# 2018–19 Liga Primera de Nicaragua

The 2018–19 Liga Primera de Nicaragua season was divided into two tournaments (Apertura and Clausura) and determined the 71st and 72nd champions in the history of the Liga Primera de Nicaragua, the top division of football in Nicaragua. The Apertura tournament was played in the second half of 2018, while the Clausura was played in the first half of 2019.

## 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 seasons.

## Team information

A total of ten teams contested the league, including eight sides from the 2017–18 Primera División, and two sides from the 2017–18 Segunda División.
FC San Francisco Masachapa finished last in the aggregate table and were relegated to the Segunda División. The champions from the Segunda División, ART Municipal Jalapa were promoted in their place.
The 9th place team in the aggregate table, Chinandega FC, faced the second place team from the Segunda División, Deportivo Sebaco, in a playoff for a spot in the Primera División. However, due to Sebaco's financial problems, they were not allowed in the playoff, meaning Chinandega remained in Primera División.

### Promotion and relegation

Promoted from Segunda División as of July, 2018.
* Champions: ART Municipal Jalapa
Relegated to Segunda División as of July, 2018.
* Last Place: FC San Francisco Masachapa

## Managerial changes
### Before the start of the season

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| Walter Ferretti | Flavio da Silva | Resigned | June 2018 | Henry Urbina | June 29, 2018 | 3rd & Semifinalist (Clausura 2018) |
| Real Esteli | Ramon Otenel | Contract finished | June 2018 | Washington Fernando Araújo | July 22, 2018 | 4th & Quarterfinalist (Clausura 2018) |
| Juventus Managua | Héctor Mediana | Resigned | June 2018 | Roberto Chanampe | July 2018 | 3rd & Semifinalist (Clausura 2018) |
| Ocotal | Randall Moreno | Resigned | June 2018 | Jorge Luis Vanegas | July 2018 | TBD (Clausura 2018) |
| Real Madriz | Tyrone Acevedo | Resigned | June 2018 | Carlos Matamoros | July 2018 | TBD (Clausura 2018) |

### During the Apertura season

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| Real Madriz | Carlos Matamoros | TBD | 2018 | Miguel Ángel Sánchez | 2018 | TBD (Apertura 2018) |

### Between Apertura and Clausura seasons

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| Ocotal | Jorge Luis Vangeas | Sacked | December 2018 | Mario Alfaro | December 2018 | 9th (Apertura 2018) |
| Real Esteli | Washington Fernando Araújo | Resigned | December 2018 | Sergio Ivan Rodríguez | December 2018 | 2nd & finalist (Apertura 2018) |
| Real Madriz | Miguel Ángel Sánchez | Resigned | December 2018 | Sindulio Castellanos | January 2019 | 7th (Apertura 2018) |
| UNAN Managua | Luis Vega | resigned | December 2018 | Daniel García | January 2019 | |

### Clausura 2019 seasons

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| Real Madriz | Sindulio Castellanos | Sacked | February 2019 | Angel Orellana | February 2019 | 9th (Clausura 2019) |

## Apertura
### Personnel and sponsoring

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Kit sponsors |
| ART Municipal Jalapa | Leonidas Rodríguez | Victor Zavala | Joma | Agrotris |
| Chinandega | Reyna Espinoza | Lester Espinoza | Nil | Nil |
| Diriangén FC | Mauricio Cruz | Jason Coronel | Joma | Claro, Ocal, Victoria frost |
| Juventus Managua | Roberto Chanampe | Darwin Guity | TBD | TBD |
| Managua | Emilio Aburto | Erling Méndez | Nil | Nil |
| Ocotal | Jorge Luis Vanegas | Guillermo Espino | Nil | Alcadia Ocotal |
| Real Estelí | Washington Fernando Araújo | Jason Casco | Kappa | Beco, Movistar, La Curaçao, Banpro, Vitalsis |
| Real Madriz | Carlos Matamoros x | Alvaro Bermúdez | TBD | Alcadia Somoto |
| UNAN Managua | Luis Vega | Marvin Fletes | Joma | Nil |
| Walter Ferretti | Henry Urbina | René Huete | Umbro | Claro, Iniser, Disnorte Dissur |

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Managua | 18 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 40 | 17 | +23 | 44 | Advance to Playoffs (Semifinals) |
| 2 | Real Estelí | 18 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 33 | 12 | +21 | 36 | Advance to Playoffs (Semifinals) |
| 3 | Walter Ferretti | 18 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 21 | 18 | +3 | 28 | Advance to Playoffs (Quarterfinals) |
| 4 | Real Madriz | 18 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 25 | 29 | −4 | 27 | Advance to Playoffs (Quarterfinals) |
| 5 | Diriangén | 18 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 23 | 19 | +4 | 26 | Advance to Playoffs (Quarterfinals) |
| 6 | Juventus Managua | 18 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 25 | 20 | +5 | 24 | Advance to Playoffs (Quarterfinals) |
| 7 | ART Jalapa | 18 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 15 | 30 | −15 | 19 | |
| 8 | Chinandega | 18 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 24 | 33 | −9 | 18 | |
| 9 | Ocotal | 18 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 17 | 32 | −15 | 15 | |
| 10 | UNAN Managua | 18 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 19 | 32 | −13 | 9 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | ART | CHI | DIR | JUV | MAN | OCO | RES | RMA | UNA | WAL |
| ART Jalapa | — | 2–0 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Chinandega | 4–1 | — | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 |
| Diriangén | 0–2 | 1–2 | — | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 |
| Juventus Managua | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | — | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 4–0 |
| Managua | 5–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–2 | — | 2–0 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Ocotal | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–5 | — | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Real Estelí | 1–1 | 6–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | — | 4–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Real Madriz | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 0–2 | — | 2–1 | 1–2 |
| UNAN Managua | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 0–4 | 0–2 | — | 0–1 |
| Walter Ferretti | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 5–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | — |

### Records
#### Top goalscorers

| No. | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Lucas Dos Santos | Managua | 15 |
| 2 | Luis Coronel | Diriangén | 11 |
| 3 | Yeiner Vivas | Chinandega | 10 |
| 4 | Luis Galeano | Real Esteli | 8 |
| 5 | Bruno De Morais | Walter Ferretti | 7 |
| 6 | Marcos Rivera | TBD | 5 |
| 7 | Isaac Sequeira | TBD | 5 |
| 8 | Edward Morillo | Managua | 5 |
| 9 | Ulises Rayo | TBD | 5 |
| 10 | Marlon Barrios | Real Madriz | 5 |

### Playoffs
#### Quarterfinals

Juventus Managua progressed.
Diriangén progressed.

#### Semifinals

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Real Esteli | 7 – 3 | Juventus Managua | 2 – 1 | 5 – 2 |
| Managua F.C. | 4 – 1 | Diriangén | 2 – 1 | 2 – 0 |
^ TBD wins on away goals

##### Second leg

Real Esteli won 7-3 on aggregate.
Managua won 4-1 on aggregate.

#### Final
##### Second leg

Managua won 1-0 on aggregate.
* Apertura 2018 champions
* Managua F.C. 1st title

## Clausura
### Personnel and sponsoring

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Kit Sponsors |
| ART Jalapa | Leonidas Rodríguez | TBD | TBD | Agrotris |
| Chinandega | Reyna Espinoza | Lester Espinoza | Nil | Nil |
| Diriangén FC | Mauricio Cruz | Carlos Torres | Joma | Claro, Victoria Frost, Babysec, Sinsa, OCAL, Kelloggs, Flor de Cana |
| Juventus Managua | Roberto Chanampe | Alexis Somarriba | Nil | Nil |
| Managua | Emilio Aburto | Christiano Fernández | Nil | Managua FC |
| Ocotal | Mario Alfaro | Marcos Rivera | Nil | Alcadia de Ocotal |
| Real Estelí | Sergio Ivan Rodríguez | Manuel Rosas | Kappa | Movistar, La Curaco, Beco, Vitalsis Health, Banco de la Producción |
| Real Madriz | Sindulio Castellanos | Alvaro Bermúdez | Nil | Alcadia de Madriz |
| UNAN Managua | Daniel García | Diedrich Téllez | Joma | Nil |
| Walter Ferretti | Henry Urbina | Denis Espinoza | Umbro | Claro, Iniser, Disnorte Dissur, Flor de Cana |

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Real Estelí | 18 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 44 | 13 | +31 | 45 | Advance to Playoffs (Semifinals) |
| 2 | Managua | 18 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 51 | 24 | +27 | 40 | Advance to Playoffs (Semifinals) |
| 3 | Walter Ferretti | 18 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 31 | 15 | +16 | 36 | Advance to Playoffs (Quarterfinals) |
| 4 | Juventus Managua | 18 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 40 | 40 | 0 | 26 | Advance to Playoffs (Quarterfinals) |
| 5 | Diriangén | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 36 | 29 | +7 | 25 | Advance to Playoffs (Quarterfinals) |
| 6 | Ocotal | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 27 | 25 | +2 | 23 | Advance to Playoffs (Quarterfinals) |
| 7 | UNAN Managua | 18 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 25 | 38 | −13 | 18 | |
| 8 | Real Madriz | 18 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 16 | 31 | −15 | 15 | |
| 9 | ART Jalapa | 18 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 22 | 54 | −32 | 15 | |
| 10 | Chinandega | 18 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 38 | −23 | 11 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | ART | CHI | DIR | JUV | MAN | OCO | RES | RMA | UNA | WAL |
| ART Jalapa | — | 1–0 | 2–4 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–10 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Chinandega | 2–3 | — | 1–2 | 2–4 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 |
| Diriangén | 6–2 | 5–0 | — | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Juventus Managua | 6–1 | 5–0 | 2–1 | — | 2–3 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 3–2 | 2–1 |
| Managua | 3–0 | 3–1 | 5–3 | 6–1 | — | 4–2 | 0–1 | 5–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 |
| Ocotal | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | — | 1–2 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 |
| Real Estelí | 6–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | — | 4–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| Real Madriz | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 | — | 2–1 | 0–3 |
| UNAN Managua | 4–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 1–3 | 0–5 | 0–3 | 3–1 | — | 2–3 |
| Walter Ferretti | 3–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | — |

### Records
#### Top goalscorers

| No. | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Edward Morillo | Managua F.C. | 17 |
| 2 | Lucas Oliveira | Managua F.C. | 16 |
| 3 | Douglas Caé | Real Esteli | 12 |
| 4 | Robinson Luiz | Juventus Managua | 10 |
| 5 | Yeison Esquivel | Diriangén FC | 8 |
| 6 | Ervin Aguirre | Deportivo Ocotal | 7 |
| 7 | Luis Coronel | Diriangén FC | 7 |
| 8 | Jafett Del Portillo | ART Municipal Jalapa | 7 |
| 9 | Aaron Chavez | UNAN Managua | 6 |
| 10 | Junior Arteaga | Juventus Managua | 5 |

### Playoffs

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| | | | 1 | Real Estelí | 0 | 3 | 3 | | | | | |
| 4 | Juventus Managua | 1 | 5 | Diriangén | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | |
| 5 | Diriangén | 2 | | | | | | 1 | Real Estelí (a) | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| | | | | | | | | 2 | Managua | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| | | | 2 | Managua (a) | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | |
| 3 | Walter Ferretti | 1 | 3 | Walter Ferretti | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | |
| 6 | Ocotal | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |

#### Quarterfinals

Walter Ferretti progressed.
Diriangén progressed.

#### Semifinals
##### Second leg

Real Esteli progressed 3-1 on aggregate.
Managua F.C. advances 1-0 on away goals.

#### Final
##### Second leg

3-3, Real Esteli won on away goal.
* Clausura 2019 champions
* Real Esteli 15th title

## Aggregate table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Managua (Q) | 36 | 27 | 3 | 6 | 91 | 41 | +50 | 84 | CONCACAF League round of 16 |
| 2 | Real Estelí (Q) | 36 | 24 | 9 | 3 | 77 | 25 | +52 | 81 | CONCACAF League preliminary round |
| 3 | Walter Ferretti | 36 | 18 | 10 | 8 | 52 | 33 | +19 | 64 | |
| 4 | Diriangén | 36 | 14 | 9 | 13 | 59 | 48 | +11 | 51 | |
| 5 | Juventus Managua | 36 | 15 | 5 | 16 | 65 | 60 | +5 | 50 | |
| 6 | Real Madriz | 36 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 41 | 60 | −19 | 42 | |
| 7 | Ocotal | 36 | 9 | 11 | 16 | 44 | 57 | −13 | 38 | |
| 8 | ART Jalapa | 36 | 9 | 7 | 20 | 37 | 84 | −47 | 34 | |
| 9 | Chinandega (Q) | 36 | 7 | 8 | 21 | 39 | 71 | −32 | 29 | Relegation playoffs |
| 10 | UNAN Managua (R) | 36 | 7 | 6 | 23 | 44 | 70 | −26 | 27 | Relegated to Segunda División |
* ↑ As Apertura champions (NCA1)
* ↑ As Clausura champions (NCA2)

## List of foreign players in the league

This is a list of foreign players in the 2018–19 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 close of the season transfer window.
* ART Jalapa
* Cristhian Cabria
* Evaristo González
* Erwin Cabrera
* Alexis Hernández
* Jafet Del Portillo
* Chinandega
* Johan Hurtado
* Brayan Cañate
* Richard Charris
* Yeiner Vivas
* José Mendoza
* Diriangén
* Pedro Dos Santos
* Carlos Tórres
* Yeison Esquivel
* Juan Pablo Fernández
* Jesús Cervantes
* Dahan Virgen
* Juventus Managua
* Darwin Guity
* Herbert Cabrera
* David Castrillón
* Robinson Luiz
* Yeison Díaz
* Ezequiel Góngora
* Managua
* Marel Álvarez
* Lucas Dos Santos
* Cristiano Fernández da Lima
* Edward Morillo
* Ocotal
* Aldair Niño
* Jafet Del Portillo
* Edgard Hernández
* Lancelott Devenish
* Nelson Maldonado
* Gerson Díaz
* Cristopher Aguilar
* Kevin Meraz
* Real Estelí
* Richard Rodríguez
* Maycon Santana
* Vinicius da Souza
* Jorge Betancur
* Eder Chaux
* Douglas Caé
* Roninho De Souza
* Real Madriz
* Erlyn Ruiz
* Jose Estrada
* Edder Mondragón
* Marlon Barrios
* Cristhian Cabria
* Nahun Martínez
* UNAN
* Jesus Guerrero
* Allan Gutiérrez
* Walter Ferretti
* Rafael De Almeida
* Bruno de Morais
* Rodrigo Hernández
* Johan Bonilla
* Paulo Cézar
(player released during the Apertura season) (player released between the Apertura and Clausura seasons) (player released during the Clausura season)