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Liga MX: Apertura 2021 season gets off to a wobbly start

By Thomas Buckley

League-leading América will visit León with a chance to move 6 points clear of the second-place Esmeraldas. (Photo by Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images)
League-leading América will visit León with a chance to move 6 points clear of the second-place Esmeraldas. (Photo by Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images) /
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Sub Renato Ibarra (#30) scored América’s second goal against Tijuana then limped off with a season-ending injury. Ibarra had just returned after a year out on loan. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images) /

Aguilas and Esmeraldas in early-season showdown

Unbeaten América is the cream of the Liga MX crop while the embattled Tigres are profiting thanks to an explosive offense that is showing some teeth. And León overcame an early punch in the mouth to restate its title dreams.

Santiago Solari’s Aguilas are on a four-game win streak though their performances have been more pragmatic than prodigious. América’s mindset was summed up this week by midfielder Fernando Madrigal who said “La meta es ganar, no golear.” (“We aim to beat teams, not trounce them.”)

As mentioned a page earlier, the León-América clash tops the weekend slate. Estadio León will host a potential finals preview between two hot clubs.

After a scoreless draw in the season-opener, América has won five straight, while the Esmeraldas recovered from a 4-0 season-opening spanking from Pachuca to reel off a 4-1-0 streak (posting a 10-2 goal differential in the process).

León appears to have adapted to the tactical preferences of new coach Ariel Holan and their new-look roster – Omar Fernández, Elías Hernández, Santi Ormeño – has helped overcome the temporary loss of skipper Luis Montes (who’ll miss a month due to a torn adductor).

The emergence of the Tigres can be attributed to the ability of new coach Miguel Herrera to get good effort from Nico López. “Diente” leads Liga MX with 5 goals in six games.

The Tigres are making due without several  players, including top scorer André-Pierre Gignac (out since early August with ligament damage to his right ankle). The parade of injured has put the team’s head trainer under the microscope, but that’s not new for Giber Becerra.

Becerra heard plenty of criticism while in charge of player prep with América a few seasons back when the Aguilas had difficulty keeping healthy and fit. The missed games and forced substitutions due to injury were a real headache and Becerra was raked over the coals.

On Wednesday, Tigres midfielder Juan Pablo Vigón defended Becerra’s work with “Los Felinos.” Perhaps Vigón is not the ideal spokesman, however, as he is among three newly injured Tigres (Leo Fernández and Luis Rodríguez are the other two) who will watch their mates host Atlas  from the team skybox on Saturday.

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