With 16 teams back home, Liga MX set to resume Apertura 2023
With 16 of 18 teams back home after crashing out of the Concacaf Leagues Cup, Liga MX officials declared the Apertura 2023 season would resume next weekend.
Several teams have been inactive since the end of July so they’ll be eager to get back on the pitch even if there still might be some rust to work off. Remember, the Liga MX season was only three weeks old when it was suspended to allow for the Leagues Cup.
In addition, the transfer window remains open and quite a few teams have continued to juggle their rosters. We should expect additional moves because the window does not close for another two weeks.
That means fans might need to re-familiarize themselves with their favorite teams particularly since Leagues Cup games were severely limited unless you shelled out some morlacos for Apple +.
Liga MX news and notes
The breaking news Friday was the report that León and Tigres have agreed a deal to send Nicolás “Diente” López to the Esmeraldas. The dynamic forward has found the net 26 times in 100 games with Tigres but he was deemed surplus by coach Robert Siboldi who has preferred Diego Lainez at left wing.
Meanwhile, León has been looking for a replacement for top scorer Víctor Dávila who left Liga MX for CSKA Moscow last month.
In addition, “La Fiera” traded midfield playmaker Jesús Angulo to Toluca so coach Nicolás Larcamón is in need of offensive threats, a requirement that “Diente” can be expected to match.
As for Angulo, his acquisition was a specific request from coach Ignacio Ambriz who wanted to improve the flow of play through midfield, an ability that Toluca has lacked of late as the Diablos have relied on wing play to generate offense.
Elsewhere, América saw its plans to sell off defender Néstor Araujo take a wrong turn. The 31-year-old back-liner picked up a knock while on Leagues Cup duty though initial reports suggest it is a minor muscle strain.
If the injury proves to be more serious, the deal the Aguilas were negotiating with AEK Athens is likely to collapse. The Greek club was looking to add a third Mexican to its locker room which is managed by former Chivas coach Matías Almeyda.
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Orbelín Pineda joined Athens ahead of last season and contributed 10 goals as the “Yellow-Blacks” won the league title. Rodolfo Pizarro won a Liga MX title under Almeyda back in 2017 and he was acquired just last month.