2009 Primera División of Chile

Format changes

The format for 2009 remains largely the same as 2008, except for the advancement to the Playoff Stages. Groups will no longer be used to determine who advance to the next stage. Instead, the top-eight teams in Classification Stage will advance.

International qualification changes

Qualification to the Copa Libertadores remains the same, as well as qualification to the Chile 1 spot in the Copa Sudamericana. The Chile 2 spot will be contested between the second-best team in the first stage and the 2008-09 Copa Chile winner. The winner of the single match will qualify to the 2009 Copa Sudamericana.

Team information

The number of teams were reduced starting with this season from 20 to 18. Antofagasta, Osorno, Melipilla, and Deportes Concepción were relegated last season to the Primera B. They were replaced by Municipal Iquique and Curicó Unido.

Torneo Apertura

The Torneo Apertura, officially the Campeonato Nacional de Apertura de Primera División de Fútbol Profesional (English: Apertura National Championship of the First Division of Professional Football), is the first tournament of the season. It began on January 31 and ended on June 28.

Standings

Updated to games played on May 21, 2009.
Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd wins; 3rd goal difference; 4th goals scored; 5th away goals
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Results

Updated to games played on May 21, 2009.
Source: RSSSF
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Playoff Stage

Updated as of games played on July 7, 2009.

Universidad de Chile qualified to the 2010 Copa Libertadores Second Stage.

Copa Sudamericana playoff

The second-best team of the Classification Stage (Universidad de Chile) played a match at Bicentenario Francisco Sánchez Rumoroso in the city of Coquimbo against the 2008 Copa Chile/2009 Verano champion (Universidad de Concepción) for the Chile 2 spot in the 2009 Copa Sudamericana. The match ended with a victory for Universidad de Chile 3 goals to 1.

Universidad de Chile classifies to the Chile 2 berth for the 2009 Copa Sudamericana First Stage.

Torneo Clausura

The Torneo Clasura, officially the Campeonato Nacional de Clausura de Primera División de Fútbol Profesional (English: Clausura National Championship of the First Division of Professional Football), is the second tournament of the season. It began on July 12 and is scheduled to end on December 16.

Standings

Updated to games played on November 8, 2009.
Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd wins; 3rd goal difference; 4th goals scored; 5th away goals
1. Rangers was docked three points for using six foreign players during a game against Cobreloa.
2. Curicó Unido was docked three points because they had more foreign players than allowed by the rules in a game against Universidad de Concepción.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Results

Updated to games played on November 8, 2009.
Source: RSSSF
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Playoff Stage

Colo-Colo qualified to the 2010 Copa Libertadores Second Stage.

Top-ten goalscorers

Updated as of games played on December 9, 2009.
Source:

Relegation

Relegation for this season will be determined by an aggregate table of the Classification Stages of both the Apertura and Clausura tournaments. The teams that finish 17th and 18th will be automatically relegated to the Primera B for the next season. The teams that finish 15th and 16th will play a relegation/promotion playoff against two teams from the 2009 Primera B season.

Updated to games played on November 8, 2009.
Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd wins; 3rd goal difference; 4th goals scored; 5th away goals
1. Curicó Unido was docked three points because they had more foreign players than allowed by the rules in a game against Universidad de Concepción.
2. Rangers was docked three points for using six foreign players in a game against Cobreloa.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Relegation/promotion playoff

By finishing 15th in the relegation table, Palestino was pitted against the San Marcos de Arica, the 2nd best team in the 2009 Primera B General Table. Curicó Unido, by finishing 16th in the relegation table, played against San Luis, the loser of the 2009 Primera B championship playoff. The team who obtains the most point after two legs will stay or be promoted to the Primera División. Should there be a tie on points, it will be settled as follows: 1) overall goal difference; 2) most away goal; 3) extra time of two 15-minute halves; 4) penalty shootout according to the Laws of the Game. The Primera División (Team #1) played the second leg at home.