2016–17 Primera División de Nicaragua

The 2016–17 season in Primera División de Nicaragua will be divided into two tournaments (Apertura and Clausura) and will determine the 69th and 70th champions in the history of the league. The Apertura tournament will be played in the second half of 2016, while the Clausura will be played in the first half of 2017.

Primera División

Season	2016–17
Champions	Apertura: Real Estelí Clausura:Real Estelí
Relegated	Nandasmo
Champions League	-
CONCACAF League	Real Estelí Deportivo Walter Ferretti
Matches played	130
Goals scored	400 (3.08 per match)
Top goalscorer	Apertura: Edward Morillo – 12 goals Clausura: Gregorio Torres – 9 goals
Biggest home win	Apertura: Juventus Managua 10–0 Nandasmo Clausura: UNAN Managua 10–2 Nandasmo
Biggest away win	Apertura: Nandasmo 0–7 Walter Ferretti Clausura: Nandasmo 1–5 Diriangén
Highest scoring	Apertura: Real Madriz 8–3 Nandasmo Clausura: UNAN Managua 10–2 Nandasmo
Longest unbeaten run	Apertura: Real Estelí (18) Clausura: Real Estelí (8)
Longest losing run	Apertura: Sebaco (8) Clausura: Nandasmo (8)
← 2015–16 2017–18 →

Format

The Apertura play-off format was changed from previous years, while the Clausura will use the same 4-team play-off format. For the Apertura, the top four teams from the regular stage advanced to a "quadrangular" double-round robin instead of a play-off stage. The regular stage and quadrangular winners would have 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 season.

Teams

A total of 10 teams will contest the league, including 8 sides from the 2015–16 season and one sids directly promoted from the 2015–16 Segunda division. The final participant will be determined in a two-legged play-off, in which the 9th placed Primera division side ART Jalapa will play the team who finished second in Segunda division which was Sebaco. Sebaco won 4-3 on aggregate over ART Jalapa which meant they were promoted in the Primera Division.

• Deportivo Sebaco (Runner-up of the Segunda Division)
• Diriangén FC
• Juventus Managua
• Managua F.C.
• Nandasmo F.C. (Winner of the Segunda Division)
• Real Madriz
• Real Estelí F.C.
• UNAN Managua
• Chinandega FC
• Deportivo Walter Ferretti

Promotion and relegation

• At the end of the 2015–16, Nandasmo F.C. and Deportivo Sebaco was promoted to Primera Division
• At the end of the 2015–16, Deportivo Ocotal and ART Jalapa was relegated to Segunda Division.

Apertura

Personnel and sponsoring (2016 Apertura)

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Diriangén FC	Tyron Acevedo	Jason Coronel	Joma	Claro
Chinandega FC	Reyna Espinoza	Léster Espinoza	TBD	TBD
Juventus Managua	Javier Londoño	Marlon Medina	TBD	TBD
Managua F.C.	Luis Fernando Fallas	Norfran Lazo	TBD	TBD
Nandasmo F.C.	Marcos Bodán	Alfredo Pérez	TBD	TBD
Real Madriz	Sindulio Castellanos	Alvaro Bermúdez	TBD	TBD
Real Estelí F.C.	Ramón Otoniel Olivas	Elmer Mejia	Galaxia	Movistar, La Curaçao
Deportivo Sebaco	Óscar Castillo	Joel Rivera	TBD	TBD
UNAN Managua	Edward Urroz	Jonathan Donado	Joma	UNAN Managua
Deportivo Walter Ferretti	Flavio Da Silva	Denis Espinoza	Grama	Claro, Disnorte Dissur

Managerial changes

Before the season

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment
Diriangén FC	Jose Luis Rugamas	Resigned	2016	Tyron Acevedo	2016
Juventus Managua	Douglas Urbina	Contract finished	2016	Javier Londoño	2016
Managua F.C.	Flavio Da Silva	Resigned	2016	Amleto Bonaccorso	2016
Deportivo Walter Ferretti	José Valladares	Contract finished	2016	Flavio Da Silva	2016

During the season

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment
Managua F.C.	Amleto Bonaccorso	Resigned	August 2016	Jack Galindo	August 2016
Managua F.C.	Jack Galindo	Interim finished	September 2016	Luis Fernando Fallas	September 2016

Regular season

The regular season began on 2016. The top four finishers will move on to the next stage of the competition.

Scoring

• First goal of the season: Rodrigo Valiente for Deportivo Walter Ferretti against UNAN Managua, 51 minutes (6 August 2016)
• First goal by a foreign player: Rodrigo Valiente for Deportivo Walter Ferretti against UNAN Managua, 51 minutes (6 August 2016)
• Fastest goal in a match: 2 minutes
  • Remy Vanegas for Diriangen FC against Nandasmo F.C. (28 September 2016)
• Goal scored at the latest point in a match: 93 minutes
  • Anderson Acosta for Deportivo Sebaco against Chinandega FC (17 August 2016)
• First penalty Kick of the season: Rodrigo Valiente for Deportivo Walter Ferretti against UNAN Managua, 51 minutes (6 August 2016)
• Widest winning margin: 10 goals
  • Juventus Managua 10–0 Nandasmo F.C. (26 October 2016)
• First hat-trick of the season: Rudel Calero for Real Estelí F.C. against Nandasmo F.C. (21 September 2016)
• First own goal of the season: Felix Rodriguez for UNAN Managua against Deportivo Walter Ferretti (21 September 2016)
• Most goals in a match: 11 goals
  • Real Madriz 8–3 Nandasmo F.C. (4 September 2016)
• Most goals by one team in a match: 10 goals
  • Juventus Managua 10–0 Nandasmo F.C. (26 October 2016)
• Most goals in one half by one team: 7 goals
  • Juventus Managua 10–0 Nandasmo F.C. (26 October 2016)
• Most goals scored by losing team: 3 goals
  • Real Madriz 8–3 Nandasmo F.C. (4 September 2016)
• Most goals by one player in a single match: 4 goals
  • Rudel Calero for Real Estelí F.C. against Nandasmo F.C. (21 September 2016)

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Real Estelí	18	14	4	0	45	4	+41	46	Championship Group
2	Walter Ferretti	18	9	6	3	32	12	+20	33
3	UNAN Managua	18	8	5	5	25	17	+8	29
4	Diriangén	18	7	7	4	26	22	+4	28
5	Chinandega	18	8	4	6	22	18	+4	28
6	Real Madriz	18	7	3	8	38	34	+4	24
7	Managua	18	5	7	6	26	24	+2	22
8	Juventus Managua	18	5	5	8	29	22	+7	20
9	Sebaco	18	3	2	13	13	40	−27	11
10	Nandasmo	18	2	1	15	15	78	−63	7

Updated to match(es) played on 26 October 2016. Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results

Home \ Away	CHI	DIR	JUM	MAN	NAN	RES	RMA	SEB	UNM	WAF
Chinandega		3–1	1–0	1–1	3–0	0–2	3–0	0–1	1–0	0–0
Diriangén	1–1		1–1	1–1	3–2	0–0	1–1	2–1	0–1	2–2
Juventus Managua	1–2	1–2		2–2	10–0	0–4	4–0	1–0	1–1	1–0
Managua	0–0	2–3	1–0		4–0	1–2	3–3	3–1	0–1	1–2
Nandasmo	0–2	0–4	1–3	1–3		0–6	3–2	1–1	1–5	0–7
Real Estelí	1–0	3–1	1–1	4–0	7–0		3–0	1–0	0–0	0–0
Real Madriz	5–0	1–1	2–1	2–1	8–3	0–3		6–1	3–0	0–1
Sebaco	0–2	0–1	1–0	0–2	2–3	1–6	3–2		0–0	0–3
UNAN Managua	2–1	0–2	2–1	1–1	4–0	0–1	2–1	4–1		2–2
Walter Ferretti	3–2	2–0	1–1	0–0	4–0	0–1	1–2	3–0	1–0

Updated to match(es) played on 26 October 2016. Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Positions by round

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Real Estelí	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Walter Ferretti	5	5	8	9	8	7	7	7	7	4	2	4	4	4	4	2	2	2
UNAN Managua	4	3	5	3	2	2	3	2	2	2	3	6	7	7	7	5	5	3
Diriangén	6	6	4	2	6	3	5	6	6	3	5	3	3	3	2	3	3	4
Chinandega	2	2	2	4	4	5	6	3	3	6	4	2	2	2	3	4	4	5
Real Madriz	9	8	9	7	5	6	4	5	8	5	6	5	5	6	5	6	6	6
Managua	7	7	6	5	3	4	2	4	4	7	7	8	6	5	6	7	7	7
Juventus Managua	3	4	3	6	7	8	9	8	5	8	8	7	8	8	8	8	8	8
Sebaco	8	9	7	8	9	9	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
Nandasmo	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10

Updated to match(es) played on 26 October 2016. Source:

Championship group

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Real Estelí	6	3	3	0	6	2	+4	12	Apertura Champion
2	Walter Ferretti	6	3	2	1	10	6	+4	11
3	Diriangén	6	2	1	3	5	9	−4	7
4	UNAN Managua	6	0	2	4	5	9	−4	2

Updated to match(es) played on 04 December 2016. Source:
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results

Home \ Away	DIR	RES	UNM	WAF
Diriangén		1–2	1–0	0–4
Real Estelí	0–0		1–0	2–0
UNAN Managua	1–2	1–1		1–1
Walter Ferretti	2–1	0–0	3–2

Updated to match(es) played on 04 December 2016. Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

List of foreign players in the league

This is a list of foreign players in Apertura 2016. The following players:

1. have played at least one apertura 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 year, that clubs can only have five foreign players in a squad.

Chinandega ✔

• Marlon Barrios
• Bryan Cañate
• Richard Junior Charris
• Johan Hurtado
• Yosimar Rivera
• Christian Izaguirre

Diriangén ✔

• Lucas Martella
• Rafael Vieira
• Erick Alcázar
• Armando Valdéz Caicedo
• Leonel Escoto

Juventus Managua ✔

• Jose Pereira da Silva
• Jorge Betancur
• Deybran Blanco
• Juan Esteban Ospina
• Juan Diego Uribe

Managua ✔

• Christiano da Lima
• Marlon Barrios
• Darwing Güity
• Arán Pazos Balado
• Genlis Piñero

Nandasmo

• Cristian Ortega
• Willer Alexander Rodriguez

(player released mid season)

Real Estelí ✔

• Juan Berdún
• Jonatas Ribeiro
• Maycon Santana
• Jonathan Mosquera
• Emilio López
• Gregorio Torres

Real Madriz ✔

• Eduardo Salas
• Marel Steven Álvarez
• Luis Valladarez
• Edward Morillo
• Karim Nasser

Sebaco

• Evaristo González
• Bryan Leal
• Andrés Solarte

UNAN Managua ✔

• Jonathan Donado
• Luis Fernándo González
• John Hernandez
• Rodrigo Hernandez
• Renan Lalin

Walter Ferretti ✔

• Robinson Luiz da Silva
• Pedro Augusto dos Santos Sousa
• Allan Gutiérrez
• Bernardo Laureiro
• Rodrigo Valiente

Top goalscorers

Rank	Goalscorer	Team	Goals
1	Edward Morillo	Real Madriz	12
2	Gregorio Torres	Real Estelí	11
3	Daniel Reyes	UNAN Managua	9
4	Norfran Lazo	Managua	8
5	Samuel Wilson	Real Estelí	8
6	Luis Galeano	Real Estelí	7
7	Edwin Herrera	Real Madriz	7
8	Remy Vanegas	Diriangén	7
9	John Hernandez	UNAN Managua	6
10	Alejandro Ruiz	Nandasmo	6

Clausura

Personnel and sponsoring (2017 Clausura)

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Diriangén FC	Tyron Acevedo	Jason Coronel	Joma	Claro
Chinandega FC	Reyna Espinoza	Léster Espinoza	TBD	TBD
Juventus Managua	Javier Londoño	Marlon Medina	Grama	TBD
Managua F.C.	Emilio Aburto	Norfran Lazo	TBD	TBD
Nandasmo F.C.	Marcos Bodán	Alejandro Ruiz	TBD	TBD
Real Madriz	Sindulio Castellanos	Alvaro Bermúdez	TBD	TBD
Real Estelí F.C.	Ramón Otoniel Olivas	Manuel Rosas	Kappa	Movistar, La Curaçao
Deportivo Sebaco	Emiliano Barrera	Joel Rivera	TBD	TBD
UNAN Managua	Edward Urroz	David Solórzano	Joma	UNAN Managua
Deportivo Walter Ferretti	Flavio Da Silva	Denis Espinoza	Grama	Claro, Disnorte Dissur

Managerial changes

Before the season

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment
Managua F.C.	Luis Fernando Fallas	Resigned	November 2016	Jack Galindo	November 2016
Deportivo Sebaco	Óscar Castillo	Resigned	November 2016	Emiliano Barrera	November 2016

During the season

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment
Managua F.C.	Jack Galindo	Sacked	February 2017	Emilio Aburto	February 2017

Regular season

The regular season began on 2017. The top four finishers will move on to the next stage of the competition.

Scoring

• First goal of the season: Bismarck Montiel for Managua F.C. against UNAN Managua, 29 minutes (27 January 2017)
• First goal by a foreign player: Luis Martínez Rangel for UNAN Managua against Managua F.C., 64 minutes (27 January 2017)
• Fastest goal in a match: 2 minutes
  • Alexis Chavez for Juventus Managua against Managua F.C. (3 February 2017)
• Goal scored at the latest point in a match: 94 minutes
  • Alonso Umaña for Chinandega FC against Deportivo Walter Ferretti (11 March 2017)
• First Penalty kick of the season: Bismarck Montiel for Managua F.C. against UNAN Managua, 29 minutes (27 January 2017)
• Widest winning margin: 8 goals
  • UNAN Managua 10–2 Nandasmo F.C. (8 March 2017)
• First hat-trick of the season: Gregorio Torres for Real Estelí F.C. against Nandasmo F.C. (11 February 2017)
• First own goal of the season: Juan Narváez for Diriangén FC against Deportivo Walter Ferretti (12 February 2017)
• Most goals in a match: 12 goals
  • UNAN Managua 10–2 Nandasmo F.C. (8 March 2017)
• Most goals by one team in a match: 10 goals
  • UNAN Managua 10–2 Nandasmo F.C. (8 March 2017)
• Most goals in one half by one team: 6 goals
  • UNAN Managua 10–2 Nandasmo F.C. (8 March 2017)
• Most goals scored by losing team: 2 goals
  • UNAN Managua 10–2 Nandasmo F.C. (8 March 2017)
• Most goals by one player in a single match: 4 goals
  • Daniel Reyes for UNAN Managua against Nandasmo F.C. (8 March 2017)

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Real Estelí	18	13	4	1	40	8	+32	43	Playoffs
2	Walter Ferretti	18	11	5	2	37	17	+20	38
3	Diriangén	18	9	6	3	32	24	+8	33
4	UNAN Managua	18	8	8	2	38	20	+18	32
5	Juventus Managua	18	9	4	5	39	25	+14	31
6	Managua	18	5	6	7	31	30	+1	21
7	Real Madriz	18	6	1	11	28	37	−9	19
8	Chinandega	18	4	4	10	21	27	−6	16
9	Sebaco	18	2	5	11	14	36	−22	11
10	Nandasmo	18	1	1	16	17	73	−56	4

Updated to match(es) played on 30 April 2017. Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results

Home \ Away	CHI	DIR	JUM	MAN	NAN	RES	RMA	SEB	UNM	WAF
Chinandega		0–2	1–2	0–4	6–1	1–3	4–1	0–0	0–0	0–1
Diriangén	2–1		2–2	1–0	4–1	0–3	3–2	0–0	0–0	3–1
Juventus Managua	1–0	3–2		0–2	3–1	1–2	6–2	3–1	1–1	1–1
Managua	2–2	2–2	1–4		1–1	0–2	2–0	4–3	1–1	1–2
Nandasmo	2–3	1–5	0–7	1–4		1–4	1–5	2–0	0–5	0–3
Real Estelí	2–0	4–0	2–0	4–2	3–0		3–0	3–0	0–0	0–0
Real Madriz	0–1	1–2	3–1	2–1	2–1	0–3		4–0	1–3	1–1
Sebaco	1–0	2–2	0–1	2–2	2–1	0–0	1–2		2–3	0–2
UNAN Managua	1–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	10–2	2–1	2–1	5–0		1–5
Walter Ferretti	2–2	0–1	3–2	2–1	6–1	1–1	2–1	2–0	3–1

Updated to match(es) played on 30 April 2017. Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Positions by round

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Real Estelí	1	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Walter Ferretti	5	5	7	7	7	6	4	4	4	2	2	5	5	3	2	2	2	2
Diriangén	8	7	5	3	3	3	3	2	3	4	3	2	2	2	4	4	3	3
UNAN Managua	4	6	3	5	5	4	5	5	5	5	4	3	3	4	3	5	4	4
Juventus Managua	3	1	1	1	1	2	2	3	2	3	5	4	4	5	5	3	5	5
Managua	6	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	7	6	6	6	6	6	6
Real Madriz	7	4	6	4	6	5	6	6	6	6	6	6	7	7	7	7	7	7
Chinandega	2	3	4	6	4	7	7	7	7	7	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	8
Sebaco	10	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
Nandasmo	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10

Updated to match(es) played on 30 April 2017. Source:

Playoffs

Semi-finals

3 May 2017

Diriangén	1 – 0	Walter Ferretti
E. Téllez 45' (pen)	Report

Estadio Olímpico de San Marcos

Referee: E. Lezama

7 May 2017

Walter Ferretti	1 – 0	Diriangén
L. Peralta 39'	Report
Penalties
	3 – 2

Nicaragua National Football Stadium

Referee: J. Arbizu

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3 May 2017

UNAN Managua	0 – 1	Real Estelí
	Report	E. Mejía 58'

Nicaragua National Football Stadium

Referee: R. Gonzalez

6 May 2017

Real Estelí	1 – 1	UNAN Managua
L. Galeano 7'	Report	R. Baquedano 77'

Estadio Independencia

Referee: E. Lezama

Finals

13 May 2017

Walter Ferretti	1 – 2	Real Estelí
B. Laureiro 87' (pen)	Report	G. Torres 66' (pen) 82'

Nicaragua National Football Stadium

Referee: O. Davila

20 May 2017

Real Estelí	1 – 1	Walter Ferretti
L. Galeano 6'	Report	B. Laureiro 38' (pen)

Estadio Independencia

Referee: E. Lezama

List of foreign players in the league

This is a list of foreign players in Clausura 2017. The following players:

1. have played at least one apertura 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 year, that clubs can only have five foreign players in a squad.

Chinandega ✔

• Erwin Cabrera
• Bryan Cañate
• Yosimar Rivera
• Alonso Umaña
• Christian Izaguirre

Diriangén

• Erick Alcázar
• Miguel Estrada
• Armando Valdéz Caicedo
• Arlis Andino

Juventus Managua

• Deybran Blanco
• Juan Esteban Ospina
• Juan Diego Uribe
• Kenneth Carvajal

Managua

• Christiano da Lima
• Thiago Lima da Silva
• Marlon Barrios
• Francisco Miranda

Nandasmo

• Cristian Ortega
• Camilo Quiñonez
• Willer Alexander Rodriguez
• Yilmar Salas

(player released mid season)

Real Estelí ✔

• José Vagno Fontes dos Santos
• Vitinho
• Gerardo Aguilar
• Juan Carlos López
• Gregorio Torres

Real Madriz ✔

• Marel Steven Álvarez
• Grodbin Antonio Benítez Aguilar
• Edwin Castro
• Luis Valladarez
• Edward Morillo

Sebaco ✔

• Rodrigo de Brito
• Axel Oyeras
• Juan Sánchez
• Jorge Darío Florentín
• Miguel Leonardo Sosa González

UNAN Managua ✔

• Rodrigo Hernández
• Óscar Palomino
• Renan Lalin
• Luis Martínez Rangel
• Ever Benítez

Walter Ferretti ✔

• Robinson Luiz da Silva
• Pedro Augusto dos Santos Sousa
• Eder Munive
• Allan Gutiérrez
• Bernardo Laureiro

Top goalscorers

Rank	Goalscorer	Team	Goals
1	Gregorio Torres	Real Estelí	12
2	Edwin Castro	Real Madriz	6
3	Anderson Acosta	Sebaco	5
=	Yosimar Rivera	Chinandega	5
5	Erick Alcazar	Diriangén	4
=	Arlis Andino	Diriangén	4
=	Léster Bonilla	Chinandega	4
=	Bernardo Laureiro	Walter Ferretti	4
=	Luis Martínez Rangel	UNAN Managua	4
=	Daniel Reyes	UNAN Managua	4

Championship playoff

As the winners of both the Apertura and Clausura tournaments, Real Estelí were declared the season champions without a playoff. It is their 14th league title.

Aggregate table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Real Estelí (C)	36	27	8	1	85	12	+73	89	Qualification for 2017 CONCACAF League
2	Walter Ferretti	36	20	11	5	69	29	+40	71
3	UNAN Managua	36	16	13	7	63	37	+26	61
4	Diriangén	36	16	13	7	58	46	+12	61
5	Juventus Managua	36	14	9	13	68	47	+21	51
6	Chinandega	36	12	8	16	43	45	−2	44
7	Managua	36	10	13	13	57	54	+3	43
8	Real Madriz	36	13	4	19	66	71	−5	43
9	Sebaco (R)	36	5	7	24	27	76	−49	22	Relegation play-off
10	Nandasmo (R)	36	3	2	31	32	151	−119	11	Relegation to 2017-2018 Segunda División de Fútbol de Nicaragua

Updated to match(es) played on 30 April 2017. Source:
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Relegation playoff

The ninth place team in the aggregate table, Sebaco, played a two-leg playoff against the second place team from the Segunda División de Nicaragua, San Francisco, for one spot in next season's Primera División.

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23 June 2017 (2017-06-23)

San Francisco	2–1	Sebaco

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26 June 2017 (2017-06-26)

Sebaco	1–1	San Francisco

San Francisco won 3-2 on aggregate and are promoted to the Primera División. Sebaco are relegated to the Segunda División.

External links

• https://int.soccerway.com/national/nicaragua/1a-division/2015-2016/apertura/