The 2022 Liga Profesional de Primera División season, also known as the Campeonato Uruguayo de Primera División 2022, was the 119th season of the Uruguayan Primera División, Uruguay's top-flight football league, and the 92nd in which it is professional. The season, which was named "Walter Devoto", began on 5 February and ended on 30 October 2022 due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup to be held in Qatar during November and December 2022.
Nacional were the champions, winning their forty-ninth league title after placing first in the season's aggregate table and defeating Liverpool in the semi-final match. Peñarol were the defending champions.
Teams 16 teams competed in the season: the top thirteen teams in the relegation table of the 2021 season as well as three promoted teams from the Segunda División. The three lowest placed teams in the relegation table of the 2021 season, Progreso, Sud América, and Villa Española, were relegated to the Segunda División for the 2022 season. They were replaced by Albion, Danubio, and Defensor Sporting, who were promoted from the Segunda División.
Danubio and Defensor Sporting returned to the top flight after one season, whilst Albion played in Primera División for the first time in the professional era. On the other hand, both Sud América and Villa Española were relegated after one season, and Progreso returned to the second tier after four years.
Stadiums and locations
Club Manager City Stadium Capacity Albion Ignacio Risso Montevideo Charrúa 14,000 Boston River Ignacio Ithurralde Trinidad Juan Antonio Lavalleja 7,000 Cerrito Roland Marcenaro Montevideo Parque Maracaná 8,000 Cerro Largo Mario Saralegui Melo Antonio Ubilla 9,000 Danubio Jorge Fossati Montevideo Jardines del Hipódromo 18,000 Defensor Sporting Marcelo Méndez Montevideo Luis Franzini 18,000 Deportivo Maldonado Francisco Palladino Maldonado Domingo Burgueño Miguel 22,000 Fénix Ignacio Pallas Montevideo Parque Capurro 10,000 Liverpool Jorge Bava Montevideo Belvedere 10,000 Montevideo City Torque Lucas Nardi (caretaker) Montevideo Centenario 60,235 Montevideo Wanderers Sergio Blanco (caretaker) Montevideo Parque Alfredo Víctor Viera 11,000 Nacional Pablo Repetto Montevideo Gran Parque Central 34,000 Peñarol Leonardo Ramos Montevideo Campeón del Siglo 40,700 Plaza Colonia Alejandro Cappuccio Colonia Parque Juan Prandi 4,500 Rentistas Rodolfo Neme Montevideo Complejo Rentistas 10,600 River Plate Gustavo Díaz Montevideo Parque Federico Omar Saroldi 6,000
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentTorneo AperturaNacional Martín LigüeraEnd of contract6 December 2021Pre-season Pablo Repetto11 December 2021Albion Darlyn GayolSacked17 December 2021 Ignacio Risso27 December 2021Cerrito Roland MarcenaroEnd of contract31 December 2021 Adrián Fernández15 January 2022Defensor Sporting Héctor RodríguezSacked27 February 202214th Marcelo Méndez2 March 2022Rentistas Diego Jaume12 March 202210th Marcos Villano14 March 2022Cerrito Adrián FernándezResigned11 April 202216th Alberto Quintela12 April 2022Cerro Largo Danielo Núñez22 April 202215th Héctor Bracamonte22 April 2022Montevideo City Torque Román CuelloSacked29 April 202212th Sebastián Eguren2 May 2022Rentistas Marcos VillanoEnd of caretaker spell13 May 202211th Leonel Rocco13 May 2022Torneo IntermedioCerrito Alberto QuintelaEnd of caretaker spell7 June 2022Pre-tournament Mario Szlafmyc7 June 2022 Mario SzlafmycResigned9 July 20228th, Serie B Pablo Fernández9 July 2022 Pablo FernándezEnd of caretaker spell27 July 20228th, Serie B Walter Pandiani27 July 2022Torneo ClausuraPeñarol Mauricio LarrieraResigned2 August 202214th Leonardo Ramos2 August 2022Rentistas Leonel Rocco7 August 202216th Rodolfo Neme8 August 2022Plaza Colonia Eduardo EspinelSacked12 August 20227th Alejandro Cappuccio17 August 2022Cerrito Walter Pandiani29 August 202215th Roland Marcenaro29 August 2022Cerro Largo Héctor BracamonteResigned29 August 202216th Mario Saralegui30 August 2022Montevideo City Torque Sebastián Eguren19 September 202215th Lucas Nardi22 September 2022Montevideo Wanderers Daniel Carreño28 September 202213th Sergio Blanco28 September 2022 Notes
Torneo Apertura The Torneo Apertura, named "José "Pino" Marciano", was the first tournament of the 2022 season. It began on 5 February 2022 and ended on 6 June 2022.
Standings
Results
Torneo Intermedio The Torneo Intermedio was the second tournament of the 2022 season, played between the Apertura and Clausura tournaments, and returned after a one-year hiatus caused by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It consisted of two groups whose composition depended on the final standings of the Torneo Apertura: teams in odd-numbered positions played in Serie A, and teams in even-numbered positions played in Serie B. It began on 10 June and ended on 27 July, and the winners were granted a berth into the 2023 Copa Sudamericana and the 2023 Supercopa Uruguaya.
Serie A
Serie B
Torneo Intermedio Final
Torneo Clausura The Torneo Clausura, named "Rubén Lorenzo", was the third and last tournament of the 2022 season. It began on 30 July 2022 and ended on 24 October 2022.
Standings
Results
Aggregate table
Championship playoff
Semi-final
Finals Since Nacional, who had the best record in the aggregate table, won the semi-final, they became champions automatically and the finals were not played. Liverpool became runners-up as the second-placed team in the aggregate table. Both teams qualified for the 2023 Copa Libertadores group stage.
Top scorers {| class="wikitable" border="1" |- ! Rank ! Player ! Club ! Goals |- | align=center | 1 | Thiago Borbas |River Plate | align=center | 18 |- | align=center | 2 | Thiago Vecino |Liverpool | align=center | 15 |- | align=center | 3 | Agustín Rodríguez |Boston River | align=center | 13 |- | align=center | 4 | Maximiliano Cantera |Deportivo Maldonado | align=center | 12 |- | rowspan=4 align=center | 5 | Emmanuel Gigliotti |Nacional | rowspan=4 align=center | 11 |- | Alan Medina |Liverpool |- | Mauro Méndez |Montevideo Wanderers |- | José Neris |Albion |- | rowspan=2 align=center | 9 | Enzo Borges |Deportivo Maldonado | rowspan=2 align=center | 10 |- | Franco Fagúndez |Nacional
Source: AUF
Relegation Relegation was 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: 2021 and 2022. The three teams with the lowest average at the end of the season were relegated to the Segunda División for the following season.
Team Relegation 1Nacional 59 81 140 67 2Peñarol 60 59 119 67 3Liverpool 42 74 116 67 4Defensor Sporting — 58 58 37 5River Plate 42 60 102 67 6Danubio — 56 56 37 7Boston River 36 62 98 67 8Montevideo Wanderers 44 51 95 67 9Deportivo Maldonado 31 63 94 67 10Plaza Colonia 56 35 91 67 11Fénix 40 49 89 67 12Cerro Largo 48 40 88 67 13 50 36 86 67 14Albion (R) — 38 38 37 15Rentistas (R) 30 30 60 67 16Cerrito (R) 40 17 57 67
Season awards On 14 and 16 December 2022 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. 36 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.
AwardWinnerClubBest Player Felipe CarballoNacionalPublic's Player Sergio RochetNacionalYouth Talent Thiago BorbasRiver PlateBest Manager Pablo RepettoNacionalBest Goal Pablo Ceppelini()PeñarolBest Save Sergio Rochet()NacionalBest Newcomer Valentín AdamoRiver PlateTop Scorer Thiago Borbas()River PlateLeast beaten goal in regular seasonNacional()Most minutes on field Santiago Silva Esteban Conde()Boston RiverDanubioFair Play AwardDanubioBest RefereeAndrés MatonteBest Assistant RefereesNicolás Tarán and Martín Soppi
Team of the SeasonGoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwardsBench Sergio Rochet (Nacional) Agustín Sant'Anna (Defensor Sporting) Léo Coelho (Nacional) Federico Pereira (Liverpool) Camilo Cándido (Nacional) Fabricio Díaz (Liverpool) Felipe Carballo (Nacional) Maximiliano Cantera (Deportivo Maldonado) Franco Fagúndez (Nacional) Luis Suárez (Nacional) Thiago Borbas (River Plate) Esteban Conde (Danubio) José Luis Rodríguez (Nacional) Facundo Mallo (Defensor Sporting) Lucas de los Santos (Defensor Sporting) Alan Medina (Liverpool) Thiago Vecino (Liverpool) Agustín Rodríguez (Boston River)
See also 2022 Copa Uruguay 2022 Uruguayan Segunda División season
References
External links Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol - Campeonato Uruguayo