With one-third of the Liga MX season behind us and the FIFA break just days away, it’s an ideal time to take stock of the Apertura 2021 to this point.
Hereafter, we’ll do this on a weekly basis within the Playing for 90 Power Rankings format.
This weekend, the second-place team (León) hosts the first-place team (América), easily the most attractive game on the Matchday 7 calendar.
No other Liga MX contest (except maybe Pachuca at Cruz Azul) will come close to matching the Esmeraldas-Aguilas game for quality, drama and significance. And therein lies the problem.
Liga MX lacking quality thus far
Enrique Beas hit the nail on the head in a recent Universal Deportes column (“La Liga MX, en franca debacle”). The pundit blasted the overall quality of play thus far, asserted that the 12-team Liguilla format cheapens regular-season games, and criticized the decision to pay no mind to the absence of 34 Mexican stars who were away on national team duty (Gold Cup and Olympics).
Combined with the late arrival of a couple dozen South American players who took part in this summer’s Copa América, the early stages of the Apertura 2021 were always going to be choppy for teams who were told by Liga MX officials that postponements would be denied.
As a result, many games have had a preseason feel to them and spectacular performances have been notable by its absence. Last weekend was a perfect example when Liga MX fans saw a grand total of 12 goals in nine matches.
The league’s effort to increase action (urging refs to speed up play, cut back on time wasted due to player dissent, reduce delays before restarts, make VAR usage more efficient, and limit the always imaginative injury routines after which the once-writhing player pops right up and jogs into position) has enjoyed some success.
Last season, Liga MX games averaged less than 50 minutes of “real action” (European leagues averaged well above 55 minutes of “real action,” topped by Serie A which boasted 57 minutes of genuine game action).
However, there has been a plethora of games with oodles of added time tacked onto the end. To wit: León scored an equalizer last weekend in minute 90+15!
Through six games, Liga MX matches have seen increased “playing time,” with most games in the 53- to 54-minute range. There still is a lot of time wasted and gamesmanship, but we must applaud the attempt to make the matches more attractive.