2021–22 Liga Nacional de Guatemala

The 2021–22 Liga Nacional de Guatemala season was the 24th season of the Liga Nacional de Guatemala, the top football league in Guatemala, in which the Apertura and Clausura season is used. The season began on 30 July 2021 and ended on 29 May 2022.

Liga Nacional de Guatemala
Season2021–22
ChampionsApertura:
Malacateco (1st title)
Clausura:
Comunicaciones (31st title)
RelegatedNueva Concepción
Sololá
CONCACAF LeagueMalacateco
Comunicaciones
Municipal
Top goalscorerApertura:
Matías Rotondi
- 15 Goals
Clausura:
Isaac Acuña
- 12 goals
Biggest home winApertura:
Malacateco 7-1 Iztapa
Clausura:
Santa Lucía 8-1 Nueva Concepción
Biggest away winApertura:
Sololá 0-4 Comunicaciones
Clausura:
Nueva Concepción 1-5 Iztapa
Longest unbeaten runApertura:
(10 Games) Santa Lucía
Clausura:
(8 Games) Guastatoya
Longest winless runApertura:
(7 Games) Achuapa
Clausura:
(9 Games) Sololá

Team Information

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A total of 12 teams will contest the league, including 10 sides from the 2020–21 Guatemala Liga Nacional and 2 promoted from the 2020–21 Primera División.

Sacachispas and Sanarate were relegated to 2020–21 Primera División the previous season.

The relegated team were replaced by the 2020–21 Primera División winners Nueva Concepción and Sololá.

Promotion and relegation

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Promoted from Primera División de Ascenso as of August 2021.

Relegated to Primera División de Ascenso as of August 2021.

Personnel and sponsoring

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Team Chairman Head Coach Captain Kitmaker Shirt Sponsors
Achuapa   Francisco Zepeda   Adrián García Arias (interim)   Juan Cardona NS Sport Claro, Banrural, Domino's, Tellioz, Gallo
Antigua   Víctor Hugo García   Dwight Pezzarossi (interim)   Cristian Jiménez Joma Tigo, Banrural, Betcris, Domino's, Glucosoral, Mercedes-Benz, Bridgestone
Cobán Imperial   Irasema Meléndez   Sebastián Bini   Janderson NetSportswear Tigo, Pepsi, Bantrab, Gatorade, Domino's, Mayafert
Comunicaciones   Juan Garcia   Willy Coito Olivera   José Contreras Nino Tigo, Banrural, Gatorade, Pepsi, Zeta Gas
Guastatoya   Léster Rodríguez   Mario Acevedo   Wilson Pineda NetSportswear Claro, Banrural, Sistecom, Cementos Progreso, Canal 3
Iztapa   Mario Mejía   Richard Parra   Carlos Kamiani Félix TutoSport Tigo, Banrural, Starbus
Malacateco   Carlos Gutiérrez   Roberto Hernández   Sixto Betancourt Silver Sport Claro, Betcris, Coca-Cola, Starbus, Z Gas
Municipal   Gerardo Villa   José Cardozo   Ricardo Jérez Umbro Claro, Banrural, Bremen, Pepsi, Herbalife
Nueva Concepción   Ezequiel Orellana   Adrián Barrios   Jonathan Muñoz Jama Claro, Corporación Smith, Bazar Popular
Sololá   Jahiro Otzoy   Silvio Rudman   Víctor Bolivar NovaSport Tigo, Shell, Colua
Santa Lucía   Rodolfo Puertas   Matías Tatangelo   Thales Moreira NetSportswear Claro, Banrural, Domino’s, Sistecom, Azúcar de Guatemala
Xelajú   Francisco Santos   Irving Rubirosa   Héctor Moreira MR Tigo, Banrural, Domino's, Pepsi, Shell, Gatorade, Zeta Gas

Managerial Changes

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Beginning of the season

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Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
Achuapa   Sergio Pardo Resigned May 2021   Gustavo Machaín May 2021 th (Apertura 2021)
Comunicaciones   Mauricio Tapia Resigned June 2021   Willy Coito Olivera June 2021 th (Apertura 2021)
Municipal   Sebastián Bini Sacked May 2021   José Cardozo May 2021 th (Apertura 2021)
Malacateco   Rónald Gómez Resigned May 2021   Matías Tatangelo May 2021 th (Apertura 2021)

During the Apertura season

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Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
Achuapa   Gustavo Machaín Sacked August 21   Raúl Arias August 22 10th (Apertura 2021)
Malacateco   Matías Tatangelo Sacked August 22   Roberto Hernández August 26 12th (Apertura 2021)
Guastatoya   Rafael Díaz Sacked August 29   Daniel Guzmán August 29 9th (Apertura 2021)
Cobán Imperial   Fabricio Benítez Sacked September 22   Sebastián Bini September 22 12th (Apertura 2021)
Xelajú   Marcó Antonio Morales Mutual agreement termination October 18   Irving Rubirosa October 20 6th (Apertura 2021)
Nueva Concepción   Manuel Castañeda Resigned October 25   Gustavo Bobadilla October 28 12th (Apertura 2021)
Sololá   Marvin Hernández Sacked November 2   Rafael Díaz November 2 9th (Apertura 2021)
Guastatoya   Daniel Guzmán Resigned December 1   Josué Omar Morales (interim) December 2 9th (Apertura 2021)

Pre-Clausura changes

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Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
Nueva Concepción   Gustavo Bobadilla Mutual agreement termination December 8   Irving Olivares December 8 12th
Santa Lucía   Mario Acevedo Resigned December 24   Juan Manuel Funes December 29 Preseason
Guastatoya   Josué Omar Morales (interim) End of interim spell December 27   Mario Acevedo December 27 Preseason

During the Clausura season

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Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
Nueva Concepción   Irving Olivares Sacked February 5   Adrián Barrios February 8 12th (Clausura 2022)
Santa Lucía   Juan Manuel Funes Sacked February 12   Matías Tatangelo February 15 8th (Clausura 2022)
Sololá   Rafael Díaz Mutual agreement termination February 15   Silvio Rudman February 17 12th (Clausura 2022)
Achuapa   Raúl Arias Mutual agreement termination February 20   Adrian Arias (interim) February 23 11th (Clausura 2022)
Antigua   Roberto Montoya Sacked March 3   Dwight Pezzarossi (interim) March 4 5th (Clausura 2022)
Iztapa   Ramiro Cepeda Resigned March 20   Richard Parra March 21 10th (Clausura 2022)
Xelajú   Irving Rubirosa Mutual agreement termination May 13   Amarini Villatoro May 24 10th (Clausura 2022)

Apertura

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League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Antigua 22 14 4 4 36 13 +23 46 Qualification for the Championship Playoffs
2 Comunicaciones 22 13 5 4 37 19 +18 44
3 Municipal 22 11 6 5 30 15 +15 39
4 Malacateco 22 10 6 6 36 23 +13 36
5 Santa Lucía 22 8 12 2 28 25 +3 36
6 Xelajú 22 8 6 8 18 32 −14 30
7 Iztapa 22 8 4 10 21 32 −11 28
8 Sololá 22 6 7 9 21 32 −11 25
9 Guastatoya 22 5 8 9 18 23 −5 23
10 Cobán Imperial 22 5 5 12 22 31 −9 20
11 Achuapa 22 3 7 12 12 24 −12 16
12 Nueva Concepción 22 4 4 14 12 36 −24 16
Source: [1]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head record; 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored; 5) Matches won; 6) Away matches won; 7) Away goals scored.

Championship Playoffs

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Final

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First leg
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Malacateco2-0Comunicaciones
Eduardo Rotondi   39'
Wilson Godoy   71'
[] Nil
Estadio Municipal Santa Lucía, Malacatán
Referee: Mario Escobar
Second leg
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Comunicaciones0-0Malacateco
Nil Nil
Estadio Nacional Mateo Flores, Guatemala City
Referee: Julio Cesar Luna


 Apertura 2021 champions 
Malacateco
1st title

Clausura

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League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Comunicaciones 22 12 5 5 39 24 +15 41 Qualification for the Championship Playoffs
2 Municipal 22 12 4 6 34 18 +16 40
3 Guastatoya 22 10 7 5 32 18 +14 37
4 Malacateco 22 9 8 5 29 22 +7 35
5 Cobán Imperial 22 9 7 6 29 25 +4 34
6 Antigua 22 9 6 7 33 22 +11 33
7 Achuapa 22 9 6 7 29 25 +4 33
8 Santa Lucía 22 8 4 10 36 27 +9 28
9 Iztapa 22 7 7 8 30 31 −1 28
10 Xelajú 22 6 5 11 17 31 −14 23
11 Sololá 22 3 6 13 19 46 −27 15
12 Nueva Concepción 22 4 3 15 21 57 −36 15
Source: [2]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head record; 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored; 5) Matches won; 6) Away matches won; 7) Away goals scored.

Championship Playoffs

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Final

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First leg
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Municipal0–1Comunicaciones
Estadio El Trébol, Guatemala City
Second leg
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Comunicaciones1–0Municipal
Estadio Nacional Mateo Flores, Guatemala City


 Clausura 2022 champions 
Comunicaciones
31st title

Aggregate table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Comunicaciones 44 25 10 9 76 43 +33 85 CONCACAF League round of 16[a]
2 Antigua 44 23 10 11 69 37 +32 79
3 Municipal 44 23 10 11 64 33 +31 79 CONCACAF League preliminary round[b]
4 Malacateco 44 19 14 11 65 45 +20 71 CONCACAF League preliminary round[c]
5 Santa Lucía 44 16 16 12 64 52 +12 64
6 Guastatoya 44 15 15 14 50 41 +9 60
7 Iztapa 44 15 11 18 51 63 −12 56
8 Cobán Imperial 44 14 12 18 51 56 −5 54
9 Xelajú 44 14 11 19 29 63 −34 53
10 Deportivo Achuapa 44 12 13 19 41 49 −8 49
11 Sololá 44 9 13 22 40 78 −38 40 Relegated to Primera División de Ascenso
12 Nueva Concepción 44 8 7 29 33 93 −60 31
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
  1. ^ As Clausura champions (GUA1)
  2. ^ As runners-up with better aggregate record (GUA3)
  3. ^ As Apertura champions (GUA2)

List of Foreign Players

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This is a list of foreign players in 2021-2022 season. The following players:

  1. have played at least one apertura game for the respective club.
  2. have not been capped for the Guatemala national football team on any level, independently from the birthplace. [3] Archived 2018-07-29 at the Wayback Machine

A new rule was introduced a few season ago, that clubs can only have five foreign players per club and can only add a new player if there is an injury or player/s is released.

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