| Competition: | Liga 1 |
| Season: | 2021 |
| Dates: | 12 March – 28 November 2021 |
| Winners: | Alianza Lima (24th title) |
| Relegated: | Cusco Alianza Universidad |
| Matches: | 237 |
| Total Goals: | 635 |
| Continentalcup1: | Copa Libertadores |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Alianza Lima Sporting Cristal Universitario Universidad César Vallejo |
| Continentalcup2: | Copa Sudamericana |
| Continentalcup2 Qualifiers: | Melgar Cienciano Sport Boys Ayacucho |
| League Topscorer: | Luis Iberico Felipe Rodríguez (12 goals each) |
| Highest Scoring: | (18 October) |
| Prevseason: | 2020 |
| Nextseason: | 2022 |
The 2021 Liga 1 de Fútbol Profesional (known as the Liga 1 Betsson 2021 for sponsorship reasons) was the 105th season of the Peruvian Primera División, the highest division of Peruvian football. A total of 18 teams competed in the season, with Sporting Cristal coming in as defending champions.
The season was originally scheduled to start on 26 February 2021,[1] while the draw, which was originally scheduled to take place on 5 February 2021,[2] was postponed due to the effects of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru.[3] Because of this, the Peruvian Football Federation (FPF) also postponed the start of the tournament, with 12 March 2021 as the new date.[4]
Alianza Lima were the champions, winning their twenty-fourth league title by defeating Sporting Cristal in the finals by a 1–0 aggregate score.[5]
The format for this season was unveiled by the Liga de Fútbol Profesional on 16 January 2021. The season was divided into three stages: Fase 1, Fase 2, and the Playoffs. In Fase 1, the 18 teams were drawn into two groups of nine with the winners of each group playing a final to decide the Fase 1 winner, while Fase 2 was played under a single round-robin format with the 18 teams playing each other once.
The playoffs were to be contested by the winners of Fase 1 and Fase 2, as well as the top two teams of the aggregate table, which would play two semifinals with the winners playing the final to decide the national champion. If the Fase 1 or Fase 2 winners also ended up in the top two of the aggregate table, they would get a bye to the finals. However, in case a team won both stages of the competition, the playoffs would not be played and that team would be declared as champion. The bottom two teams of the aggregate table at the end of the season were relegated, with the team placed in 16th place playing a relegation playoff against the Liga 2 runners-up.[6]
It was expected that, pending approval from the Peruvian government and health authorities, the competition would be played at the teams' respective home stadiums after health concerns by the COVID-19 pandemic caused the previous season to be concluded in Lima.[2] However, the Fase 1 and later the Fase 2 were confirmed to be played entirely in the Peruvian capital, with the return of province teams to their home stadiums expected for 2022.[7] [8]
18 teams played in the 2021 Liga 1 season. The top seventeen teams in the 2020 Liga 1 took part, along with the 2020 Liga 2 champions Alianza Atlético.
| Team | Manager | City | Stadium | Capacity[9] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17,000 | |||||
| 5,000 | |||||
| 35,938 | |||||
| 25,000 | |||||
| 15,000 | |||||
| 20,030 | |||||
| 25,036 | |||||
| 45,056 | |||||
| 45,056 | |||||
| 10,000 | |||||
| 60,370 | |||||
 Ytalo Manzo (caretaker) | 17,000 | ||||
| 20,000 | |||||
| 18,000 | |||||
| 25,036 | |||||
| 18,000 | |||||
| 80,093 | |||||
| 18,000 |
The following stadiums were used to host matches:[7]
| Stadium | City | |
|---|---|---|
| Lima | ||
| Lima | ||
| Lima | ||
| Callao | ||
| Lima | ||
| Lima | ||
| Lima | ||
| Lima |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fase 1 | ||||||
| Melgar | Marco Valencia | End of caretaker spell | 30 November 2020 | Pre-season |  Néstor Lorenzo | 16 December 2020[10] |
| Alianza Lima | Daniel Ahmed | Sacked | 2 December 2020[11] | Carlos Bustos | 15 January 2021[12] | |
| Deportivo Municipal | Víctor Rivera | Resigned | 2 December 2020[13] | Franco Navarro | 3 December 2020[14] | |
| UTC | Franco Navarro | Signed by Deportivo Municipal | 3 December 2020[15] | Pablo Garabello | 4 December 2020[16] | |
| Ayacucho | Gerardo Ameli | End of contract | 18 December 2020[17] | Walter Fiori | 18 December 2020[18] | |
| Universidad San Martín |  Héctor Bidoglio | Resigned | 15 March 2021[19] | José Espinoza (caretaker) | 15 March 2021 | |
| Binacional | Luis Flores | Mutual consent | 22 March 2021[20] | 9th, Group B | César Chávez-Riva César Vaioli (caretakers) | 22 March 2021 |
| Universidad San Martín | José Espinoza | End of caretaker spell | 30 March 2021 | 4th, Group A | César Payovich | 30 March 2021[21] |
| Binacional | César Chávez-Riva César Vaioli | 14 April 2021 | 8th, Group B | Rubén Darío Insúa | 14 April 2021[22] | |
| Cusco | Carlos Ramacciotti | Sacked | 21 April 2021[23] | 7th, Group B | Claudio Vivas | 22 April 2021[24] |
| Sport Boys | Teddy Cardama | 8 May 2021[25] | 6th, Group B | Gustavo Álvarez | 12 May 2021[26] | |
| Binacional | Rubén Darío Insúa | Mutual consent | 8 May 2021[27] | 8th, Group B | César Vaioli (caretaker) | 9 May 2021[28] |
| UTC | Pablo Garabello | 25 May 2021[29] | 7th, Group A | Mario Viera | 26 May 2021[30] | |
| Fase 2 | ||||||
| Binacional | César Vaioli | End of caretaker spell | 21 May 2021 | Pre-tournament | Carlos Desio | 1 June 2021[31] |
| Cienciano | Marcelo Grioni | Mutual consent | 24 May 2021[32] | Víctor Rivera | 1 June 2021[33] | |
| Alianza Universidad | Rony Revollar | Resigned | 11 June 2021[34] | Julio César Uribe | 12 June 2021[35] | |
| Alianza Atlético | Jahir Butrón | Mutual consent | 5 August 2021[36] | 12th | Teddy Cardama | 6 August 2021[37] |
| Sport Huancayo | Wilmar Valencia | Sacked | 7 August 2021[38] | 17th | Javier Arce | 7 August 2021 |
| Cienciano | Víctor Rivera | 14 August 2021[39] | 12th | Gerardo Ameli | 15 August 2021[40] | |
| Universitario | Ángel Comizzo | 18 August 2021[41] | 7th | Juan Pajuelo (caretaker) | 19 August 2021[42] | |
| Cusco | Claudio Vivas | 19 August 2021[43] | 15th | Marcelo Grioni | 20 August 2021[44] | |
| Alianza Atlético | Teddy Cardama | Resigned | 25 August 2021[45] | 17th | Marcelo Vivas | 25 August 2021 |
| Deportivo Municipal | Franco Navarro | Mutual consent | 26 August 2021[46] | 13th | Julio Argote (caretaker) | 27 August 2021[47] |
| Universitario | Juan Pajuelo | End of caretaker spell | 1 September 2021 | 12th | Gregorio Pérez | 1 September 2021[48] |
| Deportivo Municipal | Julio Argote | 1 September 2021 | 11th | Hernán Lisi | 1 September 2021[49] | |
| Sport Boys | Gustavo Álvarez | Mutual consent | 1 September 2021[50] | 8th | Ytalo Manzo (caretaker) | 1 September 2021[51] |
| Universidad San Martín | César Payovich | 20 September 2021[52] | 18th | José Espinoza | 20 September 2021 | |
| Academia Cantolao | Jorge Espejo | 28 September 2021[53] | 13th | Carlos Silvestri | 30 September 2021[54] | |
Alianza Lima won 1–0 on aggregate.
The relegation playoff was originally played by Binacional, as the team placed 16th in the Liga 1 aggregate table and the Liga 2 Revalidación winners Carlos Stein, with Carlos Stein winning on penalties after a 1–1 draw on aggregate. However, on 20 January 2022 the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned a ruling by the FPF in which Cusco were awarded a 3–0 win in their Fase 2 match against Cienciano which had originally ended in a 2–2 draw. Due to this, Cusco fell to 17th place in the aggregate table and were relegated to Liga 2, while Binacional moved up one place to 15th and were reinstated in Liga 1.[55]
On 21 January 2022, the FPF confirmed that they would abide by the CAS ruling and also ruled out a replay of the relegation playoff series, this time between Carlos Stein and Universidad San Martín who went up to 16th place in the aggregate table as an effect of this ruling, with which Universidad San Martín also avoided relegation whilst Carlos Stein's promotion was confirmed.[56]
Tied 1–1 on aggregate, Carlos Stein won on penalties and were promoted to Liga 1.
| Rank | Name | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luis Iberico | Melgar | 12 |
| Felipe Rodríguez | Carlos A. Mannucci | ||
| 3 | Alexis Blanco | UTC | 11 |
| Gabriel Leyes | Academia Cantolao | ||
 Víctor Perlaza | Alianza Atlético | ||
| Alex Valera | Universitario | ||
| Joao Villamarín | Sport Boys | ||
| 8 | Hernán Barcos | Alianza Lima | 10 |
 Marlon de Jesús | Binacional |
On 9 December 2021, the Liga 1 announced the nominees for the 2021 Liga 1 awards.[57] The award ceremony was held on 15 December 2021, 18:00 local time (UTC−5), at the Peruvian Football Federation headquarters.[58] [59] The winners were chosen based on voting by coaches and captains of 2021 Liga 1 teams, local sports journalist and Liga 1 fans on social media.[60]
| Award | Winner | Club | Nominees | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best player of the year | Hernán Barcos | Alianza Lima | Christofer Gonzáles | Sporting Cristal |
| Josepmir Ballón | Alianza Lima | |||
| Best goalkeeper | Ángelo Campos | Alianza Lima | José Carvallo | Universitario |
| Alejandro Duarte | Sporting Cristal | |||
| Best under-20 player | Jesús Castillo | Sporting Cristal | Jostin Alarcón | Sport Boys |
| Arón Sánchez | Academia Cantolao | |||
| Best Coach | Carlos Bustos | Alianza Lima | Roberto Mosquera | Sporting Cristal |
| José del Solar | Universidad César Vallejo | |||
| Goal of the Year | Erinson Ramírez | Deportivo Municipal | Felipe Rodríguez | Carlos A. Mannucci |
| Gaspar Gentile | UTC | |||
| Kevin Quevedo | Melgar | |||
| Piero Ratto | Deportivo Municipal | |||
| Raziel García | Cienciano |
The following awards were also awarded:
The best XI team of the 2021 Liga 1 season was also announced during the award ceremony.[61]