Long-shot Pumas host dark horse Atlas in ‘other semifinal’
The other Guadalajara team
Sharing the Jalisco capital with the Chivas, Atlas will forever be the second-favorite team in its home town. It doesn’t help that few of its long-suffering fans were even alive when the club last won a Liga MX title. That lone bit of hardware came back in 1951.
Smart investments by the new ownership group and the steady hand of coach Diego Cocca had the Zorros on an upswing entering the season. The team embraced the disciplined tactics asked of them and when the new strike partnership of Julio Furch and Julián Quiñones began to mesh, victories followed.
Atlas moved into second place in the Liga MX table after Matchday 12 and remained there, earning the No. 2 seed and a first-round playoff bye.
Entering the Apertura 2021, Atlas’ wage scale sat at eighth ($54.8 million dollars) while their opponent in the Liga MX quarterfinals – Monterrey – boasted the league’s most expensive payroll ($98.2 million dollars). Despite an erratic Liga MX campaign, the Rayados won the Concacaf Champions League trophy in late October and were favored to march to the Finals.
Heading into last week’s quarterfinal series, Monterrey was 5-1-2 all time against Atlas in the playoffs, knocking out the Zorros all three times the two clubs met in previous quarterfinals. In fact, the last time Atlas had reached the Liga MX semifinals was back in the Apertura 2004 (where they lost to the Pumas).
Pundits imagined the talented, high-flying Rayados would race past Atlas and into the Final Four, but such predictions forgot to take into account the Zorros’ stingy defense. “Los Rojinegros” had allowed a Liga MX low 10 goals in 17 matches and they flashed steel and grit during the first-leg match in Monterrey, a game that ended in a scoreless draw.
It was more of the same in Estadio Jalisco for the return match, and the 1-1 result sent Atlas into the semifinals (Liga MX playoff rules award aggregate ties to the higher-seeded team). The Zorros goal came from the penalty spot (after a questionable call, to be sure), but the defense did its job in front of goalie Camilo Vargas. Over 180 minutes, Monterrey only managed 3 shots on goal despite enjoying 57% of possession.
Next. Tigres dominate but barely defeat León. dark
With the Chivas in disarray on and off the field, and Atlas management pulling all the right strings, we could be looking at some very entertaining Guadalajara derbies in the coming years.