The 2009 Atlético Nacional season was Atlético Nacional's 61st season in the Categoría Primera A. In this season, the club only participated in the league and cup, as they failed to qualify to CONMEBOL tournaments like the Copa Libertadores and Sudamericana after a poor 2008 season.
For this season manager and club legend Luis Fernando Suárez was brought in, who won a league championship with Nacional in 1999, and won the Copa Libertadores with them as a player. However, he was sacked after only winning two of 16 matches in all competitions, being replaced by interim manager José Santa for the rest of the Apertura tournament. In June, Spanish manager Ramón Cabrero took over for the Finalizacion and the knockout stages of the Copa Colombia.
This was one of Nacional's most disappointing seasons: in the Apertura tournament they finished second-to-last in the table. The Finalizacion tournament was better, where they finished seventh in the regular season table and made the playoffs, but didn't qualify for the finals. They had a decent run in the cup, where they were eliminated in the semi-finals by Santa Fe.
Team kit
This year Atlético Nacional changed their kit manufacturer to Adidas as their one-year contract with marathon expired. Postobón was still their shirt sponsor though, making this year their tenth year sponsoring them.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
This game was played by the alternate roster of Atlético Nacional since it was played the same day of the match of Copa Cafam. As for Envigado they also played with their alternative team.
The first two games for Atlético Nacional were played behind closed doors, due to the disturbances made by the fans in the last season's final game against La Equidad. The organization were fined around $5,000. Atlético Nacional struggled and lost the first six games of the season, finally winning their first match against Millonarios. Nacional then went on a six-match winless run, until manager Luis Fernando Suárez resigned from the team a few days after losing to Deportivo Cali on 19 April, later on 22 April José Santa would take over.[1]
Results by round
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Ground
A
H
A
H
A
H
A
A
H
H
A
H
A
H
A
H
A
H
Result
L
L
L
L
L
W
D
D
D
L
D
L
W
L
D
D
W
D
Position
18
18
18
18
18
18
18
18
18
18
18
18
18
18
18
17
15
17
Source: [citation needed] A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss
Despite Nacional's poor Apertura campaign, in the Copa Colombia they were undefeated for their first seven matches until losing El Clasico Paisa on 5 July. On 3 June, new manager Ramón Cabrero took over with his first match being a victory against Once Caldas. He led the team to the semi-finals, where they were eliminated by Independiente Santa Fe.
