The 2021 Liga Profesional de Primera División season, also known as the Campeonato Uruguayo de Primera División 2021, was the 118th season of the Uruguayan Primera División, Uruguay's top-flight football league, and the 91st in which it is professional. The season, named "Dr. Tabaré Vázquez" after the late former President of Uruguay and chairman of Progreso from 1979 to 1989, started on 15 May and ended on 7 December 2021, with the starting date having been pushed back from early 2021 due to the late conclusion of the previous season owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tournament was originally scheduled to start on 8 May, however its date of start was postponed for a week to 15 May per request from the Uruguayan government. Peñarol won their fifty-first league title at the end of the season, winning the Torneo Clausura and placing first in the season's aggregate table and then beating Torneo Apertura winners Plaza Colonia on penalties in the semi-final played on 7 December. Nacional were the defending champions.
Format changes For the 2021 season, the competition was scheduled to run for eight months, from May to December, and had a change from the previous editions with the elimination of the Torneo Intermedio which is usually played midway into the season and adds seven matchdays to the league schedule. This change was intended to leave extra time available to finish the season before the end of the year in the event the health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic forced any suspension of matches in the course of the season. With that change, clubs only played 15 matches in the Torneo Apertura and 15 matches in the Torneo Clausura, for a total of 30 matches in the season, as well as the ones belonging to the Championship playoff for the clubs that eventually qualified for it. Matches would only be scheduled on weekends, with mid-week dates to be used only if necessary due to the pandemic.
Teams
The three lowest placed teams in the relegation table of the 2020 season, Defensor Sporting, Danubio, and Cerro, were relegated to the Segunda División for the 2021 season. They were replaced by Cerrito, Sud América, and Villa Española, who were promoted from the Segunda División.
Club Manager City Stadium Capacity Boston River Ignacio Ithurralde Las Piedras Parque Artigas 12,000 Cerrito Roland Marcenaro Montevideo Charrúa 14,000 Cerro Largo Danielo Núñez Melo Antonio Ubilla 9,000 Deportivo Maldonado Francisco Palladino Maldonado Domingo Burgueño Miguel 22,000 Fénix Ignacio Pallas Montevideo Parque Capurro 10,000 Liverpool Jorge Bava Montevideo Belvedere 10,000 Montevideo City Torque Román Cuello Montevideo Centenario 60,235 Montevideo Wanderers Daniel Carreño Montevideo Parque Alfredo Víctor Viera 11,000 Nacional Martín Ligüera Montevideo Gran Parque Central 34,000 Peñarol Mauricio Larriera Montevideo Campeón del Siglo 40,000 Plaza Colonia Eduardo Espinel Colonia Parque Juan Prandi 4,500 Progreso Álvaro Fuerte Montevideo Parque Abraham Paladino 8,000 Rentistas Diego Jaume Montevideo Complejo Rentistas 10,600 River Plate Gustavo Díaz Montevideo Parque Federico Omar Saroldi 6,000 Sud América Luis López Minas Juan Antonio Lavalleja 8,000 Villa Española Julio Mozzo Montevideo Obdulio Varela 8,000
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentTorneo AperturaVilla Española Damián SantínResigned18 December 2020Pre-season Bruno Piano1 February 2021Sud América Maximiliano Viera10 February 2021 Claudio Biaggio6 March 2021River Plate Jorge FossatiEnd of contract29 March 2021 Gustavo Díaz5 April 2021Nacional Martín LigüeraEnd of caretaker spell7 April 2021 Alejandro Cappuccio9 April 2021Rentistas Alejandro CappuccioResigned7 April 2021 Martín Varini8 April 2021Liverpool Marcelo MéndezSigned by Atlético San Luis11 June 20211st Gustavo Ferrín (caretaker)11 June 2021 Gustavo FerrínEnd of caretaker spell17 June 20212nd Jorge Bava15 June 2021Villa Española Bruno PianoResigned20 June 202116th Julio Mozzo21 June 2021Fénix Juan Ramón CarrascoSacked23 June 202111th Murad Djellatian (caretaker)23 June 2021Boston River Juan Tejera23 June 202115th Ignacio Ithurralde23 June 2021Fénix Murad DjellatianEnd of caretaker spell26 June 202111th Ignacio Pallas26 June 2021Montevideo City Torque Pablo MariniEnd of contract30 June 20217th Román Cuello25 June 2021Progreso Maximiliano VieraResigned20 August 202115th Álvaro Fuerte20 August 2021Nacional Alejandro CappuccioMutual consent22 August 20212nd Martín Ligüera22 August 2021Torneo ClausuraRentistas Martín VariniMutual consent2 October 202116th Diego Jaume3 October 2021Sud América Claudio Biaggio4 October 202112th Luis López5 October 2021
Torneo Apertura The Torneo Apertura, named "Eduardo Roca Couture", was the first tournament of the 2021 season. It began on 15 May and ended on 22 August 2021.
Standings
Results
Torneo Clausura The Torneo Clausura, named "Marcos Basiaco", was the second and last tournament of the 2021 season. It began on 11 September and ended on 5 December 2021.
Standings
Results
Aggregate table
Championship playoff
Semi-final
Finals Since Peñarol, who had the best record in the aggregate table, won the semi-final, they became champions automatically and the finals were not played. Nacional became runners-up as the second-placed team in the aggregate table. Both teams qualified for the 2022 Copa Libertadores group stage.
Top scorers {| class="wikitable" border="1" |- ! Rank ! Name ! Club ! Goals |- | align=center | 1 | Maximiliano Silvera |Cerrito | align=center | 21 |- | align=center | 2 | Matías Arezo |River Plate | align=center | 16 |- | align=center | 3 | Gonzalo Bergessio |Nacional | align=center | 15 |- | align=center | 4 | Federico Martínez |Liverpool | align=center | 14 |- | rowspan=2 align=center | 5 | Agustín Álvarez Martínez |Peñarol | rowspan=2 align=center | 13 |- | Leandro Otormín |Cerro Largo |- | align=center | 7 | Juan Ignacio Ramírez |Liverpool | align=center | 11 |- | rowspan=2 align=center | 8 | Sebastián Guerrero |Montevideo City Torque | rowspan=2 align=center | 10 |- | Salomón Rodríguez |Rentistas |- | rowspan=3 align=center | 10 | Lucas Di Yorio |Cerro Largo | rowspan=3 align=center | 9 |- | Renzo López |Montevideo Wanderers / Plaza Colonia |- | Lucas Rodríguez |Montevideo City Torque
Source: AUF
Relegation Relegation is determined at the end of the season by computing an average of the number of points earned per game over the two most recent seasons: 2020 and 2021. The three teams with the lowest average at the end of the season were relegated to the Segunda División for the following season.
Team Relegation 1Nacional 69 59 128 67 2Peñarol 65 60 125 67 3 61 50 110 67 4Liverpool 65 42 107 67 5Plaza Colonia 46 56 102 67 6Cerro Largo 50 46 96 67 7Montevideo Wanderers 52 44 96 67 8River Plate 49 42 91 67 9Cerrito — 40 40 30 10Fénix 49 40 89 67 11Rentistas 47 30 77 67 12Deportivo Maldonado 46 31 77 67 13Boston River 40 36 76 67 14Progreso (R) 38 36 74 67 15Sud América (R) — 31 31 30 16Villa Española (R) — 15 15 30
Season awards On 28 December 2021 the AUF announced the winners of the season awards, who were chosen by its Technical Staff based on voting by managers and captains of the 16 Primera División teams as well as a group of local sports journalists. 30 players were nominated for Best Player and the Team of the Season according to their ratings and evaluations by the Technical Staff throughout the season.
AwardWinnerClubBest Player Agustín CanobbioPeñarolYouth Talent Agustín Álvarez MartínezPeñarolBest Goal Matías Arezo()River PlateBest Save Sebastián Lentinelly()LiverpoolPublic's Player Gonzalo BergessioNacionalBest Manager Mauricio LarrieraPeñarolBest Newcomer Ignacio SosaFénixTop Scorer Maximiliano Silvera()CerritoLeast beaten goal in regular seasonPeñarol()Most minutes on field Gonzalo Falcón()Boston RiverFair Play AwardPeñarolBest RefereeAndrés MatonteBest Assistant refereeMartín Soppi
Team of the SeasonGoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwardsBench Sergio Rochet (Nacional) Giovanni González (Peñarol) Haibrany Ruiz Díaz (Plaza Colonia) Gary Kagelmacher (Peñarol) Andrew Teuten (Montevideo City Torque) Agustín Canobbio (Peñarol) Walter Gargano (Peñarol) Leonai (Plaza Colonia) Facundo Torres (Peñarol) Maximiliano Silvera (Cerrito) Agustín Álvarez Martínez (Peñarol) Santiago Mele (Plaza Colonia) Gonzalo Camargo (Plaza Colonia) Ángel Cayetano (Cerro Largo) Jesús Trindade (Peñarol) César Araújo (Montevideo Wanderers) Leandro Otormín (Cerro Largo) Gonzalo Bergessio (Nacional)
References
External links Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol - Campeonato Uruguayo