The 2021 CategorÃÂa Primera A season (officially known as the 2021 Liga BetPlay Dimayor season for sponsorship reasons) was the 74th season of the CategorÃÂa Primera A, Colombia's top-flight football league. The season began on 16 January and ended on 22 December 2021. América de Cali entered the season as defending champions having won back-to-back titles in the 2019 Finalización and 2020 tournaments.
The Torneo Apertura was won by Deportes Tolima, who claimed their third league title on 20 June after beating Millonarios by a 2âÂÂ1 score in the second leg of the finals and a 3âÂÂ2 score on aggregate, whilst the Torneo Finalización was won by Deportivo Cali, who beat the defending champions Deportes Tolima by a 3âÂÂ2 aggregate score in the finals to claim their tenth league title.
The competition format for this season was approved by the General Assembly of DIMAYOR on 17 December 2020:
On 12 July 2021, DIMAYOR announced changes to the format of the Torneo Finalización, including the extra match against a regional rival for a total of 20 first stage games and replacing the knockout stage for a semi-final stage in which the eight qualified teams were split into two groups of four where they will play each other team in their group twice. The group winners advanced to the double-legged final series.
21 teams took part in the season, 19 of them returning from last season plus Atlético Huila and Deportes QuindÃÂo, who were promoted from the 2021 Primera B. Cúcuta Deportivo, who also competed in the top flight in 2020, did not take part in the competition this season as they entered liquidation, were forced to forfeit their final two games of the previous tournament, and were ultimately disaffiliated from DIMAYOR on 25 November 2020.
The following two teams competed in the 2021 Finalización tournament, replacing Boyacá Chicó who were relegated to Primera B at the end of the Apertura tournament:
Deportes Tolima won 3âÂÂ2 on aggregate.
<small>Source: Soccerway</small>
A separate table is kept to determine the teams that are relegated to the CategorÃÂa Primera B for the next season. This table is elaborated from a sum of all first stage games played for the current season and the previous two seasons (six tournaments). For purposes of elaborating the table, promoted teams are given the same point and goal tallies as the team in the 18th position at the start of the season.
Due to the postponement of promotion and relegation from the previous season to the end of the first semester of 2021 and the disaffiliation of Cúcuta Deportivo, one team was relegated to Primera B at the end of the Torneo Apertura.
<small>Source: Dimayor<br />Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored; 4th away goals scored.</small>
The eight teams that advanced to the semi-finals were drawn into two groups of four teams, with the top two teams of the first stage being seeded in each group. The group winners advanced to the finals.
Deportivo Cali won 3âÂÂ2 on aggregate.
<small>Source: Soccerway</small>
The bottom two teams of the relegation table were relegated to CategorÃÂa Primera B for the 2022 season at the end of the Torneo Finalización, with this table taking into consideration the six most recent tournaments (2018âÂÂII, 2019âÂÂI, 2019âÂÂII, 2020, 2021âÂÂI and 2021âÂÂII). For purposes of elaborating the table, Atlético Huila and Deportes QuindÃÂo, who were promoted from Primera B at the end of the first half of the season, were given the same point and goal tallies as the team in the 18th position at the start of the Finalización tournament (Deportivo Pereira).
<small>Source: Dimayor<br />Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd goals scored; 4th away goals scored.</small>
The aggregate table includes the results of teams in all stages in the Torneo Apertura and Torneo Finalización, and awards one berth to the Copa Libertadores and three berths to the Copa Sudamericana. As an exceptional measure for this season, and due to promotion and relegation being implemented halfway into the season, the two teams promoted for the Torneo Finalización (Atlético Huila and Deportes QuindÃÂo) entered with the same matches, points, and goals as the team in 19th place in this table at the end of the Apertura tournament (Alianza Petrolera).