Streaking León tops Liga MX Power Rankings
El Tri intrudes as Liga MX heads toward home stretch
Team Mexico finally made a reappearance last week as coach “Tata” Martino held a three-day mini-camp in preparation for El Tri’s first game in 10 months.
The last time the national team played was on Nov. 19, 2019. That was a blasé 2-1 win over Bermuda in a Concacaf Nations League match. Sebastián Córdova equalized in minute 27 and Uriel Antuna nailed the winner 3 minutes into injury time.
The coronavirus pandemic then intervened and “Tata” was left with little to do but wait it out.
El Tri is back in action Wednesday night against Guatemala in a friendly. But even this has not gone as planned.
Costa Rica was the original opponent, but the “Ticos” backed out over Covid concerns. Mexico is still among the Top 4 nations in the world for most virus-related deaths and Costa Rica chose to avoid potential risk.
In stepped Guatemala at the last minute, and the Central Americans will face a team comprised entirely of locally based players.
As such, several Liga MX coaches will be sweating out the week, hoping their stars don’t return with knocks and bruises, or worse. América goalie “Memo” Ochoa missed the Clásico Joven when he suffered a pre-game injury. Aguilas management was quick to blame the El Tri mini-camp he attended.
Matches against Guatemala can get rather rugged, so Mexico’s players should consider quick passing and avoiding crowds (and scything legs). It would be a shame if the home stretch of the Guardianes 2020 is adversely impacted by an injury during this brief national team intermission.
Liga MX streaks and slumps
Inconsistent form and fitness issues were always going to be a concern during the pandemic and it has played out in negative fashion for some teams.
Toluca was 4-0-2 after blanking the Chivas on Matchday 6, in second place and dreaming about earning a playoff bye as a Top 4 finisher. Since then, the Diablos have gone 0-2-4, completing a winless September with a scoreless draw at Pachuca. Suddenly, they are shakily on the Liga MX playoff bubble.
On Monday, the “Choriceros” fired coach José Manuel de la Torre. The Diablos host Cruz Azul on Sunday.
In the “You Never Know” Department, we present the Puebla-Querétaro match. A lousy road team played the worst Liga MX home team, yet the two hapless clubs provided us with a 3-3 gem of a game.
Host Puebla overcame a late 3-1 deficit, snagging the equalizer in minute 90+1. The result confirmed their shortcomings. Puebla is now 1-2-3 at Estadio Cuauhtémoc for a league-low 5 points; away from Querétaro, the Gallos Blancos are winless, sporting a lousy 0-2-5 record.
Only three other Liga MX teams are winless on the road after 12 games (Mazatlán, Necaxa and Tijuana).
For its part, Necaxa extended its winless road streak to six after sweating out a draw at UNAM. No surprise, the Rayos haven’t won at the CU since January 2008.
On Saturday, however, “Los HidroCálidos” played more than 75 minutes with a man advantage but could not protect an early 1-0 lead. Well, at least they ended their losing streak which had reached five, but Necaxa’s road record fell to 0-2-3.
One club did get off the schneid this weekend. Atlas earned its first road win of the Guardianes 2020 on Friday night, riding an early own-goal to a 1-0 win at FC Juárez in the Snoozer of the Weekend.
Next. Clásico Regio topped Week 12 slate. dark
On the positive side of the ledger, León extended the league’s longest unbeaten streak to 7-2-0 with its win at San Luis. The Esmeraldas snared the lofty spot by snapping UNAM’s season-opening 10-game run, a mark they should be able to match with Mazatlán coming to town Friday.