All statistics correct as of 10:19, 9 April 2018 (UTC).
The 2018 Campeonato Paraibano de Futebol was the 108th edition of Paraíba's top professional football league. The competition began on 7 January and ended on 8 April. Botafogo-PB were defending champions, after defeating Treze in the 2017 final.
Format
The competition was divided into a number of stages.
In the first stage, the ten teams were divided into two groups of five. Each team played against the five teams in the other group, both at home and away, totaling ten games. The teams finishing at the top of each group qualified directly for the third stage, which is the semi-final stage. The teams finishing second and third in each group advanced to the second stage, which is the quarter-final stage. Among these two teams, the one with the best record in the competition was classified first to progress to the next stage. The teams finishing fourth and fifth in each group competed in the relegation quadrangle stage.
In the second stage, which is the quarter-final stage, the teams that finished second in each group competed against the team that finished third in the same group over two legs, one at home and one away. In both ties, the team that finished third in their group played the first leg at home. The two winning teams advanced to the third stage, which is the semi-final stage. The team with the best record in the competition up to that point was classified as third going into that stage.
In the relegation quadrangle stage, the four qualifying teams played each other both at home and away, with no points carried forward from the first stage. The two teams that finished at the bottom of this stage were relegated to Division 2 for 2019.
In the third stage, which is the semi-final stage, the team classified fourth played against the team classified first, and the team classified third played against the team classified second. Both ties were played over two legs, with the lower qualified team playing the first leg at home.
In the final stage, the two winning teams from the third (semi-final) stage played over two legs, with the team with the best record in the competition so far playing the first leg away from home.[1]
Games were scheduled to be played on 18 March and 25 March. The first leg between Botafogo-PB and Treze was postponed due to a legal challenge by Botafogo-PB regarding who should have home advantage according to the published rules of the competition.[5] Following rejection of the challenge, the game was rescheduled for 25 March, with the second leg on 1 April.[6]
Source: [3] Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored; 5) least red cards; 6) least yellow cards.[7] (R) Relegated