The 2011–12 season in Honduran Liga Nacional was divided into two tournaments (Apertura and Clausura) and determined the 59th and 60th champions in the history of the league. It also provided two berths for the 2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League. The Apertura tournament was played in the second half of 2011, while the Clausura was played in the first half of 2012. A new change in the system was used for this season; unlike previous years, 6 teams qualified to the final round, matching team 3rd vs team 6th and team 4th vs team 5th, those who advanced played the semifinals against 1st and 2nd.[1]
The Apertura tournament was scheduled to be played from August to December 2011. The regular-season fixture was announced on 21 July 2011 and as with the previous season C.D.S. Vida and Real C.D. España played the inaugural match on 6 August in La Ceiba, ending in a 1–1 draw.[3][4][5] In round 14, C.D. Marathón defeated Real España 2–0 in the Clásico Sampedrano and ensured its participation in the final round reaching 27 points; meanwhile, Real España qualified to the postseason in Round 15, thanks to its 2–0 home victory over Atlético Choloma. On 6 November, Club Deportivo Olimpia defeated Marathón 1–0 at Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino and became the third club to guarantee a spot in the final round.[6] After round 17, Real España and Marathón had not only qualified to the final round but ensured their participation in the semifinals;[7] also Vida and Deportes Savio got in the postseason after their draws against Olimpia and Real España respectively. Round 17 also defined the elimination of Atlético Choloma.[8] And in the very last round, C.D. Necaxa became the last team to advance to the postseason by defeating Olimpia 0–1 at Tegucigalpa.[9]C.D. Motagua, C.D. Platense and C.D. Victoria were eliminated.
Deportes Savio and Necaxa, two teams which had never qualified to a postseason before, made it to the second round. The brackets paired Olimpia (3rd) versus Necaxa (6th) and Vida (4th) versus Deportes Savio (5th). Olimpia got the ticket to the semifinals with a 2–1 victory over Necaxa;[10] meanwhile the series between Vida and Deportes Savio was decided in a coin flipping,[11] due to a 3–3 aggregated score; both teams were also tied in the regular season with a 2–0 home win by each side; Vida advanced after the draw performed by the league's board of directors on 27 November 2011.[12]
Once in the semifinals, Real España got rid of Vida with a 5–1 aggregated score[13] and played the final against Olimpia, who eliminated Marathón for the second consecutive time in a semifinal series. On 17 December 2011, Olimpia obtained its 24th league title after defeating Real España with a 3–0 aggregate score; midfielder Carlos Will Mejía was the hero of the series scoring all three goals.[14]
All Second round clashes were determined on the very last round of the Regular phase; Atlético Choloma made history and qualified to the playoffs on their second season franchise and faced Real España, where they were eliminated after a 1–3 defeat on aggregate.[22] Marathón had a drop in their last games performance and gave up the chance to play directly in the semifinals, they finished thirds and had to face Vida who finished fourth.[23][24] In this phase, Marathón beat Vida with a tight 2–1 win on aggregate.[25] Once in the semifinals, Olimpia had no troubles to eliminate Real España with a notorious 6–0 win on aggregate;[26] meanwhile in the other series, Marathón surprised Motagua with a 0–2 away win at Tegucigalpa.[27]
In the final series, Olimpia and Marathón faced each other in this instance for the 9th time. The first leg at Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano ended in a 0–0 draw, the game was mainly dominated by the home team but they were unable to score. In the second leg, Olimpia with an early second half goal by Brazilian striker Douglas Caetano captured its 25th domestic league.[28] This title came in the year of the centenary for the White Lions.
Relegation was determined by the aggregated table of both Apertura and Clausura tournaments. On 14 April, C.D. Platense became officially relegated to the second division,[29] it is the first relegation for the Escualos since the 1981–82 season; however, on 25 May 2012, Platense bought C.D. Necaxa's franchise for L. 4.5 million and will play in the first division for the 2012–13 season.[30]
