"My obligation as Mexico head coach is to make the national team be respected."
Tata Martino's words echoed through the press conference room right before his first match against Chile. Mexico would go on to win that thrilling game 3-1, and he's since gone on to defeat Paraguay 4-2. But this summer, his team will be pushed to the limit.
Despite playing the second leg at home, top-seeded León couldn’t find a way past Tigres goalkeeper Nahuel Guzmán while putting five shots on frame, and Tigres is now the Liga MX Clausura champions thanks to André-Pierre Gignac’s lone goal from the first leg.
It’s Tigres’ seventh Liga MX crown and fifth title this decade. For manager Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti, it’s a seventh league title overall, drawing him level with Ignacio Trelles for the most all time.
Last night, Tigres defeated León 1-0 in the first leg of the Liga MX Clausura final thanks to a goal from André-Pierre “Mr. Playoffs” Gignac. It was a historic strike for the Frenchman, moving him level with Mexican legend Tomás Boy at the top of Tigres’ all-time goalscoring chart with 104.
They call Gignac “el Señor de las Liguillas” because of his 104 goals for Tigres, 21 have come in the playoffs, leading to Apertura titles in 2015, 2016 and 2018. Now Gignac is on the verge of a fourth Liga MX crown thanks to this effort in the 21st minute.
Last night, the Liga MX Clausura playoffs began with quarterfinal first leg matchups between top-seed León and Óscar Pareja’s Tijuana, while second-seed Tigres traveled to Estadio Hidalgo to play Pachuca.
After setting a record when rattling off 12 straight victories to finish as superlíder, León expectedly took care of business in the first leg by posting three away goals on Xolos at Estadio Caliente.
The Liga MX Clausura playoffs are upon us. The dates and times are set for the quarterfinals, which begin this Wednesday and conclude on Sunday. León enters the liguilla as the top seed, but it’s rarely ever as straight forward as all that. The opening round also features appearances from Necaxa and Pachuca (making their first playoff appearances since the 2016 Apertura) and a rematch of last year’s final between Mexico City rivals Cruz Azul and Club America.
Sporting KC was the last hope.
After four other MLS sides were tossed aside in embarrassing fashion — three to Liga MX sides — Sporting was the only squad north of the Rio Grande left in the 2019 Concacaf Champions League.
They won’t be around much longer.
Major League Soccer was feeling pretty good about itself after the 2019 Concacaf Champions League Round of 16. Although Toronto FC crashed out to Panama’s Independiente, four U.S.-based MLS clubs advanced to the quarterfinals.
Then reality struck this week and last, yet another case of MLS failing to stack up to Liga MX.
One half of the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League semifinal bracket is filled, and it’s an all Liga MX affair pitting Tigres against Santos Laguna. Tigres took care of the Houston Dynamo 3-0 on aggregate despite the absence of injured star Andre-Pierre Gignac. Santos defeated the New York Red Bulls 6-2 on aggregate, but not without receiving something of a scare at Estadio Corona on Tuesday night.
It’s March, but you wouldn’t know it throughout much of the country.
As climate change wreaks havoc on what we consider normal weather, temperatures have varied widely around the U.S. On opening day in MLS, Orlando City hosted NYCFC with highs reaching into the upper 80s. In Colorado, the Rapids hosted Portland in temps that dipped to 18 degrees, a record low for an MLS match.
Monterrey kept pace with Tigres at the top of the Liga MX Clausura table with a 2-0 victory over Guadalajara at Akron Stadium on Saturday, and both Rayados goals were of the highest order.
Also, they were both scored by Colombian attacker Dorlan Pabón, who ripped a long-range golazo in the second minute and then did it again in the 89th.
Here’s the first.
Here’s the second. Déjà vu.