Alphabet Challenge | Part 12, Club 4 | Edging Closer To Former Glory

An exciting first taste of South American football saw Trebor Mahtal win five of his six matches to lead Peruvian fallen giants Universitario into midtable obscurity in 2033. The Zambian now had a big summer ahead as he looked to reshape the club and restore it to former glory.

Mahtal spent all summer searching for a new keeper and found one a few days before the new season, snapping up Braian Obando for £125k from América de Cali. He stayed in Colombia to bring in left back Bryan Saráz for £200 from Santa Fe and brought in exciting Venezuelan attacking midfielder Brayan Navarro for £150k from Caracas (but why he was so obsessed with variations of Brian was anyone’s guess). Mahtal also promoted a few youngsters, including centre back Segundo Maldonado, attacking midfielders Jorge Ramírez and Guillermo Osorio and goalkeeper Anthony Cuadros.

The Saráz signing allowed Mahtal to adopt a more conventional 3-4-3, with two attacking midfielders in behind the striker. It may take a little while for the team to get up to speed as they have a very young squad with several players having to train new roles, including winger Fáiner Moya moving into a central position and Kelvin Abad dropping back into a pivot role. But Mahtal was confident this was the best approach.

First Full Season In Peru

The bookies don’t fancy Universitario’s chances, predicting them to finish 10th with title odds of 150/1. Holders Alianza are 6/4 favourites followed by Melgar (7/4), Cristal (11/1) and Sport Boys (12/1).

Liga 1 Apertura began with Mahtal’s first taste of the Superclásico as Universitario hosted arch-rivals Alianza Lima. They started pretty well but conceded either side of halftime to slip to a frustrating defeat. A tricky start continued as they travelled to Cristal for the Clásico Joven Derby. Mahtal took a slightly more conservative approach and it worked as they frustrated Cristal and were a little unlucky not to nick a winner. They got a first win on the board at Ayacucho thanks to Moya, striker Luca Pichin Wayttorn and midfielder Bryan Cacéres’ late penalty before thumping Juan Aurich 5-1 led by a Moya brace.

A 2-2 at Sport Boys showed their ability to compete with Peru’s best before losing 4-2 at home to Universidad San Martín. A few injuries hit and they lost three on the bounce through April before promising striker Patrick Bazán’s first senior goal, making him the club’s youngest ever goalscorer aged 17 years 200 days, led a 4-1 victory at home to Huancayo. But a solid end to the season saw Universitario finish in a considerably improved 4th place with 29 points, 12 behind winners Alianza.

Mahtal’s First Taste Of Continental Football

Mahtal wasn’t quite sure how, but Universitario had qualified for Copa Sudamericana to give him his first taste of continental football. They began in the preliminary round at fellow Peruvian side Sport Boys and they snuck through 3-2 thanks to Moya’s brace. That sent them into a tough group stage alongside Colombia’s Independiente Santa Fe, Brazil’s Fortaleza and Argentina’s Estudiantes de la Plata.

The group stage began with a trip to Santa Fe and late Moya and Wayttorn strikes earned a draw, but they got outplayed by Fortaleza in a 3-1 home defeat. Back-to-back games against Estudiantes began at home and both sides scored in the first four minutes before Wayttorn headed the hosts in front and they quickly gifted an equaliser to the excellent Maher Carrizo. Universitario restored their lead after the break as Moya’s superb pass sent Wayttorn in to double his tally, but a tired team gave up a late equaliser. They were also a little unlucky to lose 3-2 to a late goal away, and Mahtal had to take positives from twice coming close to beating one of the best sides in Argentina. They eventually got on the board as Abad and Moya secured a 2-0 win over Santa Fe, but lost a 4-3 thriller at Fortaleza to exit in 3rd.

Tricky Start To Clausura

Universitario lost centre back Pier Rodriguez for a club record £650k to Hertha in July, which had Mahtal questioning whether to switch to a 4-3-3 or stick with the 3-4-3. The Clausura fixtures are a reverse of Apertura, and Universitario resumed with the 4-3-3 not working at all in a shocking 4-0 thumping at Alianza then a 1-0 loss at home to Cristal. They got the second half of the season going with four second-half goals defeating Ayacucho 4-2, only to lose 3-1 at Juan Aurich.

Mahtal reverted back to the 3-4-3, which worked nicely at Cusco as Moya and Bazán braces had them 4-0 up inside 70 minutes before gifting two late consolations. Another flurry of injuries hit and Universitario found themselves lingering in 10th place after eight games. But Navarro’s assist hat trick inspired another 4-2 win over Atlético Grau and a Wayttorn brace led a 4-0 win at Huancayo, which catapulted them up to 4th. A big game saw Universitario welcome 3rd-place César Vallejo, dominate the early stages and lead through a vicious low Navarro drive. The visitors grew into it but Moya cut the defence open with a mazy dribble before teeing up Wayttorn to double the lead and secure a 2-1 win.

A 1-0 win over Unión Huaral lifted Universitario into an outside shot at topping Clausura, trailing Alianza by 3 points with four games remaining. They slipped to a 3-1 defeat at Melgar, but Alianza also lost 1-0 at Cusco. Navarro edged a 1-0 win over Municipal before Alianza put six past Melgar then won at Municipal to win another title.

Universitario finished Clausura well, including the improving José Antonio Hidalgo scoring in a 3-2 final-day win over Garcilaso to secure 2nd place in both Clausura and the overall table. That saw them rack up a new club record 20 wins, bettering the previous record of 16 set back in 2028. They drew 5, all of which were in Apertura, and lost 9 to finish 15 points short of champions Alianza, scoring 77 and conceding 50. Universitario also set a new league average attendance record of 59,954 surpassing their own record of 49,351 set back in 2023. Intriguingly, this was the league of terrible defences, including 3rd-place Sport Boys, who scored a league-high 95, and 4th-place San Martín conceding two per game (68).

Waytton’s 18 in 31 put him 9th on the top goalscorer list with Moya 11th with 17 in 30, while Navarro’s 12 assists and Moya’s 7.63 average rating were the third-best in the league. As a result, Moya came 3rd in Player of the Year, Navarro and Hidalgo came second and third in Young Player of the Year, Obando was third in Goalkeeper of the Year, and Mahtal was honoured as Manager of the Year.

Plenty of Promise at Universitario

Mahtal was really pleased with the progress his young Universitario side had made this season. He’d led the club well clear of last season’s relegation concerns and put them on the outside of contending for titles, albeit still well behind Alianza. Wayttorn again led their goalscoring chart with a new club record 24 in 38, plus 7 assists. But the star of the campaign was Moya, who excelled in his new shadow striker role with 23 goals and 9 assists in 37 games. The defensive midfield duo of Cacéres and Abad contributed 10 goals and 8 assists and 5 goals and 11 assists, new boy Navarro impressed with a club-high 14 assists and 9 goals and right wing-back Anthony Fernández chipped in with 7 assists.

There was plenty more potential coming through the ranks, which was boosted by an unexpectedly strong youth intake that contained three potential stars, led by midfielder Ramón Morales.

So Mahtal was excited for the future at Universitario, but could he bring them any closer to a dominant Alianza in 2035? Join us on Monday to find out!