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2020–21 Liga Nacional de Guatemala

Liga Nacional de Guatemala
Season2020–21
ChampionsApertura:
Guastatoya (3rd title)
Clausura:
Santa Lucía (1st title)
RelegatedSacachispas
Sanarate
CONCACAF LeagueGustatoya
Santa Lucía
Comunicaciones
Top goalscorerRamiro Rocca - 21 goals

The 2020–21 Liga Nacional de Guatemala season is the 23rd season of the Liga Nacional de Guatemala, the top football league in Guatemala, in which the Apertura and Clausura season is used. The season will begin in August 2020 and will end in May 2021.

Team information

A total of 12 teams will contest the league, including 10 sides from the 2019–20 Liga Nacional and 2 promoted from the 2019–20 Primera División.

Siquinalá and Mixco were relegated to 2020–21 Primera División the previous season.

The relegated team were replaced by the 2019–20 Primera División winners Achuapa and Sacachispas.

Promotion and relegation

Promoted from Primera División de Ascenso as of August 2020.

Relegated to Primera División de Ascenso as of August 2020.

Personnel and sponsoring

Team Chairman Head Coach Captain Kitmaker Shirt Sponsors
Achuapa Guatemala Francisco Zepeda Chile Sergio Pardo Brazil Juliano Rangel NetSportswear Tigo, Domino’s
Antigua Guatemala Víctor Hugo García Mexico Roberto Montoya Guatemala Jairo Arreola NetSportswear Tigo, TBD
Cobán Imperial Guatemala Irasema Meléndez Argentina Ernesto Corti Argentina Jorge Sotomayer NetSportswear Tigo, TBD
Comunicaciones Guatemala Juan Garcia Argentina Mauricio Tapia Costa Rica Michael Umaña Nino Tigo, Gatorade
Guastatoya Guatemala Léster Rodríguez Uruguay Willy Coito Olivera Guatemala Wilson Pineda NetSportswear Tigo, TBD
Iztapa Guatemala Mario Mejía Argentina Ramiro Cepeda Mexico Carlos Kamiani Félix TutoSport Tigo, TBD
Malacateco Guatemala Carlos Gutiérrez Costa Rica Ronald Gomez Guatemala Sixto Betancourt Silver Sport Tigo, TBD
Municipal Guatemala Gerardo Villa Argentina Sebastian Bini Guatemala Jose Mario Rosales Umbro Tigo, TBD
Sacachispas Guatemala Alexander Hernández Argentina Diego Cerruti Uruguay Egidio Arévalo Ríos NetSportswear Tigo, TBD
Sanarate Guatemala Jahiro Otzoy Argentina Matías Tatangelo Paraguay Orlando Moreira NetSportswear Tigo, TBD
Santa Lucía Guatemala Rodolfo Puertas Nicaragua Mario Acevedo Brazil Rafael da Roza TutoSport Tigo, TBD
Xelajú Guatemala Francisco Santos Guatemala Marcó Antonio Morales Argentina Pablo Mignorance MR Tigo, Domino’s

Managerial changes

Beginning of the season

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
TBD Guatemala Resigned May 2019 Guatemala TBD May 2019 th (Clausura 2018)

During the Apertura season

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
Sacachispas Guatemala Erick Gonzalez Sacked October 2020 Uruguay Alejandro Larrera October 2020 th (Clausura 2018)
Antigua GFC Mexico Juan Antonio Torres Resigned November 2020 United States Jeff Korytoski [1] November 2020 th (Aperura 2018)
Deportivo Achuapa Guatemala Irbin Olivares Resigned November 2020 Guatemala Marvin Ivan Leon November 2020 th (Clausura 2018)

Between Apertura and Clausura seasons

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
F.C. Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa Guatemala Sergio Guevara Resigned December 2020 Guatemala Mario Acevedo January 2021 th (Apertura 2020)
Sanarate Guatemala Gabriel Castillo Resigned December 2020 Argentina Matias Tatangelo January 2021 th (Apertura 2020)
Xelaju Guatemala Walter Claveri Sacked December 2020 Guatemala Antonio Morales January 2021 th (Apertura 2020)

During the Clausura season

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table
Antigua GFC United States Jeff Korytoski Resigned March 2021 Mexico Roberto Montoya March 2021 12th (Clausura 2021)

Apertura

League table

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Comunicaciones 16 9 5 2 25 10 +15 32 Advance to Playoffs
(Final Series)
2 Malacateco 16 7 3 6 19 18 +1 24
3 Xelajú 16 6 3 7 17 22 −5 21 Advance to Playoffs
(Prem. Round)
4 Antigua GFC 16 5 5 6 21 23 −2 20
5 Iztapa 16 5 4 7 24 28 −4 19
6 Santa Lucía 16 4 4 8 12 17 −5 16
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.


Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Municipal 16 10 3 3 33 11 +22 33 Advance to Playoffs
(Final Series)
2 Cobán Imperial 16 8 5 3 22 12 +10 29
3 Guastatoya 16 4 8 4 19 19 0 20 Advance to Playoffs
(Prem. Round)
4 Achuapa 16 5 4 7 17 21 −4 19
5 Sanarate 16 3 5 8 19 33 −14 14
6 Sacachispas 16 2 7 7 20 34 −14 13
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.


Finals

5 February 2021 Final Guastatoya 2–1 Municipal
01:00 Attendance: Closed gates
Referee: Bryan Lopez Castellano
8 February 2021 Final Municipal 1–1 Guastatoya
01:00 Attendance: Closed gates
Referee: Walter López Castellanos

Clausura

League table

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Comunicaciones 16 10 4 2 28 12 +16 34 Advance to Playoffs
(Final Series)
2 Malacateco 16 3 7 6 8 14 −6 16
3 Xelajú 16 3 8 5 14 15 −1 17 Advance to Playoffs
(Prem. Round)
4 Antigua GFC 16 2 7 7 15 26 −11 13
5 Iztapa 16 5 7 4 29 25 +4 22
6 Santa Lucía 16 6 6 4 13 13 0 24
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.


Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Municipal 16 8 3 5 24 11 +13 27 Advance to Playoffs
(Final Series)
2 Cobán Imperial 16 5 8 3 20 17 +3 23
3 Guastatoya 16 7 7 2 23 10 +13 28 Advance to Playoffs
(Prem. Round)
4 Achuapa 16 4 2 10 16 27 −11 14
5 Sanarate 16 4 6 6 16 25 −9 18
6 Sacachispas 16 5 3 8 15 26 −11 18
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.


Finals

21 May 2021 Final Santa Lucía 4–0 Comunicaciones Cotzumalguapa
02:00 Diego Ruiz 12'
Romario da Silva 28' 88'
Isaac Acuna 38'
Nil Stadium: Estadio Municipal Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa
Attendance: Closed gates
Referee: Walter López Castellanos
23 May 2021 Final Comunicaciones 5–2 Santa Lucía Guatemala City
08:00 Junior Lacayo 39' 53' 74'
Stheven Robles 49'
Nicolas Royon 47'
Thales Douglas Moreira Possas 90+2'
Nelson Miranda 90+4'
Stadium: Estadio Nacional Mateo Flores
Attendance: Closed gates
Referee: Mario Escobar


 Clausura 2021 winners: 
Santa Lucía
1st title

Aggerate League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Comunicaciones 32 19 9 4 53 22 +31 66
2 Municipal 32 18 6 8 57 22 +35 60
3 Cobán Imperial 32 13 13 6 42 29 +13 52
4 Guastatoya 32 11 15 6 42 29 +13 48 CONCACAF League round of 16
5 Iztapa 32 10 11 11 53 53 0 41
6 Santa Lucía 32 10 10 12 25 30 −5 40
7 Malacateco 32 10 10 12 27 32 −5 40
8 Xelajú 32 9 11 12 31 37 −6 38
9 Antigua GFC 32 7 12 13 36 49 −13 33
10 Achuapa 32 9 6 17 33 48 −15 33
11 Sanarate 32 7 11 14 35 58 −23 32 Relegation play-offs
12 Sacachispas 32 7 10 15 35 60 −25 31 Relegated to Segunda División
Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.


List of foreign players in the league

This is a list of foreign players in 2020-2021 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. [2] 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.