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Apertura 2021 final: No. 2 Atlas visits No. 3 León

By Thomas Buckley

León must keep Atlas forward Julio Furch (left) in check if it hopes to claim the Apertura 2021 trophy. (Photo by ULISES RUIZ/AFP via Getty Images)
León must keep Atlas forward Julio Furch (left) in check if it hopes to claim the Apertura 2021 trophy. (Photo by ULISES RUIZ/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Liga MX final 1
Diego Cocca joined Atlas as a player the season after the Zorros played in their last Liga MX Final in 1999. He is now only the second Atlas coach to guide his team to a Finals appearance. (Photo by Alfredo Moya/Jam Media/Getty Images) /

A Liga MX veteran as both player and coach

Unlike his Finals counterpart, Atlas coach Diego Cocca enjoyed a lengthy career as a player, including a brief stint with the Zorros (1999-2001). The 49-year-old started his coaching career in his native Argentina in 2007 and counts Santos Laguna and Tijuana as previous stops in Liga MX. Cocca took over the Zorros in August 2020 and has patiently worked with the club’s prolific academy system to develop reliable starters.

Grupo Orlegi – the business conglomerate that also owns Santos Laguna – purchased the Atlas franchise in May 2019 and has invested heavily in both field and front office.

Several Santos players found their address changed from Torreón to Guadalajara as Orlegi sought to establish a winning attitude in the locker room. Defenders Hugo Nervo, Jesús Angulo, José Abella and Jesús Isijara, as well as forwards Julio Furch and Brayan Garnica traded in their green-and-white hoops for Atlas red-and-black. Furch, Angulo, Abella and Isijara (now back with Santos) were key members of the Santos club that won the Liga MX title in May 2018.

With the new ownership group providing stability and exercising patience, Cocca knew he’d have time to implement his tactics, something he was not given at either of his two previous stops (13 games with Santos Laguna, six games with Tijuana).

With Nervo, Angulo and Anderson Santamaría in his stable, and Camilo Vargas in net, Cocca began building from back to front. With the acquisition of midfield bulldog Aldo Rocha in January 2021, the 5-3-2 (or 5-2-3) formation became the stock-and-trade of the Zorros.

The return of left back Luis Reyes (he’d been on loan to América) and the emergence of academy product Diego Barbosa added width to the defense with Rocha taking youngster Jeremy Márquez under his wing and teaching him to hunt in a pack.

The result is a suffocating defense that can flow forward from the wings and team up with the forward tandem of Julio Furch and Julián Quiñones who have quickly become a formidable duo in their first season together.

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