With five games left in the Apertura of Liga 1, up to eight clubs maintain their chances of winning one of the most contested championships in recent years: just six points separate the first place from the eighth.
Sport Huancayo, Melgar, Alianza Atlético, Universitario, Sporting Cristal, and Alianza Lima are the main contenders to win the title; Cienciano and Binacional have fewer chances, but they are still in the fight.
Now, another important detail is the number of games that each contender still has to play: Sport Huancayo is in second place with 27 points, one behind Melgar, but still has 6 matches to play compared to Dominó's 5; Universitario has 24 points, but only has 12 units left to play.
While there are still 8 candidates, the list will be drastically reduced as the matches progress considering that there are several games between title contenders coming up.
What each contender needs to win the Apertura:
Melgar (1st with 28 points): Ayacucho FC (A), Universitario (H), Sport Boys (A), Atlético Grau (H), and Alianza Atlético (A).
Sport Huancayo (2nd with 27 points): Binacional (A), Alianza Atlético (H), Alianza Lima (H), Ayacucho FC (A), Universitario (H), and Sport Boys (A).
Sporting Cristal (3rd with 25 points): Universitario (A), Sport Boys (H), Atlético Grau (A), Alianza Atlético (H), and Mannucci (A).
Alianza Atlético (4th with 25 points): Atlético Grau (A), Sport Huancayo (A), Mannucci (H), Sporting Cristal (A), and Melgar (H).
Universitario (5th with 24 points): Sporting Cristal (H), Melgar (A), Sport Huancayo (A), and UTC (H).
Alianza Lima (6th with 23 points): Municipal (A), Cienciano (H), Sport Huancayo (A), Binacional (A), Ayacucho FC (H), and ADT (A).
Cienciano (7th with 22 points): UTC (H), Alianza Lima (A), Cantolao (H), Carlos Stein (A), and San Martín (H).
Binacional (8th with 22 points): Sport Huancayo (H), UTC (A), Alianza Lima (A), César Vallejo (A), and Carlos Stein (H).