# 1979 Torneo Descentralizado

The 1979 Torneo Descentralizado, the top category of Peruvian football (soccer), was played by 16 teams. The national champion was Sporting Cristal.
The season was divided into 2 stages. On the first stage, top 8 teams qualified to play for the championship with a points bonus of 3, 2 and 1 for the top 3; bottom eight qualified to play for relegation with a points penalty of -1, -2 and -3 for bottom three. Teams entered the second stage without carrying their whole season records. As three teams tied on points the last place of Relegation Group they had to enter a Relegation Playoff that was played in Lima.

## Teams
### Team changes

| Promoted from 1978 Copa Perú | Relegated from 1978 Primera División |
| Juventud La Palma (1st) | Defensor Lima (16th) |

### Stadia locations

| Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Field |
| Alfonso Ugarte | Puno | Enrique Torres Belón | 20,000 | Grass |
| Alianza Lima | La Victoria, Lima | Alejandro Villanueva | 35,000 | Grass |
| Atlético Chalaco | Callao | Miguel Grau | 15,000 | Grass |
| Atlético Torino | Talara | Campeonísimo | 8,000 | Grass |
| CNI | Iquitos | Max Augustín | 24,000 | Grass |
| Coronel Bolognesi | Tacna | Jorge Basadre | 19,850 | Grass |
| Deportivo Junín | Huancayo | Huancayo | 20,000 | Grass |
| Deportivo Municipal | Cercado de Lima | Nacional | 45,750 | Grass |
| Juan Aurich | Chiclayo | Elías Aguirre | 24,500 | Grass |
| Juventud La Palma | Huacho | Segundo Aranda Torres | 12,000 | Grass |
| León de Huánuco | Huánuco | Heraclio Tapia | 15,000 | Grass |
| Melgar | Arequipa | Mariano Melgar | 20,000 | Grass |
| Sport Boys | Callao | Miguel Grau | 15,000 | Grass |
| Sporting Cristal | Rímac, Lima | Nacional | 45,750 | Grass |
| Unión Huaral | Huaral | Julio Lores Colan | 10,000 | Grass |
| Universitario | Breña, Lima | Nacional | 45,750 | Grass |

## League table
### First stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Universitario | 30 | 16 | 9 | 5 | 44 | 19 | +25 | 41 | Liguilla Final, Bonus +3 |
| 2 | Juan Aurich | 30 | 13 | 12 | 5 | 30 | 24 | +6 | 38 | Liguilla Final, Bonus +2 |
| 3 | Sporting Cristal | 30 | 10 | 15 | 5 | 46 | 26 | +20 | 35 | Liguilla Final, Bonus +1 |
| 4 | Alianza Lima | 30 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 48 | 26 | +22 | 33 | Liguilla Final |
| 5 | Alfonso Ugarte | 30 | 14 | 5 | 11 | 42 | 43 | −1 | 33 | Liguilla Final |
| 6 | Unión Huaral | 30 | 8 | 15 | 7 | 32 | 29 | +3 | 31 | Liguilla Final |
| 7 | Atlético Chalaco | 30 | 9 | 13 | 8 | 28 | 27 | +1 | 31 | Liguilla Final |
| 8 | Deportivo Junín | 30 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 39 | 43 | −4 | 30 | Liguilla Final |
| 9 | León de Huánuco | 30 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 32 | 42 | −10 | 30 | Liguilla Descenso |
| 10 | Sport Boys | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 35 | 37 | −2 | 29 | Liguilla Descenso |
| 11 | Deportivo Municipal | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 30 | 34 | −4 | 28 | Liguilla Descenso |
| 12 | CNI | 30 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 33 | 45 | −12 | 28 | Liguilla Descenso |
| 13 | Coronel Bolognesi | 30 | 11 | 5 | 14 | 36 | 40 | −4 | 27 | Liguilla Descenso |
| 14 | Atlético Torino | 30 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 25 | 37 | −12 | 24 | Liguilla Descenso, Penalty -1 |
| 15 | Juventud La Palma | 30 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 21 | 32 | −11 | 22 | Liguilla Descenso, Penalty -2 |
| 16 | Melgar | 30 | 6 | 8 | 16 | 26 | 43 | −17 | 20 | Liguilla Descenso, Penalty -3 |

### Liguilla Final

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Sporting Cristal | 14 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 26 | 8 | +18 | 1 | 23 | 1980 Copa Libertadores |
| 2 | Atlético Chalaco | 14 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 17 | 7 | +10 | 0 | 19 | 1980 Copa Libertadores |
| 3 | Juan Aurich | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 11 | +5 | 2 | 18 | |
| 4 | Alianza Lima | 14 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 16 | 13 | +3 | 0 | 17 | |
| 5 | Alfonso Ugarte | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 16 | 20 | −4 | 0 | 13 | |
| 6 | Universitario | 14 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 19 | −8 | 3 | 11 | |
| 7 | Deportivo Junín | 14 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 13 | 28 | −15 | 0 | 11 | |
| 8 | Unión Huaral | 14 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 17 | 26 | −9 | 0 | 6 | |

### Liguilla Descenso

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts | Relegation |
| 9 | Sport Boys | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 24 | 19 | +5 | 0 | 17 | |
| 10 | Coronel Bolognesi | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 15 | 16 | −1 | 0 | 14 | |
| 11 | Melgar | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 12 | +4 | −3 | 13 | |
| 12 | Atlético Torino | 14 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 17 | 14 | +3 | −1 | 13 | |
| 13 | Deportivo Municipal | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 19 | −4 | 0 | 13 | |
| 14 | CNI | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 12 | +1 | 0 | 12 | Relegation play-off |
| 15 | Juventud La Palma | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 15 | −2 | −2 | 12 | Relegation play-off |
| 16 | León de Huánuco | 14 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 15 | 21 | −6 | 0 | 12 | Relegation play-off |

### Relegation play-off

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation |
| 1 | CNI | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 4 | |
| 2 | Juventud La Palma | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 2 | |
| 3 | León de Huánuco | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | −4 | 0 | 1980 Copa Perú |