2016–17 Primera División de Fútbol Profesional season

The 2016–17 Primera División de Fútbol Profesional season (also known as the Liga Pepsi) is the 18th season and 35th and 36th tournament of El Salvador's Primera División since its establishment of an Apertura and Clausura format. Alianza and Dragón were the defending champions of the Apertura and Clausura, respectively. The league will consist of 12 teams. There will be two seasons conducted under identical rules, with each team playing a home and away game against the other clubs for a total of 22 games per tournament. At the end of each half-season tournament, the top 8 teams in that tournament's regular season standings will take part in the playoffs.

The champions of Apertura or Clausura with the better aggregate record will qualify for the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League. The other champion, and the runner-up with the better aggregate record will qualify for the 2017 CONCACAF League. Should the same team win both tournaments, both runners-up will qualify for CONCACAF League. Should the final of both tournaments features the same 2 teams, the semifinalist with the better aggregate record will qualify for CONCACAF League.

Team information

A total of 12 teams will contest the league, including 11 sides from the 2015–16 Primera División and 1 promoted from the 2015–16 Segunda División.

C.D. Atlético Marte were relegated to 2016–17 Segunda División the previous season.

The relegated team was replaced by the 2015–16 Segunda División playoffs promotion winner. C.D. Municipal Limeño won the Apertura 2015 and Clausura 2016 title, meaning there was no need for a promotion playoff and were promoted automatically.

Promotion and relegation

Promoted from Segunda División de Fútbol Salvadoreño as of June, 2016.

• Champions: C.D. Municipal Limeño

Relegated to Segunda División de Fútbol Salvadoreño as of June, 2016.

• Last Place: Atlético Marte

Stadia and locations

Team	Home city	Stadium	Capacity
Águila	San Miguel	Juan Francisco Barraza	10,000
Alianza	San Salvador	Estadio Cuscatlán	53,400
Chalatenango	Chalatenango	Estadio José Gregorio Martínez	15,000
Dragón	San Miguel	Juan Francisco Barraza	10,000
FAS	Santa Ana	Estadio Óscar Quiteño	15,000
Firpo	Usulután	Estadio Sergio Torres	5,000
Isidro Metapán	Metapán	Estadio Jorge Calero Suárez	8,000
Limeño	Santa Rosa de Lima	Estadio Jose Ramon Flores	5,000
Pasaquina	Pasaquina	Estadio San Sebastián	5,000
Santa Tecla ©	Santa Tecla	Estadio Las Delicias	10,000
Sonsonate	Sonsonate	Estadio Anna Mercedes Campos	8,000
UES ⓓ	San Salvador	Estadio Universitario UES	32,000

Personnel and sponsoring

Team	Chairman	Head Coach	Kitmaker	Shirt sponsor
Águila	Pedro Arieta	Edgardo Malvestiti	Joma	Tigo, Canal 4, Pollo Campesto
Alianza	Lisandro Pohl	Jorge Rodríguez	Lotto	Canal 4, Mister Donut, Tigo, Gatorade, Veca airlines, Brahva
Chalatenango	Francisco Peraza	Carlos Mijangos	Milán	Ferreteria Lemus, Alcaldía Municipal de Chalatenango, Canal 4, Agua Fria,Galletas Choco Risas, Funerales la Nueva Proteccion
Dragón	Roberto Pérez	Henry Vanegas	Milán	Canal 4, L.A. Pizza, credito segguro 4orro
FAS	Guillermo Morán	Osvaldo Escudero	Milán	Coop-1 de R.L., Pilsener, Tigo, Canal 4
Firpo	Raúl Galo	Ramón Sánchez	Galaxia	Dial Fm, Pilsener
Isidro Metapán	Rafael Morataya	Edwin Portillo	Milán	Arroz San Pedro, Gumarsal, Don Frijol, Canal 4, Sistema Porcredita
Limeño	Rómulo Gómez	Hugo Ovelar	Galaxia	Innova S Sport, Panama Electronic, Royal, Fanny
Pasaquina	Óscar Ramírez	Omar Sevilla	Milán	Canal 4, Tigo, Tienda Libre, Farmacias Brasil, ZZpita
Sonsonate	Pedro Contreras	Garabet Avedissian	Rush Atletic wear	ProACES, Caja de Crédito de Sonsonate, Alcadia Municipal Sonsonate, Canal 4, Leche salud, Ferreteria Santa Sofia, Coop-1
Santa Tecla	José Vidal Hernández	Ernesto Corti	Milán	Powerade, DLC, Canal 21, Plaza Merliot, Pollo Indio, Petrox, Claro, Dizucar, Bolívar, Toledo, The Moustache
UES	Rufino Quezada	Edgar Henríquez	Galaxia

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
Sonsonate	Mario Elias Guevara	Interim finished	2016	Agustín Castillo	2016	7th (Clausura 2015)
FAS	Roberto Gamarra	Resigned	2016	Osvaldo Escudero	2016	th (Clausura 2016)
Chalatenango	Ricardo Serrano	Contract not extended	2016	Rubén Alonso	2016	8th (Clausura 2016)
Santa Tecla	Osvaldo Escudero	Resigned, hired as FAS coach	2016	Ernesto Corti	June 2016	1st (Clausura 2016)
Águila	Juan Ramón Sánchez	Sacked	June 2016	Edgardo Malvestiti	June 2016	1st (Clausura 2016)
Municipal Limeño	Carlos Romero	Mutual consent	July 2016	Mauricio Alfaro	July 2016	Newly promoted

During the Apertura season

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
Alianza	Daniel Fernández	Resigned	August 2016	Milton Meléndez	August 2016	11th (Apertura 2015)
Firpo	José Mario Martínez	Sacked	September 2016	Juan Ramón Sánchez	September 2016	11th (Apertura 2015)
Dragón	Omar Sevilla	Resigned	September 2016	Nelson Ancheta	September 2016	12th (Apertura 2015)
Chalatenango	Rubén Alonso	Resigned	October 2016	Geovanni Portillo	October 2016	11th (Apertura 2015)
UES	Edgar Henríquez	Resigned	October 2016	Horacio Reyes	October 2016	12th (Apertura 2015)
UES	Horacio Reyes	Interim Finished	October 2016	Efraín Burgos	October 2016	12th (Apertura 2015)
Municipal Limeño	Mauricio Alfaro	Resigned (due to family issues)	November 2016	Francisco Robles	November 2016	9th (Apertura 2015)
Águila	Edgardo Malvestiti	Sacked	November 2016	Darío Larrosa	November 2016	1st (Apertura 2015)

Between Apertura and Clausura seasons

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
Pasaquina	Hugo Ovelar	Resigned	December 2016	Omar Sevilla	December 2016	8th (Apertura 2016)
Isidro Metapán	Jorge Rodríguez	Mutual Consent	December 2016	Roberto Gamarra	December 2016	6th (Apertura 2016)
Chalatenango	Geovanni Portillo	Moved back to assistant coach	December 2016	Carlos Alberto Mijangos	December 2016	th (Apertura 2016)
Alianza	Milton Meléndez	Moved back to sports director	December 2016	Jorge Rodriguez	December 2016	4th and runners up (Apertura 2016)
Águila	Darío Larrosa	Moved back to sports director	December 2016	Jorge Daniel Casanova	December 2016	2nd and semi finalist (Apertura 2016)

During the Clausura season

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
C.D. Chalatenango	Carlos Alberto Mijangos	Resigned, moved to become a sports director	February 2017	William Renderos Iraheta	February 2017	10th (Clausura 2016)
Limeño	Francisco Robles	Sacked	February 2017	Hugo Ovelar	February 2017	9th (Clausura 2016)
Dragón	Nelson Mauricio Ancheta	Sacked	February 2017	Victor Coreas	March 2017	12th (Clausura 2016)
Sonsonate	Agustín Castillo	Sacked	February 2017	Ernesto Góchez Interim	February 2017	th (Clausura 2016)
FAS	Osvaldo Escudero	Resigned	February 2017	Emiliano Pedrozo	February 2017	10th (Clausura 2016)
Sonsonate	Ernesto Góchez Interim	Interim Finished	March 2017	Eraldo Correia	March 2017	th (Clausura 2016)
Dragón	Victor Coreas	Resigned due to player pays	March 2017	Henry Vanegas	March 2017	11th (Clausura 2016)
C.D. Chalatenango	William Renderos Iraheta	Resigned, moved to become Fitness coach	March 2017	Carlos Alberto Mijangos	March 2017	10th (Clausura 2016)

Apertura 2016

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Sonsonate	22	11	7	4	35	21	+14	40	Quarterfinals
2	Águila	22	10	9	3	25	14	+11	39
3	Santa Tecla (C)	22	11	5	6	31	27	+4	38
4	Alianza	22	10	6	6	45	27	+18	36
5	Municipal Limeno	22	9	7	6	31	29	+2	34
6	Isidro Metapán	22	9	6	7	32	26	+6	33
7	FAS	22	8	7	7	27	26	+1	31
8	Pasaquina	22	8	5	9	28	35	−7	29
9	Firpo	22	7	7	8	26	30	−4	28
10	Chalatenango	22	6	5	11	27	36	−9	23
11	Dragón	22	2	8	12	19	33	−14	14
12	UES	22	2	6	14	26	48	−22	12

Results

Scoring

[2]

• First goal of the season: Guillermo Stradella for C.D. FAS against UES, 21 minutes (July 29, 2016)
• First goal by a foreign player: Guillermo Stradella for C.D. FAS against UES, 21 minutes (July 29, 2016)
• Fastest goal in a match: 2 minutes
  • Eder Arias for C.D. Chalatenango against Metapán (August 16, 2016)
• Goal scored at the latest point in a match: 90+1 minutes
  • Jonathan Águila for C.D. FAS against UES (July 29, 2016)
• First penalty Kick of the season: TBD for TBD against TBD, 89 minutes (August 3, 2016)
• Widest winning margin: 4 goals
  • Alianza F.C. 4–0 C.D. Chalatenango (, 2016)
  • Águila 5-1 UES (, 2016)
• First hat-trick of the season: Ricardo Brown for Metapán against C.D. Pasaquina (September 28, 2016)
• First own goal of the season: Kevin Carabantes (C.D. Chalatenango) for A.D. Isidro Metapán (August 16, 2016)
• Most goals in a match: 7 goals
  • C.D. Chalatenango 3–4 C.D. Dragón (September 28, 2016)
• Most goals by one team in a match: 5 goals
  • Águila 5-1 UES (, 2016)
• Most goals in one half by one team: 4 goals
  • TBD 5–2(1–2) TBD (2nd half, September 30, 2016)
• Most goals scored by losing team: 3 goals
  • C.D. Chalatenango 3–4 C.D. Dragón (September 28, 2016)
• Most goals by one player in a single match: 3 goals
  • Ricardo Brown for Metapán against C.D. Pasaquina (September 17, 2016)
  • Gustavo Guerreño for Pasaquina against C.D. Universidad de El Salvador (September 2016)
  • Williams Reyes for Firpo against C.D. Pasaquina (October 9, 2016)
  • Sebastián Abreu for Santa Tecla F.C. against C.D. Águila (December 7, 2016)

Club

• Most clean sheets: C.D. Águila
  • 11
• Fewest clean sheets: UES
  • 1
• Best Home record during the Apertura season: Sonsonate
  • 23 out of 33 points (7 wins, 2 draws, and 2 loss)
• Worst Home record during the Apertura season: Dragón and UES
  • 6 out of 33 points (1 win, 3 draws, and 7 losses)
• Best Away record during the Apertura season: Águila
  • 20 out of 33 points (5 wins, 5 draws, and 1 losses)
• Worst Away record during the Apertura season: UES
  • 6 out of 33 points (1 win, 3 draws, and 7 losses)
• Highest scoring team: Alianza
  • 45 goals
• Lowest scoring team: UES
  • 48 goals

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Team	Goals
1	Jefferson Viveros	Limeño	13
2	Rodrigo Cubilla	Chalatenango	11
3	David Díaz	UES	10
3	Oscar Guerrero	Alianza	10
4	Gustavo Guerreño	Pasaquina	9
5	Sebastián Abreu	Santa Tecla	8
5	Mckauley Tulloch	UES	8
6	Juan Carlos Portillo	Alianza	7
9	Ricardo Brown	Isidro Metapán	8
9	Marlón Cornejo	Santa Tecla	6

Top assists

Rank	Player	Nation	Club	Assists
1	Yuvini Salamanca	SLV	Limeño	13
2	Óscar Cerén	SLV	Alianza	8

Individual awards

Hombre GOL	Best Coach Award	Best Goalkeeper Award	Fair Player Award	Rookie Player Award
Jefferson Viveros Limeño	Agustín Castillo Sonsonate	Benji Villalobos Águila	Óscar Cerén Alianza	Josué Santos FAS

Playoffs

	Quarterfinals							Semifinals							Finals
	6	Isidro Metapán	2	0	2
	3	Santa Tecla	2	1	3
								TBD	Santa Tecla	4	0	4
								TBD	Águila	1	2	3
	7	FAS	1	0	1
	2	Águila	1	2	3
															TBD	Santa Tecla	3
															TBD	Alianza F.C.	2
	5	Limeno	1	1	2
	4	Alianza	2	0	2
								TBD	Alianza F.C.	0	4	4
								TBD	C.D. Sonsonate	0	0	0
	8	Pasaquina	2	0	2
	1	C.D. Sonsonate	1	1	2

Quarterfinals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Pasaquina	2–2 (s)	Sonsonate	2–1	1–0
FAS	1–3	Águila	1–1	2–0
Isidro Metapán	2–3	Santa Tecla	2–2	1–0
Alianza	2–2 (s)	Limeño	1–2	0–1

First leg

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Second leg

2–2. Sonsonate advanced as the higher seeded team.

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Águila won 3–1 on aggregate.

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2–2. Alianza advanced as the higher seeded team.

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Santa Tecla won 3–2 on aggregate.

Semifinals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Sonsonate	0–0	Alianza	0–0	0–4
Águila	3–4	Santa Tecla	4–1	2–0

First leg

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Second leg

Alianza won 4–0 on aggregate.

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Santa Tecla won 4–3 on aggregate.

Final

Apertura 2016 champions
Santa Tecla 2nd title

Clausura 2017

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Alianza	22	13	5	4	38	21	+17	44	Quarterfinals
2	Águila	22	9	10	3	25	14	+11	37
3	Santa Tecla	22	9	7	6	36	27	+9	34
4	Isidro Metapán	22	9	7	6	28	21	+7	34
5	Firpo	22	8	7	7	34	36	−2	31
6	FAS	22	7	10	5	21	23	−2	31
7	Municipal Limeno	22	7	6	9	26	32	−6	27
8	Pasaquina	22	6	8	8	24	23	+1	26
9	UES	22	6	8	8	28	32	−4	26
10	Dragón	22	7	4	11	24	30	−6	25
11	Sonsonate	22	6	3	13	24	36	−12	21
12	Chalatenango	22	5	5	12	26	39	−13	20

Results

Scoring

• First goal of the season: Erick Villalobos for C.D. Pasaquina against Alianza, 35 minutes (January 14, 2017)
• First goal by a foreign player: Darío Ferreira for Alianza F.C. against Pasaquina, 57 minutes (January 14, 2017)
• Fastest goal in a match: 1 minutes
  • Miguel Lemus for Firpo against C.D. Municipal Limeno (2017)
• Goal scored at the latest point in a match: 90+1 minutes
  • TBD for TBD against TBD (2017)
• First penalty Kick of the season: Danilo Peinado for C.D. Águila against Firpo, 81 minutes (15 January 2017)
• Widest winning margin: 3 goals
  • C.D. Aguila 5-2 Firpo (15 January 2017)
• First hat-trick of the season: ** Rodolfo Zelaya for Alianza against Dragon (2 April 2017)
• First own goal of the season: Bladimir Osorio (C.D. Dragon) for UES ( 2017)
• Most goals in a match: 7 goals
  • C.D. Águila 5-2 Firpo (15 January 2017)
• Most goals by one team in a match: 5 goals
  • C.D. Águila 5-2 Firpo (15 January 2017)
• Most goals in one half by one team: 3 goals
  • C.D. Águila 3–0 (5–2) Firpo (1st half, 2017)
• Most goals scored by losing team: TBD goals
  • TBD 3–4 TBD ( 2017)
• Most goals by one player in a single match: 3 goals
  • Rodolfo Zelaya for Alianza against Dragon (2 April 2017)
  • Oscar Movil for Limeno against TBD ( April, 2017)

Individual awards

Hombre GOL	Best Coach Award	Best Goalkeeper Award	Fair Player Award	Rookie Player Award
Javier Lezcano Pasaquina	Jorge Rodriguez Alianza	Benji Villalobos Águila	Wilma Torres Firpo	Gerardo Guirola Isidro Metapan

Playoffs

	Quarterfinals							Semifinals							Finals
	6	FAS	0	0	0
	3	Santa Tecla	0	1	1
								TBD	Santa Tecla	2	3	5
								TBD	Águila	0	2	2
	7	Limeno	1	0	1
	2	Águila	1	0	0
															TBD	Santa Tecla	4
															TBD	Alianza	0
	5	Firpo	2	0	2
	4	Isidro Metapán	1	1	2
								TBD	Isidro Metapán	0	0	0
								TBD	Alianza	0	2	2
	8	Pasaquina	0	0	0
	1	Alianza F.C.	1	3	4

Quarterfinals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Pasaquina	0-4	Alianza	0-1	3–0
Limeño	3–3 (s)	Águila	1–1	2–2
FAS	0–1	Santa Tecla	0–0	1–0
Firpo	2–2 (s)	Isidro Metapán	2–1	1-0

First leg

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Second leg

Alianza won 4–0 on aggregate.

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3–3. Aguila advanced as the higher seeded team.

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Santa Tecla won 1–0 on aggregate.

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2–2. Isidro Metapan advanced as the higher seeded team.

Semifinals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Alianza	2–0	Isidro Metapan	0–0	2–0
Águila	2–5	Santa Tecla	2–0	2–3

First leg

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Second leg

Alianza won 2–0 on aggregate.

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Santa Tecla won 5–2 on aggregate.

Final

Clausura 2017 champions
Santa Tecla 3rd title

List of foreign players in the league

This is a list of foreign players in the 2016–17 season. The following players:

1. Have played at least one game for the respective club.
2. Have not been capped for the El Salvador 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 its before the close of the season transfer window.

(player released during the Apertura season)

(player released between the Apertura and Clausura seasons)

(player released during the Clausura season)

Aggregate table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Alianza	44	23	11	10	83	48	+35	80	CONCACAF League[a]
2	Águila	44	19	19	6	50	28	+22	76	CONCACAF League[b]
3	Santa Tecla	44	20	12	12	67	54	+13	72	CONCACAF Champions League[c]
4	Isidro Metapán	44	18	13	13	60	47	+13	67
5	FAS	44	15	17	12	48	49	−1	62
6	Sonsonate	44	17	10	17	59	57	+2	61
7	Municipal Limeno	44	16	13	15	57	61	−4	61
8	Firpo	44	15	14	15	60	66	−6	59
9	Pasaquina	44	14	13	17	52	58	−6	55
10	Chalatenango	44	11	10	23	53	75	−22	43
11	Dragón	44	9	12	23	43	63	−20	39
12	UES	44	8	14	22	54	80	−26	38	Segunda División

References