The Peruvian First Division will start on 12 March with two groups for Stage 1

The 2021 Peruvian First Division will eventually start on 12 March, postponed from 26 February, due to the problems caused by a new COVID-19 wave in Peru.

However, today, the date scheduled initially for the start, the competition had some sort of start, as the two groups meant for Stage 1 were established according to a drawing of lots. The competition has been somehow changed for 2021, as the ”normal” Apertura and Clausura tournaments were replaced by the so-called Stage 1 and Stage 2, followed by the championship play-off. Stage 1 will be shorter, as teams are divided in two groups of nine, and there will be only 9 rounds, followed by the Stage 1 final, to be played between the winners of the two groups. The winners of Stage 1 will qualify for the play-offs and for the next year Copa Libertadores. Stage 2 will only be played in the second half of the year (after Copa América) and will involve a single round robin, where every team will face every other team once, in a total of 17 rounds. The winners of Stage 2 have the same rights as the winners of Stage 1, so they qualify for the play-offs and for Copa Libertadores. If the same team wins both stages, they are declared champions and no play-offs are to be played. If not, the two winners, along with the top two teams in the aggregate table of the two stages (if others than the two stage winners), qualify for the play-offs, which might involve semifinals and a final. The bottom two teams in the aggregate table will be relegated to Liga 2, while the team classified 16th qualifies for a relegation play-off.

Regarding the drawing of lots, teams were first aggregated in pairs of two, according to location and rivalry, and it was decided that these teams should be each in a different group, and they will play a ”classic” match between them, when they are both not scheduled to play in their group. Given that groups are made of an odd number of teams (nine), in every round there is one team from each group which does not play; these two teams are those paired from the very beginning. The 2020 play-off finalists, Universitario de Deportes and Sporting Cristal, formed the first pair and they are also the favorites of their group. The two groups for Stage 1 are the following:

Group A

Universitario de Deportes
Academia Cantolao
Universidad de San Martín
Cienciano
FBC Melgar
Alianza Atlético
Carlos A. Mannucci
Ayacucho FC
UT Cajamarca

Group B

Sporting Cristal
Sport Boys
Deportivo Municipal
Cusco FC
Deportivo Binacional
Carlos Stein
Sport Huancayo
Universidad César Vallejo
Alianza Universidad

Matches will be played Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays. There will be no matches on Sundays, due to traffic restrictions and other limitations. It is supposed that teams will be allowed to host matches on their own stadiums, unlike the previous season, when all matches were played in Lima and Callao. All games will be broadcasted by Gol Perú.

Round 1 (12-15 March 2021)

Group A

Carlos A. Mannucci - Academia Cantolao
Ayacucho FC - Universidad de San Martín
Cienciano - UTC
Universitario - FBC Melgar

Group B

Sport Boys - Universidad César Vallejo
Deportivo Municipal - Sport Huancayo
Alianza Universidad - Cusco FC
Binacional - Sporting Cristal

”Classic” match

Alianza Atlético (Group A) - Carlos Stein (Group B)

In the second round, the classic match will be played between Cusco FC and Cienciano.