Club Sporting Cristal S.A. is a Peruvian sports club located in the city of Lima, best known for its football team. It was founded on 13 December 1955 in the Rímac district by engineer Richard Bentín Mujica and his wife Esther Grande de Bentín, stockholders of the Peruvian brewery Backus and Johnston.^[2][3] The club and the brewery have been closely linked since its inception, and it is for this reason that it is popularly known as los Cerveceros ("the brewers").

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Sporting Cristal

Full name	Club Sporting Cristal [1]
Nickname(s)	Los Cerveceros Los Rimenses Los Celestes La Fuerza Vencedora La Máquina Celeste
Founded	13 December 1955; 68 years ago (1955-12-13)
Ground	Estadio Alberto Gallardo
Capacity	11,600
Owner	Innova Sports
President	Joel Raffo
Manager	Enderson Moreira
League	Liga 1
2023	Liga 1, 3rd of 19
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

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The team has played in the Primera División since 1956, where it obtained the title that year. Due to this achievement, Cristal is often referred to as "El club que nació campeón".^[4] Since their first participation, they have won the league title 19 times and are one of the few teams in Peru to have never been relegated from the top division. Sporting Cristal is also the first Peruvian team to have been crowned tricampeóns, successively winning the 1994, 1995, and 1996 seasons.^[5][6] In 1997, they were runners-up of the Copa Libertadores, losing the final to Brazilian side Cruzeiro. Cristal holds the longest undefeated streak in the tournament; 17 games without suffering a loss.^[7]

Cristal has a heated rivalry with Club Universitario de Deportes. One of the main reasons for the enmity between the two sides is the series of transfers of Universitario's star players to los Celestes. The club also has rivalries with Alianza Lima, Deportivo Municipal, and Sport Boys.

Sporting Cristal plays its home games at the Estadio Alberto Gallardo. They play at the Estadio Nacional for international competitions such as the Libertadores or Sudamericana. The Estadio Nacional is also the venue for matches against Universitario and Alianza Lima.

In addition to football, the club has teams specializing in futsal, women's football (3 Peruvian Primera División Femenina titles), and volleyball.^[8][9]

Ricardo Bentín Mujica, with the support of his wife, co-owners of Backus and Johnston brewery, was the man who is credited with achieving the company's goal. A club from Rímac ward, known as Sporting Tabaco [es] founded in 1926 and originally belonging to the tobacco growers' union, was already playing in the professional Peruvian First Division. Never having won a national championship, the club was in dire economic straits. Bentín decided to buy the club and search for a playing ground, so that the club could develop and be able to play better at the professional level. The club found a lot in the neighborhood of La Florida of 137,000 m².

On December 13, 1955 the club was founded as Sporting Cristal , after Backus' best-known beer brand, Cristal. The new club from the Rímac ward debuted in 1956 in the professional Primera Division and won their first national title that same year. Journalists thus called them the club born a champion (nació campeon). The team managed to win more titles over the years and was known as one of the best football clubs in Peru after Universitario and Alianza Lima. A few years later, the club eliminated the word Backus from their name to demonstrate their economic independence.

During the 1962 edition until the 1969 edition of the Copa Libertadores, Sporting Cristal went on a 17-game undefeated streak,^[10] the longest unbeaten streak in the Copa Libertadores, winning 8 games, and tying 9.

Sporting Cristal changed its shirt color from blue to light blue. They are known as "Los Celestes". During a brief period between 1978 and 1981, they again used blue shirts. In 1982 they returned to light blue as the color of the club.

The 1990s were the most successful decade as they claimed 4 national titles (including 3 in a row) with coach Juan Carlos Oblitas. Under Oblitas, Cristal won 1991, 1994 and 1995 domestic league. Then, guided by Sergio Markarián head coach they won 1996 league. By 1997, the team, led by Uruguayan coach Sergio Markarián, reached the finals of the Copa Libertadores, where they faced the Brazilian club Cruzeiro. The first leg was a home game, in which they ended in a scoreless draw; in the second leg, they lost 1–0. This is the closest Team Peru has come to the Copa Libertadores Final since 1972, when Universitario had a similar fate playing against Independiente.

The club stayed on the top spots of the national tournament during most of the 2000s and gained qualification to the Copa Libertadores eight years in a row from 2000 to 2007. It would only win two titles during the decade which were obtain in 2002 and 2005 with many notable players as Sergio Leal, Jorge Soto and Luis Alberto Bonnet. However, during the 2007, Cristal would come four points away from relegation. It would make a comeback during the 2008 season and qualify to the Copa Libertadores once again.

In 2009, the Primera División Peruana would change the tournament structured which caused Sporting Cristal to have mediocre results for the next few years into the new decade. After a seven-year dry spell it would become the national champion once more during the 2012 season when it defeated Real Garcilaso in the finals. They qualified to the 2013 Copa Libertadores where they did not pass the tournament's group stage. In the 2013 season, they played on the same liguilla as Real Garcilaso and fought for a place in the final up to the last match of the season in which they finished third and qualified for the 2014 Copa Libertadores once more.

In the 2018 season, they conquered another historical feat, they became the best Team Peru in the Historic Table during the Professional Era (1966 - 2018). As of 2018, they surpassed Universitario for the first spot, 3264 points to Universitario's 3236 points.^[11]

In the 2020 season, Roberto Mosquera returned as coach after 7 years.^[12][13]

Sporting Cristal has had longstanding rivalries with Universitario, Alianza Lima, Deportivo Municipal, and Sport Boys.

Cristal has three ultra or barra bravas known as Extremo Celeste, Fverza Oriente Gvardia Xtrema. Fverza Oriente was the first ultra of Cristal, founded in 1975. They are located on eastern grandstand of the stadiums. Extremo Celeste was formed in 1991 when a group of young fans from Fuerza Oriente decided to form a new group for young energetic supporters. Extremo Celeste has become one of the biggest barras bravas in Peru. And in 2007 a smaller third ultra was created in the western grandstand to support the team. Sporting Cristal had supporters on every grandstand on Estadio Alberto Gallardo.

• Copa Libertadores: 39 appearances

Runners-up (1): 1997

Quarter-finals (2): 1993, 1995

1962, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

• Copa Sudamericana: 4 appearances

2018: First Stage

2019: Round of 16

2021: Quarter-finals

2023: KO play-offs

• Copa CONMEBOL: 1 appearance

1994: Quarter-finals

• Copa Merconorte: 4 appearances

1998: First Round

1999: First Round

2000: First Round

2001: First Round

• U-20 Copa Libertadores: 2 appearances

2012: Group Stage

2024:

• Liga Nacional Superior de Voleibol:

Runner-up (1): 2013–14

List of Sporting Cristal managers through club history.^[15]

More information Years, Nationality ...

Years Nationality Name 1956–58 Luis Tirado[16] 1958–59 César Viccino 1960 Carlos Peucelle 1960 Víctor Pasache 1961–62 Juan Honores 1962 Víctor Pasache 1962–64 Waldir Pereira "Didí" 1964–66 Alberto "Toto" Terry 1966 Yaldo Barbalho 1967–69 Waldir Pereira "Didí" 1969 Víctor Pasache 1969–70 Vito Andrés "Sabino" Bártoli 1971 Rudi Gutendorf 1972–74 Marcos Calderón 1974 Rafael Asca 1974–75 Eloy Campos 1976 Juan Honores 1976 Víctor Pasache 1976–77 Diego Agurto 1977 Alberto Gallardo 1977–78 Roque Máspoli 1978 Alberto Gallardo 1978–79 José Fernández 1979–81 Marcos Calderón 1981–82 Alberto Gallardo 1982–83 César Cubilla 1984 José Chiarella 1985 Alberto Gallardo 1985 José del Castillo 1985–86 Héctor Chumpitaz 1987–88 Miguel Company 1988 Óscar Montalvo 1988–89 Alberto Gallardo 1989–90 Oscar López Oscar Cavallero 1990 Fernando Mellán 1990 Eugenio Jara

Years Nationality Name 1990–92 Juan Carlos Oblitas 1993 José Carlos Amaral 1993–95 Juan Carlos Oblitas 1996 José Luis Carbone 1996 Roberto Mosquera 1996–97 Sergio Markarián 1997–98 Miguel Ángel Arrué 1998 Luis García 1998–99 Franco Navarro 1999 Rodolfo Motta 1999–01 Juan Carlos Oblitas 2001 Horacio Magalhaes Jan 1, 2002 – Dec 31, 2002 Paulo Autuori 2003 Renê Weber 2003–04 Wilmar Valencia 2004 Eduardo Asca 2004–05 Edgardo Bauza May 22, 2005 – Dec 17, 2006 José del Solar Jan 1, 2007 – May 5, 2007 Jorge Sampaoli 2007 Walter Fiori July 1, 2007 – Dec 31, 2009 Juan Carlos Oblitas Jan 1, 2010 – Dec 9, 2010 Víctor Rivera Dec 21, 2010 – April 19, 2011 Guillermo Rivarola April 20, 2011 – Nov 23, 2011 Juan Reynoso Nov 23, 2011 – Dec 31, 2011 Francisco Melgar Jan 1, 2012 – Aug 7, 2013 Roberto Mosquera Aug 7, 2013 – Aug 18, 2013 Francisco Melgar (int.) Aug 18, 2013 – Dec 19, 2013 Claudio Vivas Jan 1, 2014–15 Daniel Ahmed Jan 4, 2016 – Dec 19, 2016 Mariano Soso Jan 4, 2017 – Jun 25, 2017 José del Solar Jun 25, 2017 – Dic 3, 2017 Pablo Zegarra Jan 4, 2018 – Dic 18, 2018 Mario Salas Jan 7, 2019 – Feb 5, 2019 Alexis Mendoza Feb 8, 2019 – Sep 10, 2019 Claudio Vivas[17][18] Feb 8, 2019 – Sep 10, 2019 Manuel Barreto[19][20] Feb 23, 2020 – Nov 08, 2022 Roberto Mosquera[21][22] Nov 09, 2022 – Tiago Nunes[23]

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