The 2011–12 Primera División season was the 30th professional season of Venezuela's top-flight football league.
Teams
Eighteen teams will participate this season, sixteen of whom remain from the previous season. Caroní and Atlético Venezuela were relegated after accumulating the fewest points in the 2010–11 season aggregate table. They will be replaced by Llaneros and Tucanes, the 2010–11 Segunda División winner and runner-up, respectively.
Updated to match(es) played on 13 May 2012. Source: Standings Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored. (C) Champions
Source: [citation needed] Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored. Notes:
^Deportivo Lara qualified for the 2013 Copa Libertadores as the overall champion, and for the 2012 Copa Sudamericana as the best team in the aggregate table.
^ abSince Deportivo Lara won both the Apertura and Clausura, the next two teams in the aggregate table qualified for the 2013 Copa Libertadores.
^Mineros de Guayana qualified for 2012 Copa Sudamericana as the winners of the 2011 Copa Venezuela.
Because Deportivo Lara won both the Apertura and Clausura, the Serie Final was not played, and Deportivo Lara was declared champion automatically.
Serie Sudamericana
Other than the teams which already qualify for the Copa Libertadores (Apertura and Clausura champions and the best-placed team in the aggregate table) and the Copa Sudamericana (Copa Venezuela champion), the eight best-placed teams in the aggregate table will contest in the Serie Sudamericana for the remaining two berths to the Copa Sudamericana, which qualify the two winners to the First Stage.
In the first round, the matchups are:
Match A (1 vs. 8)
Match B (2 vs. 7)
Match C (3 vs. 6)
Match D (4 vs. 5)
In the second round, the matchups are:
Winner A vs. Winner C
Winner B vs. Winner D
For the two second round winners, the team with the better record in the aggregate table will receive the Venezuela 3 berth, while the other team will receive the Venezuela 4 berth.