The 2020 Liga 1 de Fútbol Profesional (known as the Liga 1 Movistar 2020 for sponsorship reasons) was the 104th season of the Peruvian Primera División, the highest division of Peruvian football. A total of 20 teams competed in the season with Binacional coming in as defending champions. The season started on 31 January 2020 and concluded on 20 December 2020 with the second leg of the finals. Sporting Cristal won its 20th domestic championship by beating Universitario in the finals by a 3–2 aggregate score.
The competition was suspended between 12 March and 7 August due to the COVID-19 pandemic, being once again suspended that same day after one match had been played. It eventually resumed on 18 August 2020.
Competition format The season was divided into three stages: Torneo Apertura (Fase 1), Torneo Clausura (Fase 2), and the Playoffs.
The first and second stages were two Apertura and Clausura tournaments, later rebranded as Fase 1 and Fase 2, respectively. In the Apertura tournament, each team played the other teams once for a total of 19 games. Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Clausura tournament was scheduled to be played in a similar way to the Apertura, with reversed fixtures, however, its format was altered due to the 5-month suspension of the league. For the Clausura, the 20 teams were split into two groups of 10 according to their final placement in the Apertura. Teams played the other teams in their group once, with the winners of both groups playing a final to decide the Clausura winners. Points earned during the Apertura did not carry over during the Clausura. The winners of the Apertura and Clausura stages qualified to the playoffs along with the top two teams of the aggregate table at the end of the season, unless the Apertura and Clausura winners were placed in the top two positions of the aggregate table.
The playoffs to decide the national champion were scheduled to be contested by four teams, which would play two semifinals with the winners playing the final. Since the Apertura winners also ended up in the top two of the aggregate table, they were given a bye to the final and only one semi-final was played by the other two playoff qualifiers. In every stage of the playoffs, the teams with the most points on the aggregate table chose which leg they would play as the home team. If teams were tied in points after the two legs of the final, extra time and a penalty shootout would have been played to decide the national champion. If a team won both the Apertura and Clausura, the playoffs would not be played and that team would be declared as champion.
Qualification to international competitions was as follows: the four playoff qualifiers (or the top four teams of the aggregate table in case the playoffs were contested by a lower number of teams) qualified for the 2021 Copa Libertadores, while the next three best teams in that table qualified for the 2021 Copa Sudamericana, with a fourth berth being allocated to the 2020 Copa Bicentenario winners. With the cancellation of the Copa Bicentenario due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Copa Sudamericana berth allocated to its winner was transferred to the eighth best team in the aggregate table. The four teams with the fewest points in the aggregate table at the end of the season were to be relegated, unless the Copa Perú was not played this season, in which case only three teams would be relegated. If the Liga 2 was not played this season either, only two teams would be relegated. Eventually, only the Copa Perú was confirmed not to be held this season, with which three teams were relegated from Liga 1 at the end of the season.
Teams 20 teams played in the 2020 Liga 1 season, an increase of two teams from the previous season. The top sixteen teams in the 2019 Liga 1 took part, along with 2019 Liga 2 champions Cienciano, Copa Perú champions Carlos Stein, and the top two teams of the promotion play-offs (Atlético Grau and Deportivo Llacuabamba).
On 23 December 2019, Real Garcilaso announced its name change to Cusco Fútbol Club. Team changes Promoted from2019 Liga 2 Promoted from2019 Copa Perú Promoted fromPromotion play-offs Relegated from2019 Liga 1 Cienciano Carlos Stein Atlético Grau Deportivo Llacuabamba Unión Comercio Pirata
Stadia and locations
Team Manager City Stadium CapacityAcademia Cantolao Jorge Espejo Callao Miguel Grau 17,000Alianza Lima Daniel Ahmed Lima Alejandro Villanueva 35,000Alianza Universidad Rony Revollar Huánuco Heraclio Tapia 25,000Atlético Grau Rafael Castillo Piura Miguel Grau 25,000 Sullana Campeones del 36 12,000Ayacucho Gerardo Ameli Ayacucho Ciudad de Cumaná 15,000Binacional Luis Flores Juliaca Guillermo Briceño Rosamedina 20,030Carlos A. Mannucci Pablo Peirano Trujillo Mansiche 25,000Carlos Stein Daniel Valderrama Olmos Francisco Mendoza Pizarro 7,000 Guadalupe Carlos A. Olivares 12,000Cienciano Marcelo Grioni Cusco Garcilaso 42,056Cusco Carlos Ramacciotti Cusco Garcilaso 42,056 Sicuani Túpac Amaru 15,000Deportivo Llacuabamba Alberto Castillo Cajamarca Héroes de San Ramón 18,000Deportivo Municipal Víctor Rivera Lima Iván Elías Moreno 10,000 Universidad San Marcos 43,000Melgar Marco Valencia (caretaker) Arequipa Virgen de Chapi 60,000Sport Boys Teddy Cardama Callao Miguel Grau 17,000Sport Huancayo Wilmar Valencia Huancayo Estadio Huancayo 20,000Sporting Cristal Roberto Mosquera Lima Alberto Gallardo 18,000Universidad César Vallejo José del Solar Trujillo Mansiche 25,000Universidad San Martín Héctor Bidoglio Lima Alberto Gallardo 18,000Universitario Ángel Comizzo Lima Monumental 80,093UTC Franco Navarro Cajamarca Héroes de San Ramón 18,000
Starting from the seventh round of Stage 1, the following stadiums were used to host matches. Estadio Monumental in Lima was also included as a host stadium starting from the second round of Stage 2:
Stadium CityAlberto Gallardo LimaAlejandro Villanueva LimaIván Elías Moreno LimaMiguel Grau CallaoMonumental LimaNacional LimaUniversidad San Marcos LimaVilla Deportiva Nacional Lima
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentTorneo AperturaSport Huancayo Carlos RamacciottiResigned18 November 2019Pre-season Wilmar Valencia19 December 2019Academia Cantolao Jorge AraujoEnd of contract24 November 2019 Hernán Lisi14 December 2019UTC Gerardo Ameli24 November 2019 Franco Navarro28 November 2019Melgar Marco ValenciaEnd of caretaker spell24 November 2019 Carlos Bustos2 December 2019Ayacucho Mario VieraSigned by Carlos A. Mannucci27 November 2019 Gerardo Ameli29 November 2019Carlos A. Mannucci Pablo PeiranoEnd of contract28 November 2019 Juan Manuel Llop1 December 2019Universidad San Martín Carlos Bustos28 November 2019 Héctor Bidoglio13 December 2019Universitario Ángel Comizzo28 November 2019 Gregorio Pérez3 December 2019Deportivo Llacuabamba Roberto TristánResigned5 December 2019 Néstor Clausen10 January 2020Binacional Roberto MosqueraEnd of contract15 December 2019 César Vigevani1 January 2020Atlético Grau Wilmar ValenciaSigned by Sport Huancayo19 December 2019 Pablo Zegarra8 January 2020Carlos Stein Juan Carlos BazalarMutual consent20 December 2019 Orlando Lavalle31 December 2019Binacional César VigevaniResigned10 February 20208th Willy Escapa (caretaker)11 February 2020Sporting Cristal Manuel BarretoSacked20 February 202013th Jorge Soto (caretaker)20 February 2020 Jorge SotoEnd of caretaker spell23 February 202014th Roberto Mosquera23 February 2020Binacional Willy Escapa24 February 20202nd Flabio Torres24 February 2020Deportivo Llacuabamba Néstor ClausenSacked1 March 202018th Néstor Otero2 March 2020Cusco Javier Arce3 March 202017th Carlos Ramacciotti5 March 2020Carlos A. Mannucci Juan Manuel LlopMutual consent7 March 202014th Pablo Peirano13 March 2020Alianza Lima Pablo BengoecheaResigned8 March 202013th Mario Salas16 March 2020Atlético Grau Pablo ZegarraSacked9 March 202020th Rafael Castillo9 March 2020Universitario Gregorio PérezMutual consent12 June 20204th Ángel Comizzo20 June 2020Binacional Flabio Torres8 September 20206th Javier Arce8 September 2020Cusco Carlos Ramacciotti9 September 202011th Francisco Melgar9 September 2020Sport Boys Marcelo VivasResigned13 September 202016th Luis Hernández (caretaker)15 September 2020Carlos Stein Orlando LavalleMutual consent19 September 202016th Juan Carlos Bazalar23 September 2020Sport Boys Luis HernándezResigned22 September 202019th Teddy Cardama23 September 2020Melgar Carlos BustosSacked24 September 202011th Marco Valencia (caretaker)24 September 2020Deportivo Llacuabamba Néstor Otero27 September 202020th Alberto Castillo27 September 2020Cusco Francisco MelgarReturn to Deportivo Coopsol1 October 202014th Carlos Ramacciotti7 October 2020Torneo ClausuraBinacional Javier ArceMutual consent26 October 202010th, Group A Luis Flores29 October 2020Academia Cantolao Hernán LisiSacked27 October 20208th, Group A Jorge Espejo28 October 2020Alianza Lima Mario Salas1 November 20208th, Group B Guillermo Salas (caretaker)1 November 2020 Guillermo SalasEnd of caretaker spell6 November 20207th, Group B Daniel Ahmed6 November 2020Carlos Stein Juan Carlos BazalarSacked8 November 20208th, Group A Iván Chávez (caretaker)8 November 2020 Iván ChávezEnd of caretaker spell11 November 20206th, Group A Daniel Valderrama13 November 2020
Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic On 12 March, the Liga de Fútbol Profesional announced the decision to temporarily suspend the competition after the sixth round of the Torneo Apertura until at least 30 March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 2 June, the Peruvian government through its Ministry of Health and the Instituto Peruano del Deporte (IPD) approved the biosecurity protocol presented by the Peruvian Football Federation to allow the resumption of the competition, authorizing clubs to resume their training sessions. On 8 June, the FPF and the Liga de Fútbol Profesional announced that the league would resume on 31 July with the seventh round of the Torneo Apertura, with training sessions to resume on 22 June. It was also announced that all the remaining matches of the season would be relocated to Lima to avoid the constant travel between cities that clubs must do under normal circumstances, as well as an alteration to the competition format. However, after some delays with COVID-19 testing, the date for resumption was pushed back to 7 August.
On 5 August nine positive cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Binacional, following the application of tests ordered by the FPF after some players of said club breached the biosecurity protocol upon their arrival to Lima. In response to this finding the FPF's Medical Commission recommended the isolation of the entire Binacional delegation, meaning that their match against Alianza Lima scheduled for 9 August would not be played.
On the evening of 7 August, and due to an agglomeration of Universitario fans in the outskirts of the Estadio Nacional before their club's match against Cantolao breaching biosecurity protocols, the IPD ordered the suspension of the remaining matches scheduled for the seventh round of the Torneo Apertura. On 14 August, and following coordination meetings with authorities and awareness and prevention campaigns performed with fans, the IPD approved the proposal from the FPF to resume the competition on 18 August.
Fase 1 Standings
Results
Fase 2 Group A
Group B
Fase 2 final
Aggregate table Both stages (1 and 2) of the 2020 season will be aggregated into a single league table throughout the season to determine two of the teams that will qualify for the playoffs and the Copa Libertadores and four Copa Sudamericana qualifiers, as well as those to be relegated at the end of the season.
Alianza Lima and CAS decision