2023 Paraguayan División Intermedia
The 2023 División Intermedia season, named "Homenaje a Don Alejandro Dos Santos",[1] was the 105th season of the second-tier league of Paraguayan football and 26th under the Paraguayan División Intermedia name. The season began on 31 March and ended on 9 October 2023, and the fixtures for the season were announced on 14 December 2022.[2]
| Season | 2023 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 31 March – 9 October 2023 |
| Champions | Sol de América (4th title) |
| Promoted | Sol de América 2 de Mayo |
| Relegated | Atyrá 24 de Setiembre (VP) 12 de Octubre |
| Matches played | 240 |
| Goals scored | 634 (2.64 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Aldo González (14 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Dep. Recoleta 7–1 Sol de América (23 April) Spvo. Carapeguá 6–0 Dep. Santaní (17 September) Sol de América 6–0 12 de Octubre (6 October) |
| Biggest away win | Atyrá 0–5 Pastoreo (15 April) 24 de Setiembre 0–5 Independiente (1 October) |
| Highest scoring | Dep. Recoleta 3–7 2 de Mayo (5 May) |
← 2022 2024 → | |
Sol de América won their fourth title in the competition, securing the championship with two rounds to go after a 2–1 victory over Martín Ledesma on 25 September.[3] The other promoted team was 2 de Mayo, who clinched their promotion two rounds prior to the end of the season with a 1–1 draw with 3 de Febrero on 23 September.[4]
Format
16 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 30 matches. The top two teams at the end of the season were promoted to the Paraguayan Primera División for the 2024 season, while the bottom three teams in the relegation table at the end of the season were relegated: teams located within 50 kilometres of Asunción are relegated to Primera División B, while teams from outside Greater Asunción and the Central Department are relegated to Primera División B Nacional.
Teams
Team changes
16 teams competed in the season: 11 teams from the previous División Intermedia season plus the two teams relegated from Primera División in its 2022 season (Sol de América and 12 de Octubre), the top two teams from the 2022 Primera División B (Deportivo Recoleta and 24 de Setiembre (VP)) and the 2022 Primera División B Nacional champions Sportivo Carapeguá.[5] Sportivo Trinidense and Sportivo Luqueño did not compete since they earned promotion to Primera División at the end of the previous season, nor did Guaraní (T), Sportivo Iteño, and River Plate, who were relegated at the end of the 2022 season by finishing in the bottom three places of the relegation table.[6]
| Promoted from 2022 Tercera División | Relegated from 2022 Primera División | Promoted to 2023 Primera División | Relegated to 2023 Tercera División |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 de Setiembre (VP) (Primera B Metropolitana) Deportivo Recoleta (Primera B Metropolitana) Sportivo Carapeguá (Primera B Nacional) |
12 de Octubre Sol de América |
Sportivo Luqueño Sportivo Trinidense |
Guaraní (T) (Primera B Nacional) River Plate (Primera B Metropolitana) Sportivo Iteño (Primera B Metropolitana) |
Stadia and locations
| Team | City | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 de Mayo | Pedro Juan Caballero | Río Parapití | 25,000 |
| 3 de Febrero | Ciudad del Este | Antonio Aranda | 23,500 |
| 12 de Octubre | Itauguá | Luis Alberto Salinas | 10,000 |
| 24 de Setiembre (VP) | Areguá | Próculo Cortázar | 2,500 |
| Atlético Colegiales | Lambaré | Luciano Zacarías | 4,500 |
| Atyrá | Atyrá | San Francisco de Asís | 10,000 |
| Deportivo Recoleta | Asunción | CARDIF[7] | 1,800 |
| Deportivo Santaní | San Estanislao | Juan José Vázquez | 8,000 |
| Fernando de la Mora | Asunción | Emiliano Ghezzi | 6,000 |
| Independiente (CG) | Asunción | Ricardo Gregor | 4,000 |
| Martín Ledesma | Capiatá | Enrique Soler | 5,000 |
| Pastoreo | Juan Manuel Frutos | Complejo Municipal Campo 9 | 5,000 |
| Rubio Ñu | Asunción | La Arboleda | 8,000 |
| San Lorenzo | San Lorenzo | Gunther Vogel | 5,000 |
| Sol de América | Villa Elisa | Luis Alfonso Giagni | 11,000 |
| Sportivo Carapeguá | Carapeguá | Municipal de Carapeguá | 10,000 |
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sol de América (C, P) | 30 | 21 | 4 | 5 | 46 | 25 | +21 | 67 | Promotion to Primera División |
| 2 | 2 de Mayo (P) | 30 | 16 | 9 | 5 | 46 | 23 | +23 | 57 | |
| 3 | Independiente (CG) | 30 | 14 | 9 | 7 | 53 | 35 | +18 | 51 | |
| 4 | Deportivo Recoleta | 30 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 59 | 45 | +14 | 51 | |
| 5 | Fernando de la Mora | 30 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 40 | 31 | +9 | 48 | |
| 6 | Rubio Ñu | 30 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 42 | 44 | −2 | 44 | |
| 7 | Deportivo Santaní | 30 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 41 | 43 | −2 | 44 | |
| 8 | Sportivo Carapeguá | 30 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 43 | 31 | +12 | 43 | |
| 9 | Pastoreo | 30 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 37 | 31 | +6 | 43 | |
| 10 | San Lorenzo | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 35 | 27 | +8 | 42 | |
| 11 | 3 de Febrero | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 39 | 42 | −3 | 39 | |
| 12 | Atlético Colegiales | 30 | 9 | 5 | 16 | 29 | 44 | −15 | 32 | |
| 13 | Martín Ledesma | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 30 | 41 | −11 | 31 | |
| 14 | 24 de Setiembre (VP) | 30 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 38 | 52 | −14 | 29 | |
| 15 | Atyrá | 30 | 7 | 5 | 18 | 32 | 58 | −26 | 26 | |
| 16 | 12 de Octubre | 30 | 2 | 8 | 20 | 24 | 62 | −38 | 14 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Head-to-head points, 3) Head-to-head goal difference, 4) Overall goal difference, 5) Goals for, 6) Playoff game (if needed to decide championship between two teams) or Drawing of lots (if three teams or more are tied).[8]
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted
Results
Top scorers
| Rank | Name | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Aldo González |
Deportivo Recoleta | 14 |
| 2 |  Franco Aragón |
Sol de América | 12 |
| 3 | Derlis Ortiz |
Deportivo Recoleta | 11 |
| 4 | Fernando Matías Cáceres |
2 de Mayo | 10 |
| Sergio Dietze |
Independiente (CG) | ||
| Osvaldo Argüello |
Rubio Ñu | ||
| Ronald Acuña |
Deportivo Santaní | ||
| Edsson Riveros |
Rubio Ñu | ||
| 9 | Wilfrido Báez |
Independiente (CG) | 9 |
| Lucas González |
Deportivo Recoleta | ||
| Roque Guachiré |
Fernando de la Mora | ||
| Maicol Fernández |
3 de Febrero |
Source: APF
Relegation
Relegation 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 Primera División B or Primera División B Nacional for the following season, depending on their geographical location.
| Pos | Team | 2021 Pts | 2022 Pts | 2023 Pts | Total Pts | Total Pld | Avg | Relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sol de América | — | — | 67 | 67 | 30 | 2.233 | |
| 2 | Deportivo Recoleta | — | — | 51 | 51 | 30 | 1.7 | |
| 3 | Pastoreo | — | 53 | 43 | 96 | 60 | 1.6 | |
| 4 | San Lorenzo | 53 | 54 | 42 | 149 | 94 | 1.585 | |
| 5 | Independiente (CG) | 51 | 41 | 51 | 143 | 94 | 1.521 | |
| 6 | Fernando de la Mora | 45 | 48 | 48 | 141 | 94 | 1.5 | |
| 7 | Sportivo Carapeguá | — | — | 43 | 43 | 30 | 1.433 | |
| 8 | Rubio Ñu | 39 | 44 | 44 | 127 | 94 | 1.351 | |
| 9 | 2 de Mayo | 36 | 29 | 57 | 122 | 94 | 1.298 | |
| 10 | 3 de Febrero | 48 | 35 | 39 | 122 | 94 | 1.298 | |
| 11 | Martín Ledesma | — | 45 | 31 | 76 | 60 | 1.267 | |
| 12 | Deportivo Santaní | 41 | 33 | 44 | 118 | 94 | 1.255 | |
| 13 | Atlético Colegiales | — | 36 | 32 | 68 | 60 | 1.133 | |
| 14 | Atyrá (R) | 43 | 36 | 26 | 105 | 94 | 1.117 | Relegation to Primera B Nacional |
| 15 | 24 de Setiembre (VP) (R) | — | — | 29 | 29 | 30 | 0.967 | Relegation to Primera B Metropolitana |
| 16 | 12 de Octubre (R) | — | — | 14 | 14 | 30 | 0.467 | Relegation to Primera C[lower-roman 1] |
Source: APF
- Notes
- 12 de Octubre were relegated to Primera C on 16 October 2023 per ruling by the Disciplinary Court of the Paraguayan Football Association due to unpaid wages.[9]
References
- "Con miras al inicio de la Intermedia 2023" [Looking forward to the start of the 2023 Intermedia] (in Spanish). APF. 2 December 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
- "Calendario definido: La División Intermedia tiene su hoja de ruta para el 2023" [Schedule set: The División Intermedia has its roadmap for 2023] (in Spanish). Versus. 15 December 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
- "Sol de América se consagra campeón" [Sol de América crown themselves as champions] (in Spanish). D10. 25 September 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
- "El 2 de Mayo retorna a Primera" [2 de Mayo return to Primera] (in Spanish). D10. 23 September 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
- "Tercera División: Recoleta y "24" se lucieron; regresa con todo el "Potro" carapegueño" [Third Division: Recoleta and "24" shone; the "Colt" from Carapeguá returns with all] (in Spanish). Versus. 25 December 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
- "Intermedia: Trinidense arrasó y Luqueño volvió con el impulso de su "República"" [Intermedia: Trinidense swept and Luqueño returned with the impulse of its "Republic"] (in Spanish). Versus. 25 December 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
- "Intermedia: El "Canario" anida en el Cardif" [Intermedia: The Canary nests at the Cardif] (in Spanish). ABC Color. 20 April 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
- "REGLAMENTO GENERAL DE COMPETICIONES 2023" [2023 GENERAL REGULATIONS OF COMPETITIONS] (PDF) (in Spanish). APF. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
- "Tribunal de la APF manda a la C al 12 de Octubre" [APF's Court sends 12 de Octubre to the C] (in Spanish). D10. 17 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.