- Address: Avenida Zarumilla, Lima
- Country: Peru
- Capacity: 11,000
- Opened: 9 June 1961
- Main use: Football
- Tenants: Sporting Cristal (football)
Extra stadium info – Estadio Alberto Gallardo
The Estadio Alberto Gallardo is named after a former player of Sporting Cristal. It was named Estadio San Martín de Porres before it became the Estadio Alberto Gallardo. The football stadium is among the main sports venues in Lima. Sporting Cristal, one of the first Peruvian sports clubs with 1 million followers on its main social media page, use the stadium for home games. The club was founded in 1955.
Peruvian football champions
In 1956, Sporting Cristal were crowned Peruvian football champions for the first time in their history. They won 13 of their 18 domestic league matches during that football season. Three of those 18 matches ended in a draw. Club Sporting Cristal won the top-flight football league of Peru 13 times in the 20th century. In 2020, Sporting Cristal became the third Peruvian football club with 20 domestic league titles. Club Universitario de Deportes became the first one, followed by Allianza Lima.
The Copa Libertadores
Sporting Cristal reached the final of the Copa Libertadores in 1997 for the first time in their history. That year, they finished third place in the group stage of the tournament. Grêmio and Cruzeiro, two football clubs from Brazil, finished above Club Sporting Cristal in the group stage. Alianza Lima finished below Sporting Cristal in the group stage of the tournament. Later that year, Club Sporting Cristal defeated the Argentine side Vélez Sarsfield, the Bolivian side Club Bolívar and the Argentine side Racing Club in the knockout stage of the Copa Libertadores.
Sporting Cristal and Cruzeiro
In 1997, Sporting Cristal lost the two-legged Copa Libertadores final against Cruzeiro Esporte Clube. The first leg, which ended in a goalless draw, took place in Lima in front of tens of thousands of spectators. The second leg took place in the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte. Cruzeiro won the second leg after Elivélton Alves Rufino scored the only goal in the game. The club from Brazil won the South American championship for football clubs once before they faced Sporting Cristal in the Copa Libertadores final in 1997.
