The 2020–21 Liga Primera de Nicaragua season was divided into two tournaments, Apertura and Clausura. The season determined the 75th and 76th champions in the history of the Liga Primera de Nicaragua, the top division of football in Nicaragua. The Apertura tournament was played in the second half of 2020, while the Clausura was played in the first half of 2021.

Format

The Apertura playoff format was changed from previous years, while the Clausura used the same 4-team playoff format. For the Apertura, the top four teams from the regular stage advanced to a "quadrangular" double-round robin instead of a playoff stage. The regular stage and quadrangular winners played to decide the tournament's champion, but ultimately the same team won both and the final was not necessary. The same format was recently adopted by the Costa Rican Primera División, but for both half seasons.

Team information

A total of ten teams contested the league, including nine sides from the 2019–20 Primera División, and one side from the 2019–20 Segunda División.

UNAN Managua finished last in the aggregate table and were relegated to the Segunda División. The champions from the Segunda División, Deportivo Las Sabanas, were promoted in their place.

The 9th place team in the aggregate table, ART Jalapa, faced the second-place team from the Segunda División, Deportivo Masaya, in a playoff for a spot in the Primera División. ART Jalapa won 4–3 over two legs, meaning ART Jalapa remained in Primera División.

Promotion and relegation

Promoted from Segunda División

  • Champions: Junior de Managua[1]

Relegated to Segunda División

Other news

New ball provider

VOIT will be providing and major ball sponsor for 2020-2021 [1][permanent dead link‍]

Managerial changes

Pre-season Apertura 2020

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
Juventus Managua Nicaragua Jaime Ruiz Interimship ended May 2020 Nicaragua Oscar Blanco May 2020 TBD (Apertura 2019)
Junior de Managua Nicaragua Sacked May 2020 Nicaragua Tyrone Acevedo May 2020 TBD (Apertura 2019)
Real Madriz Panama Juan Ramirez Contract finished May 2020 Nicaragua Carlos Matamoros May 2020 TBD (Apertura 2019)
ART Jalapa El Salvador Angel Orellana Contract finished May 2020 Argentina Carlos Javier Martino May 2020 TBD (Apertura 2019)
Deportivo Ocotal Honduras Reynaldo Clavasquín Sacked May 2020 Honduras Elvin Díaz May 2020 TBD (Apertura 2019)

During the Apertura season

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
Deportivo Ocotal Honduras Elvin Diaz TBD Oct 2020 Honduras Marcos Rivera Oct 2020 TBD (Apertura 2020)

Pre-season Apertura 2020

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
Real Madriz Nicaragua Carlos Matamoros Contract finished 2020 Nicaragua Ronaldo Alvarado 2021 TBD (Apertura 2021)
Deportivo Ocotal Honduras Marcos Rivera Contract finished December 2020 Nicaragua Mario Alfaro January 2021 TBD (Apertura 2021)

Clausura 2021

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
Real Madriz Nicaragua Ronaldo Alvarado Contract finished March 2021 Honduras Hector Medina March 2021 TBD (Clausura 2021)

Apertura

Personnel and sponsoring

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Kit sponsors
ART Municipal Jalapa Argentina Carlos Javier Martino Nicaragua Joma Alcadia de Jalapa
Chinandega Nicaragua Reyna Espinoza Nicaragua Lester Espinoza Nil Nil
Diriangén FC Brazil Flavio da Silva Nicaragua Ereck Tellez Joma Claro, Victoria frost,Cafe Ox, Flor de Cana, Electrolit
Junior Managua Nicaragua Tyrone Acevedo Nicaragua Carlos Membreno Joma Oceanica, MT-MultiTrans
Juventus Managua Nicaragua Oscar Blanco Honduras Nil Nil
Managua Nicaragua Emilio Aburto Nicaragua Nahum Peralta Joma Alcadia de Managua, Ravoline
Ocotal Honduras Elvin Díaz Nicaragua Guillermo Espino Nil Alcadia de Ocotal
Real Estelí Nicaragua Holver Flores Nicaragua Mexico Manual Rosas Kappa Beco, Movi star, La Curaçao, Banpro, Vitalsis
Real Madriz Nicaragua Carlos Matamoros Nicaragua Joma Alcadia de Somoto
Walter Ferretti Nicaragua Henry Urbina Nicaragua Denis Espinoza Joma Claro, MC

Standings

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Real Estelí (C) 18 11 5 2 32 13 +19 38 Advance to Playoffs
(Semifinals)
2 Walter Ferretti 18 9 5 4 29 17 +12 32
3 Municipal Jalapa 18 8 6 4 20 15 +5 30 Advance to Playoffs
(Quarterfinals)
4 Diriangén (A) 18 8 5 5 29 21 +8 29
5 Juventus Managua 18 6 5 7 23 25 −2 23
6 Chinandega 18 5 6 7 21 35 −14 21
7 Managua 18 5 4 9 24 30 −6 19
8 Deportivo Ocotal 18 5 4 9 20 25 −5 19
9 Real Madriz 18 3 7 8 17 24 −7 16
10 Junior 18 2 9 7 16 26 −10 15
Updated to match(es) played on 3 August 2020. Source: Liga Primera
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) head-to-head points; 5) head-to-head goal difference; 6) head-to-head goals scored; 7) draw.
(A) Advance to a further round; (C) Champions

Results

Home \ Away REE WAF MCJ DRI JVM CHI MAN DPO RMA JUN
Real Estelí — 1–1 2–1 1–0 3–0 3–0 2–1 2–0
Walter Ferretti 0–0 — 0–0 0–1 0–1 4–2 2–0 3–1 1–0
Municipal Jalapa 1–0 3–0 — 2–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 2–0 1–0
Diriangén 2–2 0–1 1–1 — 1–0 2–0 0–0 3–1 3–2
Juventus Managua 1–4 1–3 2–2 3–1 — 5–1 2–3 1–0 1–0 1–1
Chinandega 1–5 2–2 1–3 3–2 — 0–0 4–2 1–1 2–2
Managua 3–4 1–2 3–1 0–1 1–0 — 2–2 0–1 2–0
Deportivo Ocotal 0–1 0–0 1–0 0–0 1–2 5–0 — 1–1 3–1
Real Madriz 1–0 2–2 3–0 1–1 0–1 0–2 0–1 — 1–1
Junior 0–0 0–4 1–0 1–1 0–1 2–2 1–0 2–2 —
Updated to match(es) played on 3 August 2020. Source: Liga Primera
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Finals

Quarterfinals

Municipal Jalapa0–2Chinandega F.C.
Nil Adolfo Colindres own 7'
Erick Alcazar 47'
Estadio Alejandro Ramos Turcio, Jalapa

Chinandega progressed.

Diriangen2–0Juventus Managua
Luis Coronel 16'
Bernando Laurerio 29'		 Nil
Estadio Cacique Diriangén, Diriamba

Diriangen progressed.

Semi-finals

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Walter Ferretti 3–6 Diriangén 2–3 1–3
Real Estelí 3–2 Chinandega 2–2 1–0
Diriangén3–2Walter Ferretti
Henry Nino own 59'
Maycon 62'
Rene Huete own 83'		 Dshon Forbes 13'
Ezequiel Ugalde 34'
Estadio Cacique Diriangén, Diriamba
Walter Ferretti1–3Diriangén
Rene Huete 72' Alexis Ramos 18' 22'
Maycon 44'

Diriagen won 6-3 on aggregate.

Chinandega2–2Real Estelí
Kevin Vinerio 69'
Erick Alcazar 88'		 Edgar Castillo 37'
Brandon Ayerdis 61'
Estadio La Veranera , La Veranera
Real Estelí1–0Chinandega
Josué Quijano 15' Nil

Real Esteli won 3–2 on aggregate.

Final

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Diriangén 0–1 Real Estelí 0–0 0–1
Diriangén0–0Real Estelí
Estadio Cacique Diriangén, Diriamba
Referee: Erick Lezama
Real Estelí1–0Diriangén
Estadio Nacional de Fútbol de Nicaragua, Managua
Referee: Nitzar Sandoval

Clausura

Standings

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Diriangén (Q) 18 13 1 4 36 16 +20 40 Advance to Playoffs
(Semifinals)
2 Real Estelí (Q) 18 12 2 4 34 13 +21 38
3 Managua (Q) 18 10 3 5 41 23 +18 33 Advance to Playoffs
(Quarterfinals)
4 Walter Ferretti (Q) 18 10 3 5 29 17 +12 33
5 Deportivo Ocotal (Q) 18 7 5 6 22 21 +1 26
6 Real Madriz 18 6 3 9 18 26 −8 21
7 Municipal Jalapa 18 4 5 9 21 32 −11 17
8 Junior 18 4 4 10 16 33 −17 16
9 Juventus Managua 18 4 3 11 17 33 −16 15
10 Chinandega 18 3 5 10 17 37 −20 14
Updated to match(es) played on 3 August 2020. Source: Liga Primera
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) head-to-head points; 5) head-to-head goal difference; 6) head-to-head goals scored; 7) draw.
(Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Finals

Quarterfinals

Walter Ferretti3–0Deportivo Ocotal
Rene Huete 68' Dshon Forbes 86' Cristhian Flores 90' Nil
Referee: Odanel Velez

Walter Ferretti progressed 3-0.

Managua1-0Real Madriz
Lucas dos Santos 49' Nil
Estadio Nacional de Fútbol (UNAN) (Managua)
Referee: Nitzar Sandoval

Managua progressed 1-0.

Semi-finals

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Walter Ferretti 1–3 Diriangén 1–0 0–3
Real Estelí 5–5(a) Managua 3–1 2–4
Walter Ferretti1–0Diriangén
Fernando Vilalpando 78' Nil
Diriangén3–0Walter Ferretti
Maycon Santana 45' 60'
Luis Coronel 83'		 Nil
Estadio Cacique Diriangén, Diriamba

Diriagen won 3-1 on aggregate.

Managua3–1Real Estelí
Agenor Baez 79'
Lucas dos Santos 82' 86'		 Juan Barrera 41'
Real Estelí4–2Managua
Juan Barrera 16' 37'
Carlos Chavarria 54' 56'		 Lucas dos Santos 82' 90'

5-5. Managua won 5-5 on aggregate away goal(s).

Final

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Diriangén 3 – 1 Managua 2 – 0 1 – 1
Managua0 – 2Diriangén
Nil Robinson Luiz 65' 69'
Estadio Nacional de Fútbol (UNAN) (Managua)
Referee: Tatiana Guzman
Diriangén1 – 1Managua
Estadio Cacique Diriangén
Referee: Nitzar Sandoval

List of foreign players in the league

This is a list of foreign players in the 2020–21 season. The following players:

  1. Have played at least one game for the respective club.
  2. Have not been capped for the Nicaragua national football team on any level, independently from the birthplace

A new rule was introduced this season, that clubs can have four foreign players per club and can only add a new player if there is an injury or a player/s is released, and it is before the closing of the season transfer window.

(player released during the Apertura season) (player released between the Apertura and Clausura seasons) (player released during the Clausura season)

References

  1. ^ "El Junior de Managua ya es de Primera en Nicaragua". El Heraldo (in Spanish). 25 April 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%E2%80%9321_Liga_Primera_de_Nicaragua
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