Liga MX: Three takeaways from Matchday 13

The Liga MX calendar is shrinking with only four matchdays remaining (plus two make-up games) before the postseason kick off in early May.

With no club yet eliminated from the playoffs and only two teams guaranteed a spot in the trophy chase, there is much to play for.

Matchday 13 was completed over the weekend and although no single game provided a decisive result, there are a few items worth keeping in mind. Here are my top three:

1. Guadalajara, aka UnderaChivas

Guadalajara finds itself in a precarious position, sitting in 15th place and outside the playoffs. Heading into the Guardianes 2021, management and players assured fans of “El Rebaño Sagrado” that they would qualify for the playoffs with a Top 4 seed and a first-round bye.

Instead, the Chivas wouldn’t even qualify for a wildcard spot if the season were to end today.

Entering Matchday 13, Guadalajara knew it could ill afford a single misstep, yet on Sunday against visiting Santos Laguna – a club dealing with season-ending injuries to two key players – the Chivas only managed to emerge with a tie. The outcome marked the 7th draw for the club, three off their all-time record for a short season. And with five games remaining, they have a chance to equal or surpass that ignominious record.

With Sunday’s result, the Chivas Rayadas’ record at Estadio Akron fell to 1-3-2. Two more dropped points at home could prove costly as Guadalajara must run a gauntlet down the home stretch starting Saturday at league-leading Cruz Azul and its 11-game win streak.

After the Cementeros, Guadalajara hosts the Xolos, pays a visit to Monterrey (a match postponed from Week 12 since the Chivas had six players on Olympic qualification duty), then the Clásico Tapatío against resurgent Atlas, before a home game to close out the season against the Tigres who are also chasing a wildcard spot.

If Víctor Manuel Vucetich fails to get results, Chivas owner Amaury Vergara will be looking for a new coach. And general manager Ricardo Peláez is unlikely to be helping him.

2. Meanwhile, across town …

In contrast to their rivals, Guadalajara-based Atlas is in fifth place, just a point out of the fourth place. The Zorros are 6-3-1 in their last 10 after winning their fourth straight at home on Saturday, edging the visiting Xolos of Tijuana 1-0

Of even more importance, the win lifted Atlas out of the basement in the mis-named “Relegation Standings.”

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Since Liga MX suspended demotion and promotion for the next five years, the “Relegation Standings” are being used to leverage financial penalties on the bottom three teams. The last-place team must pay the Liga MX treasury 120 million pesos, the 17th-placed team will be charged 70 million pesos while the team finding itself in 16th place in the “Relegation Standings” will have to shell out 50 million pesos.

Atlas climbed over Atlético de San Luis into 17th place and has a mathematical chance at catching 16th-place FC Juárez (the Zorros would have to make up 7 points with four games – i.e. 12 points – remaining). Such an achievement would reduce the club’s their fiscal payout significantly. And a win over their hated rivals – the Chivas – on Matchday 16 would be crucial.

In that regard, the Zorros are hopeful of benefiting from the return of Julio Furch (acquired from Santos Laguna before the season). The veteran striker is back in training after fracturing an ankle in training camp, but he is still a couple weeks away from seeing game action.

3. For the Aguilas, there’s no place like home

América joined Cruz Azul as a playoff team, clinching a post-season spot thanks to a come-from-behind win at the weekend. The Aguilas defeated Necaxa 2-1, moving to a perfect 7-0-0 at Estadio Azteca, tying a franchise record.

Back in 1982-83, coach Carlos Reinoso led América to seven consecutive home wins starting with a 2-0 win over Oaxtepec in the season-opener. The Aguilas did not win the Liga MX title that season, but they did win the following three. Miguel Herrera matched Reinoso’s achievement in the Apertura 2013 campaign, also starting the season by winning the first seven home games. The Aguilas reached the Final that season, losing to the Tigres, but did come back and hoist the Liga MX trophy the next season.

Unlike his two predecessors, coach Santiago Solari hit the Lucky 7 mark in his first term as head coach (both Reinoso and Herrera were in their second year in Coapa). América takes to the road this weekend (at the Tigres) and returns to Estadio Azteca on Matchday 15 with a chance to set a new franchise mark. It won’t be easy, however, because it will have to come against league-leasing Cruz Azul, currently on an 11-game win streak.

Liga MX Notes

Monterrey defeated visiting Atlético de San Luis 2-0 and Rogelio Funes Mori scored his club record-tying 121st goal. Funes Mori is now even with Humberto Suazo though he trails the Chilean in one important record – playoff goals. “Chupete” scored 17 postseason goals with the Rayados; Funes Mori has 13. … The Tigres ended their 0-2-3 run with a road win, pipping the Gallos Blancos thanks to an 89th-minute goal from defender Diego Reyes, his first for the Tigres since returning to Liga MX after nearly seven years in Europe.