Leagues Cup taking heavy toll on Liga MX title contenders
In addition to the (rather legitimate) complaints about shoddy (biased?) officiating in the Leagues Cup thus far, several Liga MX teams have limped home from the Concacaf tournament licking physical wounds as well.
Mexico City sports daily Record compiled a list of egregious refereeing mistakes that have cost Liga MX teams – invisible fouls, goals scored from offside positions, penalty calls and non-penalty calls – and favored MLS rivals.
One significant drawback in the tournament is that organizers decided to use some Concacaf officials from Central American leagues that do not utilize VAR and the lack of familiarity with the system has produced some notable errors. But Mexican refs have also contributed to the hardship, most particularly Fernando Guerrero who twice screwed over Atlas in their loss against New England.
Additional claims of bias are based on the rough play MLS teams have been allowed to get away with. Through the first 61 games of Leagues Cup, Liga MX teams received 537 fouls, or nearly 30 fouls per game!
Liga MX giants and the Walking Wounded
Monterrey – the No. 1 seed in the Clausura 2023 playoffs – will have to chase Liga MX hardware without star forward Germán Berterame.
The 24-year-old Argentine broke his left foot early in the Rayados’ Aug. 4 match against the Portland Timbers when it appeared to get stuck in the astroturf as he prepared to take a shot.
Berterame is the team’s leading scorer in the Leagues Cup (5 goals) but the team announced that they’ll be without the speedy star for the rest of the season.
The Northern Giants had already lost substitute striker Rodrigo Aguirre to a thigh strain that he picked up in an earlier Leagues Cup match. Aguirre is expected to be out for at least another two weeks.
Another Liga MX title contender will be without their star striker for up to a month.
While warming up ahead of the América-Chicago Fire match, Henry Martín strained his calf and walked to the locker room before the opening whistle.
After sitting out the match, Henry told reporters he was not surprised that his body broke down as he did not get a true summer vacation. Instead, “La Bomba” played for El Tri in both the Concacaf Nations League and the Gold Cup.
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On Monday, team officials confirmed that Henry had suffered a calf strain that will keep him on the sidelines for a month or so. If he is out for four weeks, last season’s club MVP could be in a race for fitness ahead of América’s Matchday 7 contest against Cruz Azul.