	1–2	—	—	4–1	—	—	0–0	—	—	1–1	4–1
Liverpool	—	2–2	3–2	0–5	6–2	—	2–1	—	—	1–1	—	—	3–5	1–1	—	—
Montevideo Wanderers	0–3	—	0–0	—	—	0–2	—	2–1	—	—	2–0	2–2	—	—	1–0	1–1
Nacional	2–2	—	—	—	1–0	—	1–0	—	1–4	—	—	3–0	4–0	—	—	6–0
Peñarol	—	1–1	—	1–0	—	—	4–1	1–0	—	1–1	—	—	2–2	2–2	5–0	—
Plaza Colonia	—	—	—	0–1	—	2–2	—	1–2	—	—	0–1	—	—	4–1	0–1	1–0
Progreso	1–1	—	—	—	0–3	3–0	1–0	—	2–2	—	—	0–1	—	—	—	4–0
Racing	—	1–3	1–0	0–2	4–2	—	2–1	—	2–4	1–1	—	—	3–0	—	—	—
Rampla Juniors	—	2–0	2–1	0–0	0–2	—	—	2–0	—	0–3	—	—	3–4	2–0	—	—
River Plate	—	2–1	—	1–1	—	2–2	—	0–0	—	—	0–2	—	—	4–1	2–1	—

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

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Club	Goals
1	Leonardo Fernández	Fénix	12
2	Sebastián Sosa	Cerro Largo	11
	Joaquín Zeballos	Juventud
4	Maximiliano Pérez	Fénix	9
	Juan Ignacio Ramírez	Liverpool
6	Gonzalo Bergessio	Nacional	8
7	Carlos Grossmüller	Danubio	7
	Rodrigo Pastorini	Montevideo Wanderers
	Maximiliano Pérez	Boston River
	Cecilio Waterman	Plaza Colonia

Source: Soccerway

Torneo Intermedio

The Torneo Intermedio was the second tournament of the 2019 season, played between the Apertura and Clausura tournaments. It consisted of two groups whose composition depended on the final standings of the Torneo Apertura: teams in odd-numbered positions played in Serie A, and teams in even-numbered positions played in Serie B. It started on 13 July and concluded on 8 September, with the winners being granted a berth into the 2020 Copa Sudamericana and the 2020 Supercopa Uruguaya.

Serie A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		RIV	NAC	PRO	PEÑ	DFS	JUV	BOR	DAN
1	River Plate	7	4	3	0	7	3	+4	15	Advance to Torneo Intermedio Final		—	—	0–0	1–0	2–1	—	—	—
2	Nacional	7	4	2	1	13	6	+7	14			1–1	—	4–2	3–0	1–2	—	—	—
3	Progreso	7	2	4	1	9	7	+2	10			—	—	—	1–1	3–1	0–0	—	2–0
4	Peñarol	7	2	3	2	9	7	+2	9			—	—	—	—	—	0–0	4–0	2–0
5	Defensor Sporting	7	2	3	2	12	12	0	9			—	—	—	2–2	—	1–1	2–2	3–1
6	Juventud	7	1	4	2	5	7	−2	7			1–2	0–2	—	—	—	—	1–0	2–2
7	Boston River	7	1	4	2	5	9	−4	7			0–0	0–0	1–1	—	—	—	—	—
8	Danubio	7	0	1	6	5	14	−9	1			0–1	1–2	—	—	—	—	1–2	—

Source: AUF, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Goal difference, 3) Goals for, 4) Head-to-head record, 5) Drawing of lots, 6) Playoff game, in case two teams are tied for first place.

Serie B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		LIV	CRL	PCO	FNX	RAJ	CRR	RAC	WAN
1	Liverpool	7	6	0	1	18	5	+13	18	Advance to Torneo Intermedio Final		—	—	3–0	5–1	—	—	3–1	3–1
2	Cerro Largo	7	5	1	1	11	5	+6	16			1–0	—	—	1–0	—	2–0	3–0	—
3	Plaza Colonia	7	4	1	2	9	7	+2	13			—	3–1	—	—	1–2	0–0	—	2–1
4	Fénix	7	3	0	4	7	10	−3	9			—	—	0–1	—	1–0	—	—	3–0
5	Rampla Juniors	7	2	1	4	11	12	−1	7			1–2	1–1	—	—	—	0–1	—	—
6	Cerro	7	2	1	4	3	7	−4	7			0–2	—	—	0–1	—	—	1–2	—
7	Racing	7	2	1	4	10	16	−6	7			—	—	0–2	3–1	2–4	—	—	2–2
8	Montevideo Wanderers	7	1	1	5	9	16	−7	4			—	1–2	—	—	4–3	0–1	—	—

Source: AUF, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Goal difference, 3) Goals for, 4) Head-to-head record, 5) Drawing of lots, 6) Playoff game, in case two teams are tied for first place.

Torneo Intermedio Final

8 September 2019

15:00

Liverpool	2–2 (a.e.t.)	River Plate
Ramírez 20' Olivera 97'	Report	Piquerez 69' Viera 110'
Penalties
Olivera Martínez Ramírez Cándido Acevedo Caballero	5–4	Alonso Rodríguez Leites Fernández Piquerez Píriz

Estadio Luis Franzini, Montevideo

Referee: Andrés Matonte

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Club	Goals
1	Juan Ignacio Ramírez	Liverpool	9
2	Mariano Pavone	Defensor Sporting	6
3	Gonzalo Bergessio	Nacional	5
4	Jonathan Dos Santos	Cerro Largo	4
	Federico Martínez	Liverpool
	Nicolás Sosa	Racing
	Cecilio Waterman	Plaza Colonia

Source: Soccerway

Torneo Clausura

The Torneo Clausura, named "Sr. Franz Oppenheimer", was the third and last tournament of the 2019 season. It began on 14 September and ended on 11 December.

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Nacional	15	11	1	3	27	10	+17	34	Qualification for Torneo Clausura decider
2	Peñarol	15	10	4	1	21	10	+11	34
3	Progreso[a]	15	9	4	2	22	14	+8	33
4	Plaza Colonia	15	9	2	4	16	9	+7	29
5	Cerro Largo	15	8	2	5	22	17	+5	26
6	River Plate	15	6	4	5	20	19	+1	22
7	Liverpool	15	5	6	4	14	13	+1	21
8	Boston River	15	6	3	6	18	19	−1	21
9	Defensor Sporting	15	6	2	7	25	22	+3	20
10	Montevideo Wanderers	15	5	4	6	19	18	+1	19
11	Racing	15	4	3	8	20	26	−6	15
12	Cerro[a]	15	4	3	8	14	22	−8	14
13	Danubio	15	3	4	8	14	21	−7	13
14	Juventud	15	2	5	8	13	23	−10	11
15	Fénix	15	2	5	8	16	27	−11	11
16	Rampla Juniors	15	2	4	9	16	28	−12	10

Source: AUF, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Playoff game, in case two teams are tied for first place.
If there are more than two teams tied in points: 2) Goal difference, 3) Goals for, 4) Head-to-head record, 5) Drawing of lots, 6) Playoff game, in case two teams are still tied for first place.
Notes:

1. Progreso were awarded two points and Cerro were deducted one point due to Cerro fielding the ineligible player Martín González during the Torneo Clausura match between both teams.^[47]

Results

Home \ Away	BOR	CRR	CRL	DAN	DFS	FNX	JUV	LIV	WAN	NAC	PEÑ	PCO	PRO	RAC	RAJ	RIV
Boston River	—	2–2	—	3–1	1–4	—	2–1	—	1–3	0–2	—	—	1–1	—	—	—
Cerro	—	—	0–2	0–1	—	1–0	—	0–2	—	—	1–3	—	—	1–0	0–1	3–2
Cerro Largo	1–0	—	—	—	1–4	—	2–0	1–1	0–2	—	—	—	—	2–1	5–1	—
Danubio	—	—	1–2	—	—	1–1	—	1–2	—	—	0–2	0–1	—	3–2	1–1	1–1
Defensor Sporting	—	1–1	—	1–2	—	—	—	0–0	—	2–1	—	—	2–4	4–0	1–0	—
Fénix	1–2	—	1–1	—	3–2	—	2–2	—	3–3	—	—	0–2	1–2	—	—	1–0
Juventud	—	4–2	—	0–0	1–3	—	—	0–0	—	0–3	1–1	—	1–2	0–0	—	—
Liverpool	0–0	—	—	—	—	1–1	—	—	2–2	—	1–0	0–1	—	—	1–0	0–1
Montevideo Wanderers	—	0–2	—	2–1	2–0	—	3–0	—	—	0–1	—	—	0–1	0–2	—	—
Nacional	—	2–0	0–1	1–0	—	2–0	—	4–1	—	—	0–0	—	—	3–0	4–3	—
Peñarol	1–0	—	2–1	—	1–0	2–1	—	—	1–0	—	—	2–1	—	—	—	1–0
Plaza Colonia	1–0	1–0	1–0	—	4–1	—	1–0	—	0–0	0–2	—	—	0–1	—	—	—
Progreso	—	1–1	0–1	2–1	—	—	—	2–1	—	0–1	0–0	—	—	2–1	2–2	—
Racing	0–1	—	—	—	—	4–1	—	0–2	—	—	3–3	3–2	—	—	3–1	1–1
Rampla Juniors	0–1	—	—	—	—		1–3	—	1–1	—	1–2	0–1	—	—	—	2–2
River Plate	1–4	—	3–2	—	1–0	—	1–0	—	3–1	3–1	—	0–0	1–2	—	—	—

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

Torneo Clausura decider

Since Nacional and Peñarol ended up tied in points for first place, an additional match was played by both teams to decide the Torneo Clausura winners. Nacional won this match and qualified for the semifinal.

11 December 2019

20:30

Peñarol	0–2	Nacional
	Report	Castro 61' Corujo 66'

Estadio Centenario, Montevideo

Referee: Andrés Matonte

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Club	Goals
1	Gonzalo Bergessio	Nacional	7
	Jonathan Dos Santos	Cerro Largo
3	Facundo Rodríguez	Boston River	6
	Nicolás Sosa	Racing
	Cecilio Waterman	Plaza Colonia
	Joaquín Zeballos	Juventud
7	Matías Castro	Montevideo Wanderers	5
	Léo Coelho	Fénix
	Agustín González	Progreso
	Xisco Jiménez	Peñarol
	Juan Manuel Olivera	River Plate
	Juan Ignacio Ramírez	Liverpool

Source: Soccerway

Aggregate table

The aggregate table includes the results of the three stages played throughout the season: Torneo Apertura, Torneo Intermedio, and Torneo Clausura. The top team at the end of the season will qualify for the finals of the championship playoff.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Nacional (C)	37	22	9	6	72	33	+39	75	Qualification for Championship playoff and Copa Libertadores group stage
2	Peñarol	37	21	11	5	58	27	+31	74
3	Cerro Largo	37	21	6	10	56	34	+22	69	Qualification for Copa Libertadores second stage
4	Progreso[a]	37	17	12	8	58	46	+12	65	Qualification for Copa Libertadores first stage
5	Liverpool	37	16	11	10	61	47	+14	59	Qualification for Copa Sudamericana first stage
6	Plaza Colonia	37	16	8	13	40	37	+3	56
7	River Plate	37	13	12	12	41	52	−11	51
8	Fénix	37	13	9	15	60	63	−3	48
9	Boston River	37	12	12	13	41	50	−9	48
10	Montevideo Wanderers	37	12	10	15	49	56	−7	46
11	Defensor Sporting	37	12	9	16	58	61	−3	45
12	Danubio	37	11	8	18	41	52	−11	41
13	Racing	37	10	7	20	50	72	−22	37
14	Rampla Juniors	37	9	8	20	44	62	−18	35
15	Cerro[a]	37	9	7	21	31	52	−21	33
16	Juventud	37	7	11	19	39	52	−13	32

Source: AUF
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Playoff game, in case two teams are tied for first place.
If there are more than two teams tied in points: 2) Goal difference, 3) Goals for, 4) Head-to-head record, 5) Drawing of lots, 6) Playoff game, in case two teams are still tied for first place.
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. Progreso were awarded two points and Cerro were deducted one point due to Cerro fielding the ineligible player Martín González during the Torneo Clausura match between both teams.^[47]

Championship play-off

	Semi-final				Finals
					Nacional (Semifinal winners)	—	—	—
	Peñarol (Apertura winners)	0			Nacional (Aggregate table first place)	—	—	—
	Nacional (Clausura winners)	1

Semi-final

15 December 2019

17:00

Nacional	1–0	Peñarol
Zunino 80'	Report

Estadio Centenario, Montevideo

Referee: Andrés Cunha

Final

Since Nacional, who had the best record in the aggregate table, won the semi-final, they became champions automatically and the final was not played. Peñarol became runners-up as the second-placed team in the aggregate table. Both teams qualified for the 2020 Copa Libertadores group stage.

Primera División 2019 Champions
Nacional 47th title

Relegation

Relegation is determined at the end of the season by computing an average of the number of points earned per game over the two most recent seasons: 2018 and 2019. The three teams with the lowest average were relegated to the Segunda División for the following season.

Pos	Team	2018 Pts	2019 Pts	Total Pts	Total Pld	Avg	Relegation
1	Peñarol	84	74	158	73	2.164
2	Nacional	85	75	160	74	2.162
3	Cerro Largo	—	69	69	37	1.865
4	Liverpool	58	59	117	74	1.581
5	Progreso	49	65	114	73	1.562
6	Plaza Colonia	—	56	56	37	1.514
7	Defensor Sporting	58	45	103	73	1.411
8	River Plate	49	51	100	73	1.37
9	Montevideo Wanderers	55	46	101	74	1.365
10	Danubio	60	41	101	74	1.365
11	Cerro	59	33	92	74	1.243
12	Fénix	43	48	91	74	1.23
13	Boston River	37	48	85	73	1.164
14	Racing (R)	47	37	84	74	1.135	Relegation to Segunda División
15	Rampla Juniors (R)	37	35	72	74	0.973
16	Juventud (R)	—	33	33	37	0.892