# 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.

## 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 | Championship Group |
| 3 | UNAN Managua | 18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 25 | 17 | +8 | 29 | Championship Group |
| 4 | Diriangén | 18 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 26 | 22 | +4 | 28 | Championship Group |
| 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 | |

#### 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 | |

#### 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 |

### 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 | |

#### 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 | |

## List of foreign players in the league

This is a list of foreign players in Apertura 2016. The following players:
* have played at least one apertura 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 year, that clubs can only have five foreign players in a squad.

## 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 | Playoffs |
| 3 | Diriangén | 18 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 32 | 24 | +8 | 33 | Playoffs |
| 4 | UNAN Managua | 18 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 38 | 20 | +18 | 32 | Playoffs |
| 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 | |

#### 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 | |

#### 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 |

### Playoffs
#### Finals
## List of foreign players in the league

This is a list of foreign players in Clausura 2017. The following players:
* have played at least one apertura 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 year, that clubs can only have five foreign players in a squad.

## 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 | Qualification for 2017 CONCACAF League |
| 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 |

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