The 2021 Liga Profesional de Primera División season, also known as the Campeonato Uruguayo de Primera División 2021, was the 118th season of the Uruguayan Primera División, Uruguay's top-flight football league, and the 91st in which it is professional. The season, named "Dr. Tabaré Vázquez" after the late former President of Uruguay and chairman of Progreso from 1979 to 1989, started on 15 May and ended on 7 December 2021, with the starting date having been pushed back from early 2021 due to the late conclusion of the previous season owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament was originally scheduled to start on 8 May, however its date of start was postponed for a week to 15 May per request from the Uruguayan government. Peñarol won their fifty-first league title at the end of the season, winning the Torneo Clausura and placing first in the season's aggregate table and then beating Torneo Apertura winners Plaza Colonia on penalties in the semi-final played on 7 December.

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

were the defending champions.

Format changes

For the 2021 season, the competition was scheduled to run for eight months, from May to December, and had a change from the previous editions with the elimination of the Torneo Intermedio which is usually played midway into the season and adds seven matchdays to the league schedule. This change was intended to leave extra time available to finish the season before the end of the year in the event the health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic forced any suspension of matches in the course of the season. With that change, clubs only played 15 matches in the Torneo Apertura and 15 matches in the Torneo Clausura, for a total of 30 matches in the season, as well as the ones belonging to the Championship playoff for the clubs that eventually qualified for it. Matches would only be scheduled on weekends, with mid-week dates to be used only if necessary due to the pandemic.

Teams

The three lowest placed teams in the

relegation table In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open league ...

of the 2020 season, Defensor Sporting,

Danubio Danubio Fútbol Club is a Uruguayan football club based in Jardines del Hipódromo, Montevideo that currently plays in the Uruguayan Primera División. Founded in 1932, the club's home stadium is Jardines del Hipódromo, which has a capacity o ...

, and Cerro, were relegated to the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

for the 2021 season. They were replaced by

Cerrito Cerrito, Cerritos, El Cerrito, or Los Cerritos may refer to: Places Argentina * El Cerrito, Catamarca * Isla del Cerrito, an island in Chaco Province Brazil * Cerrito, Rio Grande do Sul * São José do Cerrito, state of Santa Catarina Col ...

Sud América Institución Atlética Sud América, usually known as Sud América or just IASA, is a football club from Montevideo. They currently play in the Uruguayan Segunda Division. History Sud América has won the Uruguayan 2nd Division on 7 occasion ...

, and Villa Española, who were promoted from the Segunda División.

Managerial changes

Torneo Apertura

The Torneo Apertura, named "Eduardo Roca Couture", was the first tournament of the 2021 season. It began on 15 May and ended on 22 August 2021.

Standings

Results

Torneo Clausura

The Torneo Clausura, named "Marcos Basiaco", was the second and last tournament of the 2021 season. It began on 11 September and ended on 5 December 2021.

Standings

Results

Aggregate table

Championship playoff

Semi-final

Finals

Since Peñarol, who had the best record in the aggregate table, won the semi-final, they became champions automatically and the finals were not played.

became runners-up as the second-placed team in the aggregate table. Both teams qualified for the

2022 Copa Libertadores group stage The 2022 Copa Libertadores group stage was played from 5 April to 26 May 2022. A total of 32 teams competed in the group stage to decide the 16 places in the final stages of the 2022 Copa Libertadores. Draw The draw for the group stage was held o ...

Top scorers

Source
AUF
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Relegation

Relegation is determined at the end of the season by computing an average of the number of points earned per game over the two most recent seasons:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

and 2021. The three teams with the lowest average at the end of the season were relegated to the

for the following season.

Season awards

On 28 December 2021 the AUF announced the winners of the season awards, who were chosen by its Technical Staff based on voting by managers and captains of the 16 Primera División teams as well as a group of local sports journalists. 30 players were nominated for Best Player and the Team of the Season according to their ratings and evaluations by the Technical Staff throughout the season.

References

External links

Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol - Campeonato Uruguayo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uruguayan Primera Division 2020

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

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