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Apertura Liguilla Preview: Saturday’s Quarterfinals
The Liguilla kicks-off this Saturday with two extremely balanced quarterfinal encounters and no clear favorites. First, Cruz Azul and Pumas battle it out in a great rivalry of Mexican football. While Tigres and Atlante hope to overturn their negative home and away regular season records in the second match of the night.
Nov 21, 2008 9:23:14 AM
The quarterfinal round of the Torneo Apertura 2008 features a two-leg aggregate-score series between the top eight teams of the regular season.
The encounters are adjusted based on table position, with the first seed facing the eight; second against the seventh; third against the sixth; and fourth against the fifth seed.
Different to other “tie” formats used for the playoff phase, the away goals rule is not utilized.
Instead, a spot in the top five of classification during regular season is rewarded with closing the series at home and the advantage to advance in case of a draw in the aggregate-score.
First Leg
Saturday, 22 of November
17:00 Cruz Azul - Pumas
19:00 Tigres - Atlante
Cruz Azul - Pumas
The Liguilla kicks-off with a great México City rivalry and the most even match of the quarterfinals, when Cruz Azul host visiting Pumas.
How They Arrive
This match will be further balanced since it features the fifth, Cruz Azul, against the sixth, Pumas, qualified team in the general table.
At the end of the regular season, both sides finished in the top spots of Group 2 with 26 points each. Pumas finished as group leader with a three goal difference, while the Cementeros had to settle with the second spot.
They faced each other in the Jornada 12 and Cruz Azul earned a 2-0 away victory at Pumas.
In last week’s action, Cruz Azul thrashed Jaguares 4-1 with an inspired performance by Paraguayan forward, Pablo Zeballos, who netted a hat-trick. In turn, the Universitarios suffered a 1-0 away defeat to Monterrey in an encounter in which Pumas left much to be desired on the offensive end.
Cruz Azul
The Cementeros will want to improve on last seasons second place finish.
They have a hegemony over Pumas in the past league matches, with seven victories out of the last 10 encounters.
Despite the dominance, Cruz Azul is obligated to make the most out of their home field because if they want to advance they need to be superior in the aggregate-score of the series.
For their benefit, La Máquina were the second highest scoring team at the end of the regular season with 29 goals.
Pumas
The Universitarios were the strongest defense of the campaign and they have to demonstrate why they only conceded 13 goals in 17 matches.
Ricardo Ferretti’s team have the slight advantage based on position in the table, which means that any draw would benefit the university side and will advance them to the semifinal round of the Liguilla.
The Match
With a slight advantage, Pumas will probably sit back and defend as the away side from this match and take home a favorable score for the second leg.
But they must be cautious because Cruz Azul counts with dangerous and effective strikers that can score on any chance they get.
Tigres - Atlante
The second quarterfinal match of Saturday night will take place in Nuevo León, when Tigres receive the Potros of Atlante.
How They Arrive
Atlante have the regulatory advantage for finishing in the third spot of overall classification, while Tigres finished in the sixth spot. Other than that, the irregular results and performances cannot be indicative to determine a clear favorite to take the series.
In group play, the Cancún side finished at the top of the first group with 27 points. For their part, the Felinos occupied the third slot of the third group with 26 units.
Their head-to-head encounter of the Jornada 6 ended with a 1-0 home win in favor of Tigres.
Tigres
The Felinos took the regular season match at home against Atlante, but their home numbers were dismal and they ended the Torneo as the second worst home team with only three wins from nine home matches. However, Manuel Lapuente’s side were the best team on the road with four victories and one defeat.
Manuel Lapuente has a curriculum that is far superior in both titles and experience than his counterpart. Lapuente has a coaching career that extends almost 30 years and is highlighted by his numerous Liguilla participations with Necaxa and América. He is known for his defensive-minded formations.
Atlante
In contrast, the Potros suffered in away matches and only managed mid-table numbers, but they were the second best home squad with five victories and only one defeat.
Atlante coach José Guadalupe Cruz, is a young Mexican manager from the ‘Lavolpista’ school which emphasizes ball possession and vertical football. His advantage is having earned the most recent championship in the Torneo Apertura 2007 with Atlante.
The Match
Similar to the previous quarterfinal match, both sides have league leading numbers in opposing areas that should make it an interesting and even encounter.
The coaching match-up will also be an interesting and a key ingredient to the quarterfinal series.
Due to the strengths that each side demonstrated during the regular season, the first leg will probably not be as decisive as the second match of the series.
Tigres must earn a favorable result from home where they have struggled, and will depend on inspired performances by Lucas Lobos and Guillermo Marino to take any advantage from the first leg.
Atlante is famous for proposing their attacking style on any pitch, but their loss to Tigres during the season will probably prevent them from risking too much and will wait to resolve the series at home in the second match.
-- César García covers México for Goal.com.
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