Atlético Nacional

Club Atlético Nacional S. A., also known as Atlético Nacional, is a professional Colombian football team based in Medellín, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. Considered to be one of the strongest clubs from Colombia, it is one of the most consistent clubs in the country.

The club was founded on 7 March 1947 by former president of the league of Antioquia, Luis Alberto Villegas López. The club was first placed under the name of Club Atlético Municipal de Medellín. In 1996, the company in which administrated the club, Organización Ardila Lülle, officially acquired Nacional. Many Colombian legends have originated from Nacional such as René Higuita, Juan Camilo Zúñiga, Iván Córdoba, Juan Pablo Ángel, David Ospina and most noticeably, Andrés Escobar and Víctor Aristizábal, among many others.

They play their home games at the Atanasio Girardot stadium, with a capacity of over 40,000. They share the same stadium with local bitter rivals, Independiente Medellín, said rivalry is known as El Clásico Paisa. Infamous for its aggressive background, it is considered to be one of the most important derbies in Colombia, as well as one of the most important in South America. All while being recognized by FIFA as a 'classic' match-up. Nacional is also known to have rivalries with Millonarios by the El Clásico de la rivalidad regional derby, and América de Cali. Although these rivalries are based on rivaling success; with Millonarios originally being the club that had the most domestic trophies before Nacional surpassed their count in 2015, whereas America has met with Nacional on numerous occasions during league/cup finals.

Nacional

Nacional is the Portuguese and Spanish word for national.

Nacional may also refer to:

Airlines

Bank

Music

Print media

Sports

Categoría Primera A

The Categoría Primera A (Spanish pronunciation: [kateɣoˈɾi.a pɾiˈmeɾa ˈa]), commonly referred to as Liga Águila due to sponsorship by brewery company Bavaria (manufacturer of Águila beer), is a Colombian professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's premier football tournament and sits at the top of the Colombian football league system. The league was ranked 11th by the IFFHS in its list "The Strongest National League in The World 2015", being the third best in South America.

A total of twenty clubs compete in the league's regular season. División Mayor del Fútbol Profesional Colombiano, better known as Dimayor, operates the league system of promotion and relegation for both Categoría Primera A and Categoría Primera B leagues. Since its founding in 1948, fourteen teams have been crowned as the Colombian football champions. The most successful club is Atlético Nacional with 15 titles.

Format

League stage

During the league stage, which lasts for twenty matches, each team plays against every other team once. The league table follows a normal European league table, one point for ties and three points for a win. The top eight teams advance to the playoffs.