| Season | 2001 |
|---|---|
| Champions | América de Cali (11th title) |
| Copa Libertadores | América de Cali Cortuluá Once Caldas |
| Matches | 378 |
| Goals | 927 (2.45 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Carlos Castro Jorge Horacio Serna (29 goals each) |
←2000 2002 → | |
The2001Categoría Primera A season, namedCopa Mustang 2001 for sponsoring purposes, was the 54th season ofColombia's top-flight football league.América de Cali were the defending champions and won their eleventh title and second in a row by beatingIndependiente Medellín in the finals.[1]
The season was split into four stages: the first two stages were the Apertura and Finalización tournaments, in which the 16 teams were first divided into two groups of eight teams, playing seven games, and then all teams in the league played each other once for a total of 22 matches. The winners of each tournament earned a berth into the2002 Copa Libertadores. The third stage was the semifinal round, which was played by the best eight teams of the aggregate table of both tournaments, who were divided into two groups of four according to their position in the aggregate table: odd-ranked teams made up Group A, while even-ranked ones made up Group B. The winners of each group played the double-legged finals to decide the champions of the season, who also qualified for the Copa Libertadores.
The Torneo Apertura (also known asCopa Mustang I) began on 11 February and ended on 1 July.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cortuluá | 22 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 30 | 19 | +11 | 42 | Qualification for theCopa Libertadores |
| 2 | Deportivo Cali | 22 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 31 | 21 | +10 | 38 | |
| 3 | Once Caldas | 22 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 35 | 27 | +8 | 38 | |
| 4 | Deportes Tolima | 22 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 34 | 28 | +6 | 36 | |
| 5 | Independiente Medellín | 22 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 40 | 25 | +15 | 34 | |
| 6 | Santa Fe | 22 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 28 | 23 | +5 | 34 | |
| 7 | América de Cali | 22 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 37 | 39 | −2 | 33 | |
| 8 | Junior | 22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 22 | 23 | −1 | 31 | |
| 9 | Millonarios | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 29 | 23 | +6 | 28 | |
| 10 | Envigado | 22 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 26 | 30 | −4 | 28 | |
| 11 | Deportivo Pereira | 22 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 26 | 34 | −8 | 27 | |
| 12 | Atlético Nacional | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 18 | 28 | −10 | 26 | |
| 13 | Real Cartagena | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 23 | 28 | −5 | 25 | |
| 14 | Atlético Huila | 22 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 28 | 40 | −12 | 22 | |
| 15 | Atlético Bucaramanga | 22 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 18 | −8 | 22 | |
| 16 | Deportivo Pasto | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 23 | 34 | −11 | 21 |
The Torneo Finalización (also known asCopa Mustang II) began on 5 August and ended on 11 November.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Once Caldas | 22 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 36 | 16 | +20 | 43 | Qualification for theCopa Libertadores |
| 2 | Millonarios | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 37 | 31 | +6 | 37 | |
| 3 | Atlético Nacional | 22 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 30 | 18 | +12 | 37 | |
| 4 | Deportivo Cali | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 34 | 25 | +9 | 36 | |
| 5 | América de Cali | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 31 | 23 | +8 | 35 | |
| 6 | Deportivo Pasto | 22 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 21 | 27 | −6 | 35 | |
| 7 | Envigado | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 37 | 36 | +1 | 33 | |
| 8 | Deportes Tolima | 22 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 28 | 24 | +4 | 32 | |
| 9 | Santa Fe | 22 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 29 | 29 | 0 | 29 | |
| 10 | Independiente Medellín | 22 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 24 | 23 | +1 | 29 | |
| 11 | Deportivo Pereira | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 19 | 31 | −12 | 26 | |
| 12 | Junior | 22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 27 | 29 | −2 | 25 | |
| 13 | Cortuluá | 22 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 23 | 28 | −5 | 23 | |
| 14 | Real Cartagena | 22 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 20 | 31 | −11 | 21 | |
| 15 | Atlético Huila | 22 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 20 | 36 | −16 | 20 | |
| 16 | Atlético Bucaramanga | 22 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 17 | 26 | −9 | 18 |
An aggregate table known asReclasificación including the games of both tournaments (Apertura and Finalización) was used to determine the eight teams that would advance to the next stage of the tournament. The top eight teams in this table at the end of the Torneo Finalización advanced to the semifinals.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Once Caldas | 44 | 23 | 12 | 9 | 71 | 43 | +28 | 81 | Advance to thesemifinals |
| 2 | Deportivo Cali | 44 | 21 | 11 | 12 | 65 | 46 | +19 | 74 | |
| 3 | América de Cali | 44 | 20 | 8 | 16 | 68 | 62 | +6 | 68 | |
| 4 | Deportes Tolima | 44 | 19 | 11 | 14 | 62 | 52 | +10 | 68 | |
| 5 | Millonarios | 44 | 19 | 8 | 17 | 66 | 54 | +12 | 65 | |
| 6 | Cortuluá | 44 | 17 | 14 | 13 | 53 | 47 | +6 | 65 | |
| 7 | Santa Fe | 44 | 18 | 9 | 17 | 57 | 52 | +5 | 63 | |
| 8 | Independiente Medellín | 44 | 17 | 12 | 15 | 64 | 48 | +16 | 63 | |
| 9 | Atlético Nacional | 44 | 17 | 12 | 15 | 48 | 46 | +2 | 63 | |
| 10 | Envigado | 44 | 16 | 13 | 15 | 63 | 66 | −3 | 61 | |
| 11 | Junior | 44 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 49 | 52 | −3 | 56 | |
| 12 | Deportivo Pasto | 44 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 44 | 61 | −17 | 56 | |
| 13 | Deportivo Pereira | 44 | 15 | 8 | 21 | 45 | 65 | −20 | 53 | |
| 14 | Real Cartagena | 44 | 11 | 13 | 20 | 43 | 59 | −16 | 46 | |
| 15 | Atlético Huila | 44 | 11 | 9 | 24 | 48 | 76 | −28 | 42 | |
| 16 | Atlético Bucaramanga | 44 | 8 | 16 | 20 | 27 | 44 | −17 | 40 |
The third stage of the tournament consisted of two groups of four teams, with Group A including teams in odd-numbered positions and Group B including teams in even-numbered positions. The winners of each group qualified for the Finals.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | AME | ONC | SFE | MIL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | América de Cali | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 10 | Advance toFinals | — | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | |
| 2 | Once Caldas | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 9 | 2–2 | — | 0–2 | 1–0 | ||
| 3 | Santa Fe | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 8 | 1–1 | 2–2 | — | 1–1 | ||
| 4 | Millonarios | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 2 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 0–0 | — |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | DIM | COR | CAL | TOL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Independiente Medellín | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 11 | Advance toFinals | — | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | |
| 2 | Cortuluá | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | ||
| 3 | Deportivo Cali | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 2–2 | 1–0 | — | 2–1 | ||
| 4 | Deportes Tolima | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 4 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | — |
| Date | City | Home | Score | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 16 | Medellín | Independiente Medellín | 0–1 | América de Cali |
| December 19 | Cali | América de Cali | 2–0 | Independiente Medellín |
| América de Cali won 3–0 on aggregate score. | ||||
| 2001 Categoría Primera A champions |
|---|
| América de Cali 11th title |
| Rank | Name | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Carlos Castro | Millonarios | 29 |
| Jorge Horacio Serna | Independiente Medellín | ||
| 3 | Julián Vásquez | América de Cali | 24 |
| 4 |  Sergio Galván Rey | Once Caldas | 23 |
| 5 | Iván Velásquez | Atlético Nacional | 20 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | Pts | Avg | Relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | América de Cali | 88 | 154 | 1.75 | |
| 2 | Once Caldas | 88 | 141 | 1.602 | |
| 3 | Deportes Tolima | 88 | 138 | 1.568 | |
| 4 | Santa Fe | 88 | 137 | 1.557 | |
| 5 | Deportivo Cali | 88 | 135 | 1.534 | |
| 6 | Millonarios | 88 | 134 | 1.523 | |
| 7 | Junior | 88 | 126 | 1.432 | |
| 8 | Atlético Nacional | 88 | 123 | 1.398 | |
| 9 | Envigado | 88 | 119 | 1.352 | |
| 10 | Independiente Medellín | 88 | 116 | 1.318 | |
| 11 | Cortuluá | 88 | 116 | 1.318 | |
| 12 | Deportivo Pasto | 88 | 106 | 1.205 | |
| 13 | Deportivo Pereira | 88 | 101 | 1.148 | |
| 14 | Real Cartagena | 88 | 97 | 1.102 | |
| 15 | Atlético Huila | 88 | 95 | 1.08 | |
| 16 | Atlético Bucaramanga | 88 | 88 | 1 | Relegated to theCategoría Primera B |
Rules for classification: 1st average; 2nd wins; 3rd goal difference; 4th number of goals scored; 5th away goals scored.
With the General Assembly ofDIMAYOR having approved an expansion of the tournament from 16 to 18 teams starting from the2002 season, a special promotion tournament was played at the end of the 2001 season. The two DIMAYOR affiliates that were taking part inCategoría Primera B at the time and failed to earn promotion (Cúcuta Deportivo andUnión Magdalena) were invited to compete, as well asAtlético Bucaramanga as the team that was relegated from Primera A at the end of the season. The top two teams of the triangular tournament were promoted. All matches were played atEstadio Pedro de Heredia inCartagena.[2]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unión Magdalena | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 6 | Promotion toCategoría Primera A |
| 2 | Atlético Bucaramanga | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 1[a] | |
| 3 | Cúcuta Deportivo | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 1[a] |
