1979 Torneo Descentralizado
| Season | 1979 | 
|---|---|
| Dates | 1 April 1979 – 26 January 1980 | 
| Champions | Sporting Cristal | 
| Relegated | León de Huánuco | 
| Copa Libertadores | Sporting Cristal Sporting Cristal | 
| ← 1978  1980 →  | |
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

Locations of the 1979 Primera División teams
| 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 | |
| 6 | Unión Huaral | 30 | 8 | 15 | 7 | 32 | 29 | +3 | 31 | |
| 7 | Atlético Chalaco | 30 | 9 | 13 | 8 | 28 | 27 | +1 | 31 | |
| 8 | Deportivo Junín | 30 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 39 | 43 | −4 | 30 | |
| 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 | |
| 11 | Deportivo Municipal | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 30 | 34 | −4 | 28 | |
| 12 | CNI | 30 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 33 | 45 | −12 | 28 | |
| 13 | Coronel Bolognesi | 30 | 11 | 5 | 14 | 36 | 40 | −4 | 27 | |
| 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 | 
Source: 
Liguilla Final
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts | Qualification | CRI | CHA | JAU | ALI | ALF | UNI | JUN | HUA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 
Source: 
Liguilla Descenso
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts | Relegation | SBA | BOL | MEL | TOR | MUN | CNI | JLP | LEÓ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | ||||||||||
| 16 | León de Huánuco | 14 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 15 | 21 | −6 | 0 | 12 | 
Source: 
Relegation play-off
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation | CNI | JLP | LEÓ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 
Source: 
SPORTING CRISTAL
1979 National Champions - 6th title
1979 National Champions - 6th title


