Liga MX

Cruz Azul’s return to the pitch on Wednesday evening against LAFC in the CONCACAF Champions League was unlike anything you’ll ever see again. 

They could score four against Cruz Azul, but Pumas couldn’t find the one they ultimately needed for 82 minutes in Sunday’s Liga MX final. Emmanuel Gigliotti gave León the 2-1 aggregate lead at the Nou Camp in the 12th-minute, and the home side continued to generate the better chances until Yairo Moreno put them out of sight at the end.    

Emmanuel Gigliotti, who definitely should’ve been sent off about 30 minutes earlier, scored a late equalizer for 10-man León to salvage a 1-1 draw against Pumas in the first leg of the Liga MX Guard1anes 2020 final on Thursday night. The even score sets up what should be an incredible second leg on Sunday night in León.

Few leagues in the world entertain as much as Liga MX and Thursday’s first leg was no different.

I’ll be honest, I had little to no intention of watching tonight’s Liga MX semifinal second leg between Cruz Azul and Pumas. La Máquina had won the first leg 4-0, and although Cruz Azul comes with the factory warning of Cruz Azul-ing, I’d like to think I had better things to do on a Sunday night.

I don't. Sources told me Juan Dinenno had pulled one back for Pumas in the fourth minute, so the gin went in the juice and I turned on TUDN.  

Cruz Azul took a giant step toward reaching the Liga MX Apertura finals with a stunning 4-0 victory over Pumas UNAM on Thursday night, scoring three goals in the opening 13 minutes. Pumas are left with a mountain to climb in the second leg on Sunday, not to mention the psychological blow of conceding one of the goals of the season in Mexico to one Rafael Baca.

It was a massive week in U.S. soccer viewership with everyone taking time off for Thanksgiving and hunkering down to watch to incessant onslaught of the Premier League, the start of the MLS Cup playoffs and the business end of the Liga MX Apertura liguilla. 

In terms of English-language broadcasts, the highest-rated event between Nov. 23 and Nov. 29 was last Sunday’s dire 0-0 draw between Chelsea and Tottenham at Stamford Bridge. An audience of 744,000 tuned in on NBCSN to have their spirits crushed by José Mourinho.

Chivas advanced to the semifinals of the Guardianes playoffs after defeating América 2-1 on Sunday night (3-1 on aggregate). América believed they could overturn the one-goal deficit from the first leg at the Azteca, but Cristian “Chicote” Calderón scored two great goals to turn Henry Martín’s strike into nothing more than consolation.   

The 23-year-old Calderón — who’s been capped four times by Mexico — opened the scoring in the 31st minute with an unstoppable left-footed drive from distance that flew by Guillermo Ochoa and into the corner.   

Tigres has qualified for the quarterfinal round of the Liga MX Guardianes playoffs after defeating Toluca 2-1 on Sunday. Hugo Ayala was sent off in the 71st-minute for Tigres, but André-Pierre Gignac’s pair of quick fire strikes in the 35th and 38th minutes proved enough for the home side. 

Gignac is known as "Mr. Liguilla" for a reason, but the cross on his opening goal from Luis Quiñones deserves a lot of praise.