2008–09 Primera División A season

Ascenso MX
Season	Clausura 2009
Champions	Mérida

Primera Division A
Season	Apertura 2008
Champions	Querétaro

Primera División A
Season	2008–09
Champions	Apertura: Querétaro ; Clausura: Mérida
Promoted	Querétaro
Relegated	Tapachula
	← 2007–08 2009–10 →

The format for the 2008–09 season changed from 2 groups of 12 to 3 groups of 9 teams. This gave the opportunity and the number increased from 24 to 27, many teams served as reserve teams from teams in D1.

Changes for the 2008–09 season

Coatzacoalcos moved to Orizaba and was rebranded Orizaba after Apertura 2008
Veracruz were demoted from Primera División
Indios were promoted to Mexican Primera Division
Irapuato won promotion to Primera División A when Pachuca Jr. did not meet the qualifications for promotion.

Added teams

Atlante Chetumal
Mérida FC
Chihuahua
Club Tapatio From Morelia B

Stadia and locations

Club	Stadium	Capacity	City
Académicos	Jalisco Alfredo Pistache Torres	63,000 3,000	Guadalajara
Atlético Mexiquense	Nemesio Díez	25,000	Toluca
Coatzacoalcos	Rafael Hérnandez Ochoa	4,800	Coatzacoalcos
Correcaminos	Marte R. Gómez	19,000	Ciudad Victoria
Cruz Azul Hidalgo	10 de Diciembre	17,000	Ciudad Cooperativa Cruz Azul
Dorados de Sinaloa	Banorte	19,000	Culiacán
Durango	Francisco Zarco	15,000	Durango City
Indios de Chihuahua	Olímpico Universitario José Reyes Baeza	22,000	Chihuahua City
Irapuato	Sergio León Chávez	26,000	Irapuato
Jaguares 'A'	Víctor Manuel Reyna	17,000	Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas
León	León	35,000	León
Lobos BUAP	Cuauhtémoc	42,600	Puebla City
Mérida	Carlos Iturralde	18,000	Mérida
Potros Chetumal	José López Portillo	10,000	Chetumal
Pumas Morelos	Centenario	14,800	Cuernavaca
Querétaro	Corregidora	33,000	Querétaro City
Rayados 'A'	El Barrial	1,000	Santiago
Real Colima	Colima	12,000	Colima City
Salamanca	Olímpico Sección 24	10,000	Salamanca
Santos Laguna 'A'	Corona	19,000	Torreón
Socio Águila	Azteca	114,600	Mexico City
Tampico Madero	Tamaulipas	20,000	Tampico and Ciudad Madero
Tapatío	Jalisco	63,000	Guadalajara
Tecos 'A'	Tres de Marzo	25,000	Zapopan
Tigres "B"	Universitario	42,000	San Nicolás de los Garza
Tijuana	Caliente	22,000	Tijuana
Veracruz	Luis "Pirata" Fuente	30,000	Boca del Río

Torneo Apertura

The Primera División A Apertura 2008 is a Mexican football tournament, one of two short tournaments held each year. It began on July 18, 2008, and ran until December 7, 2008. The reigning champions, León, were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Irapuato on a 2–1 two-leg aggregate, and thus could not successfully defend their Clausura 2008 title. Querétaro won the tournament, defeating Irapuato on a 2–0 two-leg aggregate, and will earn a spot into the promotional playoff held after the end of the Clausura 2009 season, where the winners of the two tournaments meet in an effort to gain promotion to the Primera División.

After winning the 2008 promotional playoff against León, the Indios were promoted to the Primera División. Veracruz were relegated to the Primera División A due to finishing at the bottom of the Primera División relegation table. Pachuca Juniors won the right to be promoted to the Primera División A after winning the Segunda División promotional playoff but lacked the certificate of promotion given to teams by the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación. Instead, Irapuato were promoted to the Primera División A, and two new reserve teams were created for the Indios of Ciudad Juárez (Chihuahua) and Atlante (Chetumal).

Tournament format

A total of 27 teams are divided into three groups of nine teams each. Each team plays the other eight teams in its group twice, once at home and once away, for a total of 16 games. At the end of the regular season the top two teams in each group, as well as the next two highest placed teams, qualify to the Liguilla. The teams are seeded based on their position in the general table and are arranged before each round so that the highest seeded team remaining always plays the lowest seed remaining. The teams play a home and home series and whichever team has the better aggregate score advances. If the two teams are tied after both legs in the quarterfinals and semifinals the higher seed advances automatically. In the finals, if the two teams are tied after both legs two 15 minute halves of extra time are added. If the teams are still tied after extra time the champion is determined through a penalty shootout.

Promotion

One team is promoted to the Primera División each year (two short tournaments). After the Clausura 2009 tournament, the champions of the Apertura 2008 and Clausura 2009 tournaments will play a home and home series to determine which team will be promoted. If the same team wins both tournaments it will be promoted automatically. In order for a team to be promoted it has to obtain a certification from the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación. If the winner of the promotional final is not certified for promotion a home and home series is played between the highest placed certified team and the club being relegated to the Primera División A to determine which will be in the Primera División.

Currently certified teams

Relegation

One team is relegated to the Segunda División each year (two short tournaments). The team that has the worst points to games played ratio over the previous three years (Apertura 2006, Clausura 2007, Apertura 2007, Clausura 2008, Apertura 2008, Clausura 2009) is relegated to the Segunda División.

Group league tables

Group 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	León	16	10	5	1	21	12	+9	35	Qualifies for the Liguilla and is certified for promotion
2	Tijuana	16	9	5	2	20	8	+12	32
3	Irapuato	16	8	6	2	20	6	+14	30
4	Tapatío	16	5	4	7	12	16	−4	19
5	Tecos A	16	4	5	7	17	16	+1	17
6	Académicos	16	3	7	6	12	14	−2	16
7	Real Colima	16	3	6	7	10	18	−8	15
8	Dorados de Sinaloa	16	4	3	9	11	21	−10	15	Certified for promotion
9	Salamanca	16	2	7	7	10	22	−12	13

Source: FMF
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored; 4th head-to-head; 5th away goals scored; 6th draw

Group 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Querétaro	16	10	3	3	36	20	+16	33	Qualifies for the Liguilla and is certified for promotion
2	Correcaminos	16	9	4	3	21	12	+9	31	Qualifies for the Liguilla and is certified for promotion
3	Tigres B	16	9	2	5	19	12	+7	29	Qualifies for the Liguilla
4	Chihuahua	16	6	3	7	25	28	−3	21
5	Durango	16	4	8	4	15	16	−1	20	Certified for promotion
6	Socio Águila	16	5	4	7	13	16	−3	19
7	Tampico Madero	16	4	5	7	25	30	−5	17
8	Santos Laguna A	16	4	3	9	18	27	−9	15	Certified for promotion
9	Monterrey A	16	2	6	8	19	30	−11	12

Source: FMF
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored; 4th head-to-head; 5th away goals scored; 6th draw

Group 3

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Pumas Morelos	16	11	2	3	27	12	+15	35	Qualifies for the Liguilla
2	Mérida	16	10	2	4	22	13	+9	32	Qualifies for the Liguilla and is certified for promotion
3	Veracruz	16	8	4	4	25	16	+9	28	Certified for promotion
4	Cruz Azul Hidalgo	16	7	3	6	25	15	+10	24
5	Lobos BUAP	16	6	3	7	22	30	−8	21
6	Atlético Mexiquense	16	5	4	7	19	19	0	19
7	Coatzacoalcos	16	4	7	5	14	16	−2	19
8	Chetumal	16	1	8	7	15	28	−13	11	Last on the relegation table
9	Tapachula	16	1	5	10	12	32	−20	8

Source: FMF
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored; 4th head-to-head; 5th away goals scored; 6th draw

General league table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Pumas Morelos	16	11	2	3	27	12	+15	35	Qualifies for the Liguilla
2	León	16	10	5	1	21	12	+9	35	Qualifies for the Liguilla and is certified for promotion
3	Querétaro	16	10	3	3	36	20	+16	33
4	Tijuana	16	9	5	2	20	8	+12	32
5	Mérida	16	10	2	4	22	13	+9	32
6	Correcaminos	16	9	4	3	21	12	+9	31
7	Irapuato	16	8	6	2	20	6	+14	30
8	Tigres B	16	9	2	5	19	12	+7	29	Qualifies for the Liguilla
9	Veracruz	16	8	4	4	25	16	+9	28	Certified for promotion
10	Cruz Azul Hidalgo	16	7	3	6	25	15	+10	24	Certified for promotion
11	Chihuahua	16	6	3	7	25	28	−3	21
12	Lobos BUAP	16	6	3	7	22	30	−8	21	Certified for promotion
13	Durango	16	4	8	4	15	16	−1	20
14	Atlético Mexiquense	16	5	4	7	19	19	0	19
15	Coatzacoalcos	16	4	7	5	14	16	−2	19
16	Socio Águila	16	5	4	7	13	16	−3	19
17	Tapatío	16	5	4	7	12	16	−4	19
18	Tecos A	16	4	5	7	17	16	+1	17
19	Tampico Madero	16	4	5	7	25	30	−5	17
20	Académicos	16	3	7	6	12	14	−2	16
21	Real Colima	16	3	6	7	10	18	−8	15
22	Santos Laguna A	16	4	3	9	18	27	−9	15	Certified for promotion
23	Sinaloa	16	4	3	9	11	21	−10	15	Certified for promotion
24	Salamanca	16	2	7	7	10	22	−12	13
25	Monterrey A	16	2	6	8	19	30	−11	12
26	Chetumal	16	1	8	7	15	28	−13	11	Last on the relegation table
27	Tapachula	16	1	5	10	12	32	−20	8

Source: FMF
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored; 4th head-to-head; 5th away goals scored; 6th draw

Liguilla

Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals

1	Pumas Morelos (s.)	2	0	2

8	Tigres B	1	1	2
					1	Pumas Morelos	0	0	0

					7	Irapuato	1	1	2
5	Tijuana	0	4	4

4	Mérida	1	0	1
										7	Irapuato	0	0	0

										3	Querétaro	0	2	2
3	Querétaro (s.)	1	1	2

6	Correcaminos	2	0	2
					4	Tijuana	1	1	2

					3	Querétaro	0	3	3
7	León	0	1	1

2	Irapuato	1	1	2

Quarter-finals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Querétaro (s.)	2–2	Correcaminos	1–2	1–0
Tijuana	4–1	Mérida	0–1	4–0
Pumas Morelos (s.)	2–2	Tigres B	2–1	0–1
León	1–2	Irapuato	0–1	1–1

First leg

19 November 2008	Tigres B	1–2	Pumas Morelos	San Nicolás de los Garza
20:30	Viniegra 40'	Report	Rojas 80' Herrera 89'	Stadium: Estadio Universitario Attendance: 600 Referee: Miguel Ángel Chacón Viveros

19 November 2008	Irapuato	1–0	León	Irapuato
21:00	Pérez 34'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Sergio León Chávez Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Mario Alonso Villa García

20 November 2008	Mérida	1–0	Tijuana	Mérida
15:00	Sainz 43'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Carlos Iturralde Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Miguel Ángel Ayala Ramírez

20 November 2008	Correcaminos	2–1	Querétaro	Ciudad Victoria
20:30	Cano 1' (own) Vela 14'	Report	Tridente 44'	Stadium: Estadio Marte R. Gómez Attendance: 18,000 Referee: Gerardo García Acevedo

Second leg

22 November 2008	Pumas Morelos	0–1 (2–2 agg.)	Tigres B	Cuernavaca
15:00		Report	Mendoza 1'	Stadium: Estadio Centenario Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Miguel Ángel Ortega Rojas

22 November 2008	León	1–1 (1–2 agg.)	Irapuato	León
20:00	Reyes 69'	Report	Marique 75'	Stadium: Estadio León Attendance: 22,000 Referee: Jesús Fabricio Morales Bojorquez

23 November 2008	Tijuana	4–0 (4–1 agg.)	Mérida	Tijuana
13:00	Enríquez 7', 58' Abrego 43' Caetano 65'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Caliente Attendance: 13,333 Referee: Juan Genaro Medrano Ávalos

23 November 2008	Querétaro	1–0 (2–2 agg.)	Correcaminos	Querétaro City
19:00	Romo 73'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Corregidora Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Jorge Macías Romo

Semi-finals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Querétaro	3–2	Tijuana	0–1	3–1
Pumas Morelos	0–2	Irapuato	0–1	0–1

First leg

26 November 2008	Irapuato	1–0	Pumas Morelos	Irapuato
21:00	Casanova 39'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Sergio León Chávez Attendance: 24,000 Referee: Jorge Macías Romo

27 November 2008	Tijuana	1–0	Querétaro	Tijuana
14:00	Torres 14'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Caliente Attendance: 13,000 Referee: Julio David Escobar Barba

Second leg

29 November 2008	Pumas Morelos	0–1 (0–2 agg.)	Irapuato	Cuernavaca
15:00		Report	Pérez 32'	Stadium: Estadio Centenario Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Jaime Herrera Garduño

30 November 2008	Querétaro	3–1 (3–2 agg.)	Tijuana	Querétaro City
19:00	Tridente 25', 84' Gerk 50'	Report	Torres 57'	Stadium: Estadio Corregidora Attendance: 34,130 Referee: Román Rafael Medina Vázquez

Final

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Querétaro	2–0	Irapuato	0–0	2–0

First leg

4 December 2008	Irapuato	0–0	Querétaro	Irapuato
21:00		Report		Stadium: Estadio Sergio León Chávez Attendance: 24,000 Referee: Paul Enrique Delgadillo Haro

Second leg

7 December 2008	Querétaro	2–0 (2–0 agg.)	Irapuato	Querétaro City
19:00	López 8' Gomes 70'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Corregidora Attendance: 34,130 Referee: Marco Antonio Rodríguez

Apertura 2008 winner
Querétaro 3rd title