Big Three (Peru) Explained

Big Three
Team1logo:	Escudo Alianza Lima.svg
Team2logo:	Escudo de Sporting Cristal (version 2018).svg
Team3logo:	Logo_oficial_de_Universitario.png
Stadiums:	Alejandro Villanueva (Alianza Lima) Monumental (Universitario)

The Big Three (Spanish; Castilian: Los Tres Grandes) is the nickname of the three most successful sports clubs in Peru. The football teams of Alianza Lima, Sporting Cristal, and Universitario have a great rivalry and are usually the main contenders for the title. Combined they share a total of 71 out of 107 Peruvian Football Championships ever played and generally end up sharing the top three positions.

Several other clubs outside the big three have won the Peruvian league, with Sport Boys having the fourth most national titles behind the Big Three in Peru with 6 in total. Today, the chief competitors of the three are Melgar, Cienciano and Deportivo Municipal.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Titles by club

Club	Total	Liga de Lima (1912–21)	Amateur era Lima & Callao (1926–50)	Professional era (1951–)
				Lima & Callao (1951–65)	Descentralizado (1966–2018)	Liga 1 (2019–)
Universitario	27	—	7	3	16	1
Alianza Lima	25	2	6	6	9	2
Sporting Cristal	20	—	—	2	17	1

scope=col width=200	Club	scope=col width=80	Winners	scope=col width=100	Runners-up	scope=col class="unsortable" width=600	Winning years	scope=col class="unsortable" width=600	Runners-up years
Universitario	27	15		1928, 1932, 1933, 1940, 1955, 1965, 1970, 1972, 1978, 1984, 1988, 1995, 2002, 2008, 2020
Alianza Lima	25	23		1926, 1930, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1943, 1953, 1956, 1961, 1964, 1971, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2009, 2011, 2018, 2019, 2023
Sporting Cristal	20	14

Title definitions

List of finals

Year	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Venue
1987	Universitario	1–0	Alianza Lima	Estadio Nacional
1988	Sporting Cristal	2–1	Universitario	Estadio Nacional
Year	Winner	Agg.	Runner-up	1st leg	2nd leg	3rd leg
1998	Universitario	align=center bgcolor=cedff2	3–3 (penalty shootout 4–2)	Sporting Cristal	1–2	2–1	–
1999	Universitario	3–1	Alianza Lima	3–0	0–1	–
2003	Alianza Lima	align=center bgcolor=FBCEB1	2 - 1^†	Sporting Cristal	align=center colspan="3"	Single match
2004	Alianza Lima	align=center bgcolor=cedff2	0 - 0 (penalty shootout 5 - 4)	Sporting Cristal	align=center colspan="3"	Single match
2009	Universitario	2–0	Alianza Lima	1–0	1–0	–
2018	Sporting Cristal	7–1	Alianza Lima	4–1	3–0	–
2020		3–2	Universitario	2–1	1–1	–
2021		1–0	Sporting Cristal	1–0	0–0	–
2023	Universitario	3–1	Alianza Lima	1–1	2–0	–

Other definitions

These matches were played when teams were tied for first in the general league or in a specific tournament.

Year	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Venue	In contention
1928	Alianza Lima	1–1	Federación Universitaria	Stadium Nacional	1928 Campeonato de Selección y Competencia
Replay	Alianza Lima	align=center bgcolor=D0F0C0	2–0	Federación Universitaria		Stadium Nacional
1935	Universitario	2–1	Alianza Lima	Stadium Nacional	1934 Torneo de Primeros Equipos
1955	Alianza Lima	2–1	Universitario	Estadio Nacional	1955 Campeonato Profesional de Lima
1961	Sporting Cristal	2–0	Alianza Lima	Estadio Nacional	1961 Campeonato Profesional de Lima
1990	Universitario	1–0	Alianza Lima	Estadio Nacional	1990 Torneo Regional II
1991	Sporting Cristal	align=center bgcolor=cedff2	1–1 (penalty shootout 7–6)	Universitario	Estadio Nacional	1991 Torneo Regional II
1998	Sporting Cristal	1–0	Alianza Lima	Estadio Nacional	1998 Torneo Clausura
2001	Alianza Lima	2–1	Sporting Cristal	Estadio Nacional	2001 Torneo Apertura
2002	Universitario	1–0 0–0	Alianza Lima	Estadio Monumental Estadio Mansiche	2002 Torneo Apertura
2014	Sporting Cristal	1–0	Alianza Lima	Estadio UNSA	2014 Torneo Clausura

Half-year / Short tournaments

Apertura / Fase 1 seasons

scope=col width=200	Club	scope=col width=80	Winners	scope=col width=100	Runners-up	scope=col class="unsortable" width=600	Winning years	scope=col class="unsortable" width=600	Runners-up years
	8	2		1969, 2005
	6	4		1999, 2002, 2003, 2018
	4	7

Clausura / Fase 2 seasons

scope=col width=200	Club	scope=col width=80	Winners	scope=col width=100	Runners-up	scope=col class="unsortable" width=600	Winning years	scope=col class="unsortable" width=600	Runners-up years
	7	4		1998, 2002, 2014, 2018
	6	4
	2	6		1997, 1999, 2006, 2007, 2016, 2019

Regional seasons (1984–1991)

scope=col width=200	Club	scope=col width=80	Winners	scope=col width=100	Runners-up	scope=col class="unsortable" width=600	Winning years	scope=col class="unsortable" width=600	Runners-up years
	4	3
	3	0		—
	0	2	—	1986, 1990–II

Descentralizado seasons (1984–1988)

scope=col width=200	Club	scope=col width=80	Winners	scope=col width=100	Runners-up	scope=col class="unsortable" width=600	Winning years	scope=col class="unsortable" width=600	Runners-up years
	2	0		—
	1	1
	1	0		—

Parallel tournaments

scope=col width=200	Club	scope=col width=80	Winners	scope=col width=100	Runners-up	scope=col class="unsortable" width=600	Winning years	scope=col class="unsortable" width=600	Runners-up years
	4	1		1993 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores
	3	0		—
	0	4	—	1969 Apertura, 1981 Regional, 1996 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores, 1997 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores

Total Half-year / Short tournaments by club

Club	Total	Half-year tournaments
		Torneo Apertura (1997–)	Torneo Clausura (1997–)	Fase 1 (2020–2021)	Fase 2 (2020–2021)	Torneo Regional (1984–1991)	Torneo Descentralziado (1984–1988)	Torneo de Verano (2017–2018)
	15	3	6	1	0	3	1	1
	15	6	6	0	1	0	2	0
	14	6	2	1	0	4	1	0

National Cups and Supercups

scope=col width=200	Club	scope=col width=80	Winners	scope=col width=100	Runners-up	scope=col class="unsortable" width=600	Winning years	scope=col class="unsortable" width=600	Runners-up years
	3	1		2015 Torneo del Inca
	1	1		1989 Torneo Plácido Galindo
	1	0		—

Total International Participations by club

Club	Total	International Participations
		Copa Libertadores (1961–)	Copa Sudamericana (2003–)	Recopa Sudamericana (1970–)	Copa CONMEBOL (1992–1999)	Copa Merconorte (1998–2001)	Copa de Campeones (1948)	Copa Ganadores de Copa (1970–1971)
	48	39	4	0	1	4	—	—
	48	34	8	0	2	4	—	—
	39	30	4	0	1	4	—	—

Performances by club

Performance in international cups by club

scope=col	Team	scope=col	Winners	scope=col	Runners-up	scope=col class="unsortable"	Years won	scope=col class="unsortable"	Years lost
scope=row	Universitario	0	1		1972
scope=row	Sporting Cristal	0	1		1997

See also

• Big Three (Belgium)
• Big Three (Costa Rica)
• Big Three (Greece)
• Big Three (Netherlands)
• Big Three (Portugal)
• Big Three (Turkey)
• Big Twelve (Brazilian football)
• Big Five (Argentine football)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Universitario, Alianza Lima y Cristal: ¿qué equipo llevó más público en su presentación?. 3 February 2016. 27 July 2014. Depor.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20160624145349/http://depor.com/futbol-peruano/universitario-deportes-alianza-lima-y-sporting-cristal-que-equipo-llevo-mas-publico-1064246/1. 24 June 2016. dead.
2. Web site: Alianza, Universitario o Cristal: ¿Qué equipo llevó más hinchas a su presentación?. 20 May 2016. 4 February 2016. La10.pe.
3. Web site: Alianza Lima, Universitario y Cristal: los mejores grafitis de los clubes capitalinos (FOTOS). 20 May 2016. 26 January 2016. RPP.pe.