2022–23 Liga Primera de Nicaragua

Liga Primera de Nicaragua
Season	2022–23
Champions	Apertura:; Real Estelí; Clausura:; Real Estelí
Relegated	Juventus Managua
CONCACAF Central American Cup	Real Estelí ; Diriangén
Matches played	196
Goals scored	459 (2.34 per match)
Top goalscorer	Apertura:; Lucas dos Santos ; (16 goals) ; Clausura:; Arly Bonilla ; (15 goals)
Biggest home win	Apertura:; Juventus Managua 9–0 Ocotal; (1 December 2022); Clausura:; Diriangén 5–1 CS Sebaco ; (21 April 2023);
Biggest away win	Apertura:; TBD 3-5 TBD; Clausura:; Juventus Managua 0–7 Real Esteli F.C. ; (6 April 2023);
Highest scoring	Apertura:; TBD 4-8 TBD ; Clausura:; Juventus Managua 0–7 Real Esteli F.C. ; (6 April 2023);
	← 2021–22 2023–24 → All statistics correct as of 28 June 2022.

The 2022–23 Liga Primera de Nicaragua season was to be divided into two tournaments, Apertura and Clausura. The season will determine the 79th and 80th champions in the history of the Liga Primera de Nicaragua, the top division of football in Nicaragua. The Apertura tournament is to be played in the second half of 2022, while the Clausura is to be played in the first half of 2023.

Teams edit

Team information edit

A total of ten teams contested the league, including nine sides from the 2021–22 Primera División, and one side from the 2021–22 Segunda División.

Real Madriz finished last in the aggregate table and were relegated to the Segunda División. The champions from the Segunda División, Matagalpa FC, were promoted in their place.

The 9th place team in the aggregate table, ART Jalapa, faced the second-place team from the Segunda División, CD Junior, in a playoff for a spot in the Primera División. ART Jalapa won 4–3 over two legs, meaning ART Jalapa remained in the Primera División.[1]

Promotion and relegation edit

Promoted from Segunda División as of June, 2022.

Champions: Matagalpa

Relegated to Segunda División as of June, 2022.

Last Place: Real Madriz

Stadiums and locations edit

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
ART Municipal Jalapa	Jalapa	Estadio Alejandro Ramos Turcio	2,000
Diriangén	Diriamba	Estadio Cacique Diriangén	8,500
Juventus	Managua	Estadio Olímpico del IND Managua	7,000
Sport Sébaco	Matagalpa	Estadio Municipal de Matagalpa	1,800
Managua	Managua	Estadio Nacional de Fútbol (UNAN)	15,000
Ocotal	Ocotal	Estadio Roy Fernando Bermúdez	7,000
Real Estelí	Estelí	Estadio Independencia	4,800
Matagalpa	Matagalpa	Estadio Municipal de Matagalpa	1,800
UNAN Managua	Managua	Estadio Nacional de Fútbol (UNAN)	15,000
Walter Ferretti	Managua	Estadio Nacional de Fútbol (UNAN)	15,000

Personnel and kits edit

Team	Chairman	Head Coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor(s)
ART Municipal Jalapa	TBD	Luis Javier Londoño *	Bernardo Laureiro *	Keuka	AT&T
Diriangén	TBD	Roberto Armando Chanampe *	TBD	Macron	AT&T
Juventus	TBD	Alexis Zepeda *	Jhans Mina *	Keuka	AT&T
HYH Sebaco	TBD	Glen Blanco *	Luis Galeano *	Keuka	AT&T
Matagalpa	TBD	Oscar Castillo *	Rodolfo Forbes *	Keuka	AT&T
Managua	TBD	Emilio Aburto *	Kevin Serapio *	Keuka	AT&T
Ocotal	TBD	Nelson Vasquez *	TBD	Keuka	AT&T
Real Estelí	TBD	Ramon Otoneil Olivas *	Josué Quijano *	Keuka	AT&T
UNAN Managua	TBD	Eduardo Urroz *	Anderson Tremio *	Joma	AT&T
Walter Ferretti	TBD	Luis Diaz *	Denis Espinoza *	Keuka	AT&T

News edit

Shirt sponsorship edit

Keuka agreed to sponsor 8 teams in the Liga Primera (2 teams not being sponsored is Diriangén and UNAN Managua) starting in the Clausura 2023. [2]

Managerial changes edit

Pre-season Apertura 2022 edit

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
Ocotal	Mario Alfaro	Contract Ended	June 2022	Nelson Vásquez	June 2022	TBD (Apertura 2021)
Diriangén	Tyrone Leiva	Contract Ended	May 2022	Roberto Chanampe	June 2022	TBD (Apertura 2021)
Real Estelí	José Luis Trejo Montoya	Contract Ended	July 2022	Ramon Otoneil Olivas	July 2022	TBD (Apertura 2021)

During the Apertura season edit

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
Matagalpa FC	Oscar Castillo [3]	Sacked	August 2022	Sting Fabricio López	August 2022	TBD (Apertura 2022)
Managua FC	Juan Cortez	Sacked	August 2022	Emilio Aburto	August 2022	TBD (Apertura 2022)

Pre-season Clausura 2023 edit

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
Managua	Emilio Aburto	Contract Ended	December 2022	Flavio Da Silva	December 15, 2022	TBD (Apertura 2022)
ART Municipal Jalapa	Luis Javier Londono	Contract Ended	December 2022	Carlos Javier Martino	28 December 2022	TBD (Apertura 2022)
HYH Sebaco	Glen Blanco	Contract Ended	December 2022	Héctor Medina	December 28, 2022	TBD (Apertura 2022)
Matagalpa FC	Sting Lopez	Contract Ended	December 2022	Glen Blanco	January 3, 2023	TBD (Apertura 2022)
Deportivo Ocotal	Nelson Vasquez	Contract Ended	December 2022	Sting Lopez	January 3, 2023	TBD (Apertura 2022)

During Clausura 2023 edit

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
Municipal Jalapa	Carlos Javier Martino	Sacked	February 22, 2023	Ricardo Gaitan	February 2023	TBD (Apertura 2022)

Apertura 2022 edit

Finals edit

Quarterfinals edit

December 4, 2022

H&H Sebaco	0-5	Managua
Nil		Kevin Serapio 15' Oscar Soto 33' Angel Velásquez 36' Agenor Báez 64' Diego Arceo 75'

Estadio Municipal de Matagalpa , Matagalpa

Managua progressed.

December 5, 2022

Deportivo Walter Ferretti	5-1	Juventus Managua
Francisco Ramos 9' 56' Luciano Sanhueza 68' 80' Alexis Somarriba 90'		Lucas Dos Santos 75'

Estadio Cacique Diriangén, Diriamba

Walter Ferretti progressed.

Semi-finals edit

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Walter Ferretti	4-3	Diriangén	2–3	2-0
Real Estelí	2-0	Managua	0-0	2–0

December 9, 2022

18:00

Walter Ferretti	1-1	Diriangén
Francisco Ramos 60'		Junio Arteaga 68'

Estadio Independencia, Esteli

December 12, 2022

17:00

Diriangén	1-1	Walter Ferretti
Junio Arteaga 116'		Ezequiel Ugalde 91'

Estadio Cacique, Diriamba

2-2 on aggregate, Walter Ferretti won 5-3 on penalties.

December 9, 2022

16:00

Managua	0-0	Real Estelí
Nil		Nil

Estadio Cacique, Diriamba

December 12, 2022

19:00

Real Estelí	2-0	Managua
Douglas Caé 66' Harold Medina 73'		Nil

Estadio Independencia, Esteli

Real Estelí won 2-0 on aggregate.

Final edit

First leg edit

15 December 2022

12:00 (UTC-6)

Walter Ferretti	2-3	Real Estelí
Francisco Ramos 28' Luciano Sanhueza 57'		Douglas Caé 36' 81' Ewerton Bezerra 50'

Estadio Cacique Diriangén, Diriamba

Referee: Erick Lezama

Second leg edit

18 December 2022

12:00 (UTC-6)

Real Estelí	1-2	Walter Ferretti
Harold Medina 50'		Yeison Mosquera 62' Ronald Lopez 66'

Estadio Independencia, Esteli

Referee: Willer Lopez

4-4 on Aggregate. Real Esteli won 4-3 on penalties

Apertura 2022 champions
Real Estelí 19th title

Clausura 2023 edit

Standings edit

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Diriangén (Q)	18	12	3	3	36	19	+17	39	Advance to Playoffs (Semifinals)
2	Real Estelí (Q)	18	10	5	3	37	19	+18	35	Advance to Playoffs (Semifinals)
3	Managua (Q)	18	8	5	5	26	23	+3	29	Advance to Playoffs (Quarterfinals)
4	Walter Ferretti (Q)	18	7	5	6	26	24	+2	26
5	Matagalpa (Q)	18	7	4	7	19	19	0	25
6	Deportivo Ocotal (Q)	18	7	3	8	24	24	0	24
7	UNAN Managua	18	5	5	8	24	25	−1	20
8	Municipal Jalapa	18	5	4	9	21	30	−9	19
9	H&H Export Sébaco FC	18	5	4	9	21	32	−11	19
10	Juventus Managua	18	3	4	11	19	38	−19	13

Updated to match(es) played on 2 May 2023. Source: [4]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) head-to-head points; 5) head-to-head goal difference; 6) head-to-head goals scored; 7) draw.
(Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Finals edit

Quarterfinals edit

April 27, 2023

Managua	3-1	Deportivo Ocotal
Brian Calabrese 26' Henry Nino 48' Doslin Garcia 69'		Yubeiquer Arenas 7'

Estadio Nacional de futbol , Managua

Managua progressed.

April 28, 2023

Deportivo Walter Ferretti	1-1	Matagalpa
Ezequiel Ugalde 40'		Rodolfo Forbes 25'

Estadio Nacional de futbol , Managua

Matagalpa progressed, winning 9-8 penalties.

Semifinals edit

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Diriangén	5-0	Matagalpa	2–0	3-0
Real Estelí	3-3 (pen 4-3)	Managua	1-0	2–3

May 1, 2023

18:00

Matagalpa	0-2	Diriangén
Nil		Carlos Torres 39' Luis Fernando Coronel 52'

Estadio Independencia, Esteli

May 7, 2023

17:00

Diriangén	3-0	Matagalpa
Junio Arteaga Carlos Torres Frobes Dshon Frobes		Nil

Estadio Cacique, Diriamba

Diriangén won 5-0 on aggregate.

December 9, 2022

16:00

Managua	0-1	Real Estelí
Nil		Juan Barrera 23'

Estadio Cacique, Diriamba

December 12, 2022

19:00

Real Estelí	2-3	Managua
Douglas Caé 66' Harold Medina 73'		Douglas Caé 66' Harold Medina 73'

Estadio Independencia, Esteli

3-3 on aggregate, Real Esteli won 4-3 on penalties.

Final edit

First leg edit

15 May 2023

12:00 (UTC-6)

Real Estelí	0-0	Diriangén
Nil	[5]	Nil

Estadio Independencia, Estelí

Referee: Willer Lopez

Second leg edit

21 May 2023

11:00 (UTC-6)

Diriangén	0-3	Real Estelí
	[6]	Harold Medina 41' 92' Byron Bonilla 49'

Estadio Cacique Diriangén, Diriamba

Referee: Ricardo Mendoza

Real Esteli won 3-0 on Aggregate

Clausura 2023 champions
Real Estelí 20th title

List of foreign players in the league edit

This is a list of foreign players in the 2022–23 season. The following players:

Have played at least one game for the respective club.
Have not been capped for the Nicaragua national football team on any level, independently from the birthplace

A new rule was introduced this season, that clubs can have four foreign players per club and can only add a new player if there is an injury or a player/s is released, and it is before the closing of the season transfer window.

ART Jalapa

Jafet del Portillo
Allan Medina
Bernando Laureiro *
Juan Murillo
Andrés Cortobarria
Denier Bonilla
Alfredo Oscar Rosales
Josué Lozano
Maykel Reyes

Diriangén

Robinson Luiz
Jhon Mosquera *
Taufic Guarch
Jonathan Pacheco
Ramiro Peters
Carlos Tórres
Patrick Torelli

Juventus Managua

Lucas Dos Santos
Rafael Vieira (*)
David Castrillón (*)
Bernardo Gradilla (*)

CS Sebaco

Miguel Pucharella (*)
Franco Rondina
Brayan Zúñiga (*)
Miguel Soza (*)
Miguel Morales

Managua

Juan Sebastián Arce
Diego Areco
Ángel Velásquez (*)
Kevin Castro (*)
Carlo Vasquez
Robinson Luiz
Lucas Dos Santos
Taufic Guarch
Brian Calabrese

Matagalpa FC

Willian Morales
Sebastián Barquero
Bryan Marín
Rafael de Almeida
Rogelio Robinson

Ocotal

Juan Castaño
Juan Marín
Jean Rentería
Kenverlen López
New Mena
Dandy Choles
Yubeiquer Arenas
Gabriel Ortiz
Carlos Daniel Duran
Edwin Castro
Allan Medina
Ricardo Medina

Real Estelí

Fabián Monserrat
Vinicius da Souza
Ewerton da Silva
Douglas Caé
José Ortiz Castillo
Alex Chandler
Pablo Gállego
Juan Manuel Trejo
Sidney Pages

UNAM Managua

Jerson Lora (*)
Sebastian Alzáte
Joseph Donkor
Robinson Luiz
Lucas Dos Santos
Pedro Dos Santos
Eugenio Palmero

Walter Ferretti

Luciano Sanhueza (*)
Ariel Torregrosa (*)
Yeison Mosquera (*)
Cesar Vente Contención *
Maykel Reyes

(player released during the Apertura season) (player released between the Apertura and Clausura seasons) (player released during the Clausura season)

External links edit

Fútbol de Primera – Futbol Nica