Liga MX

Monterrey Femenil claimed the 2019 Liga MX Femenil Apertura title with a 2-1 aggregate win over UANL in front of 38,251 fans on Saturday. Las Rayadas had lost in the 2018 and 2019 Clausura finals before finally earning their first-ever title.

But the celebrations were dulled this week when it became apparent Monterrey would only reward players with iPads instead of a verbally promised financial bonus. Last I checked, you can’t pay rent with a tablet.

Monterrey secured a 1-1 draw away to Santos Laguna in the second leg of their Liga MX quarterfinal to advance to the semis 6-3 on aggregate. Santos Laguna suffered the dreaded Curse of the 'Superlider' at the first hurdle after entering the Liguilla as the Apertura’s top team.

Monterrey, however, isn’t a very forgiving eight-seed, as demonstrated by their 5-2 first leg victory at Estadio BBVA Bancomer last Thursday.

The 2019 Liga MX Apertura playoffs begin on Wednesday, Nov. 27, with the first legs of the quarterfinals.

There’s a lot of flavor in this liguilla’s sauce, but the tastiest matchup is certainly a meeting between 2019 Clausura champion Tigres (three seed) and 2018 Apertura winner Club América (six seed). It’s André-Pierre Gignac versus Henry Martín and we couldn’t be more excited.

Despite finishing the 2019 Apertura with three straight victories, Chivas Guadalajara missed out on the playoffs again this season, a streak of liguilla absences that dates back to when the club lifted the 2017 Clausura title. 

However, it’s not all doom and gloom for the Goats. The club is through to the Round of 16 in the Copa MX, and they ended the Apertura in fine style on Saturday — the 3-1 victory over Veracruz included a brace from Alan Pulido and a goal at the death from Toño Rodriguez. Rodríguez is Guadalajara’s goalkeeper.

The Force was with Monterrey, not Tijuana on Friday night.

Tijuana collaborated with Star Wars for some pretty slick uniforms worn during Friday’s Liga MX match, but it was Monterrey who played like Jedis.

An early red card to Jordan Silva doomed the Xolos as the Rayados cruised to a vital 4-0 win.

But at least the Tijuana Star Wars Jerseys looked great.

In September, the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) unveiled a plan to stamp out the use of the homophobic “puto” chant. Scared of further punishment from FIFA — from fines to forfeiting World Cup qualifiers — the FMF finally decided to do the right thing.

The fans? Not so much.

UANL defeated Veracruz 3-1 on Friday night in Liga MX. Veracruz vs Tigres 2019 was anything but a normal match.

Veracruz protested unpaid wages — some players having gone five or six months without pay — by refusing to play the opening four minutes, standing still as Tigres players scored two uncontested goals, which proved to be the difference in the match.

The Mexican Football Federation (FMF) finally seems to be taking its fans’ homophobic chanting seriously. Finally.

The FMF held a press conference on Friday detailing concrete steps it will take to eradicate the goalkeeper chant that FIFA has branded as discriminatory and unacceptable in football.

Whatever you do, don’t show this to Joe Buck. Yesterday, Guadalajara registered a 1-0 victory over Atlas at Estadio Akron thanks to a 63rd-minute crack from Alexis Vega, who then exposed his crack. The 21-year-old Mexican boofed one from over 25 yards out to keep Chivas in the thick of the liguilla race, and then he fought off a strong desire to strip nude before settling for half-naked.

León striker José Juan Macías was the story of the 2019 Liga MX Clausura season after leading all Mexican goal scorers with eight in 14 appearances. That he accomplished it at the age of 19 while on loan after being cast off by Chivas only strengthened the narrative.