1995 Categoría Primera A season
Football league season
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The 1995 Categoría Primera A season, known as the 1995 Copa Mustang for sponsoring purposes, was the forty-eighth season of Colombia's top-flight football league. The tournament was also known as Torneo Nivelación given that a switch to the European calendar (from the Northern Hemisphere's fall to spring) was approved starting from the following edition of the competition (the 1995–96 tournament).[1]
| Season | 1995 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 26 February – 14 June 1995 |
| Champions | Junior (4th title) |
| Relegated | Cúcuta Deportivo |
| Copa Libertadores | Junior América de Cali |
| Matches | 240 |
| Goals | 676 (2.82 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Iván Valenciano (25 goals) |
← 1994 1995–96 → | |
Junior won the league for the fourth time, clinching the title on the final day of the season despite losing 3–1 to Santa Fe.[2]
Format
Given the transition from the American calendar to the European one scheduled for the second half of 1995, in this season the 16 participating teams played each other on a double round-robin tournament, with the champion being the team topping the table after the tournament's 30 rounds. The champion and runner-up qualified for the 1996 Copa Libertadores, while the bottom-placed team was relegated to Categoría Primera B. This was the last season in which relegation was decided by the season's standings, changing to a system by average starting from the following season, as well as the first season in which teams were awarded three points for a win.
Teams
16 teams competed in the season, the top 15 teams from the 1994 Primera A championship along with the 1994 Primera B champions Deportes Tolima, who replaced Atlético Bucaramanga who were relegated at the end of the previous season.
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Junior (C) | 30 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 66 | 37 | +29 | 62 | Qualification for the Copa Libertadores |
| 2 | América de Cali | 30 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 56 | 32 | +24 | 60 | |
| 3 | Atlético Nacional | 30 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 48 | 37 | +11 | 48 | |
| 4 | Deportivo Cali | 30 | 11 | 14 | 5 | 54 | 42 | +12 | 47 | |
| 5 | Santa Fe | 30 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 40 | 29 | +11 | 45 | |
| 6 | Deportivo Pereira | 30 | 13 | 4 | 13 | 52 | 46 | +6 | 43 | |
| 7 | Independiente Medellín | 30 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 48 | 43 | +5 | 43 | |
| 8 | Once Caldas | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 37 | 33 | +4 | 42 | |
| 9 | Deportes Tolima | 30 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 41 | 44 | −3 | 40 | |
| 10 | Deportes Quindío | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 35 | 40 | −5 | 37 | |
| 11 | Cortuluá[a] | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 38 | 45 | −7 | 35 | |
| 12 | Envigado | 30 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 36 | 50 | −14 | 32 | |
| 13 | Unión Magdalena | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 26 | 42 | −16 | 31 | |
| 14 | Millonarios | 30 | 5 | 13 | 12 | 40 | 53 | −13 | 28 | |
| 15 | Atlético Huila | 30 | 6 | 8 | 16 | 34 | 56 | −22 | 26 | |
| 16 | Cúcuta Deportivo (R) | 30 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 25 | 47 | −22 | 24 | Relegation to Categoría Primera B |
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Wins, 3) Goal difference, 4) Goals for, 5) Away goals for, 6) Goals against, 7) Away goals against, 8) Drawing of lots.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
- Cortuluá were deducted two points.
Top goalscorers
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Iván Valenciano |
Junior | 25 |
| 2 | Níver Arboleda |
Deportivo Cali | 19 |
| 3 |  Cristián Montecinos |
Junior | 16 |
| 4 | Carlos Castro |
Independiente Medellín | 15 |
| 5 | Rubén Darío Hernández |
Santa Fe | 13 |
| 6 |  Rubén Daniel Iturburo |
Unión Magdalena | 12 |
| Edison Mafla |
Deportivo Cali | ||
| 8 | Henry Zambrano |
América de Cali | 11 |
| 9 | Guillermo Castrillón |
Envigado | 10 |
| Alex Comas |
América de Cali |
Source: Historia del Fútbol Profesional Colombiano 70 Años[3]