The ball gets rolling this weekend on another season of Liga MX action.
This year, fans can enjoy an extra week of matches, with the competition expanding to 18 teams. There will be 19 rounds of action, with each team having a bye week some time during the season. Week one gets off and running with enticing contests like America hosting Monterrey and Chivas traveling to meet Santos, but let’s take a more broad look at what to expect from the 2019 Apertura.
The biggest question heading into the season is whether Tigres can defend its crown. Tuca Ferretti once again engineered a late push for a run to the Liga MX title, adding a seventh to the trophy case and sparking another round of the interminable debate about whether the club should be included as a ‘grande’ - one of Mexico’s four biggest clubs historically.
Either way, Tigres are going to be looking to repeat as champion, something only Pumas and Leon have been able to do in history. It won’t be easy. The club essentially stood pat this offseason - understandable with a squad as deep as Tigres’ coming off a championship. Up front, Andre-Pierre Gignac, Enner Valencia, Eduardo Vargas and Luis Quinones all return. At the back, Carlos Salcedo, Hugo Ayala, Nahuel Guzman and Jorge Torres Nilo remain. At least, that’s the case for now. Valencia, Vargas and Salcedo all were the subject of transfer speculation this summer, as was winger Jurgen Damm.
It may not be sexy, but Ferretti knows how to get results out of his teams. Tigres will be one of the favorites on paper, but there is no doubt it will be the most hunted team all tournament.
The chief hunter is right on Tigres’ tail, with Monterrey only a few miles south of El Volcan. Rayados got the better of their rivals in the Concacaf Champions League, but a league title still eludes Diego Alonso’s squad. They’ve been linked with big-time names from Lukas Podolski to Vincent Janssen in the offseason - something Tigres fans deride as a fruitless search to find their own Gignac - but no “bombazos” have arrived thus far. That said, when you have Rodolfo Pizarro pulling the strings for an attack that includes Rogelio Funes Mori, Aviles Hurtado and Dorlan Pabon, plus a midfield with Carlos Rodriguez, Celso Ortiz and Jonathan Gonzalez and one of the league’s stingiest back lines, do you need a player with European experience?
America also will look to topple Tigres. Miguel Herrera’s squad signed Giovani dos Santos after selling Oribe Peralta and are looking forward to seeing how the former Mexico international and LA Galaxy attacker fits in once he’s match fit and used to his teammates. The midfield may be a concern with Edson Alvarez likely headed to Ajax and Guido Rodriguez also a transfer target. Herrera’s teams are rarely poor at the back, though, and Las Aguilas likely will contend as well.
Their roommates at Estadio Azteca, Cruz Azul, are still trying to add attacking depth but brought in versatile midfielder Guillermo Fernandez from Racing and defender Juan Escobar fro Cerro Porteno. Pedro Caixinha will hope it’s enough to get his team into the playoffs for a third consecutive season and challenge for a first title in more than two decades.
That appears to be a full list of candidates, with neither Guadalajara team entering the discussion. The debate has been raging for the past several tournaments, but there’s no doubt Mexican football supremacy is found in either Mexico City or Monterrey. That leaves out Guadalajara, a once proud footballing city. But Chivas’ struggles over the last several tournaments are well known and Atlas hasn’t been able to find its footing, even with new faces in the front office.
Atlas now has an entirely new ownership group, with Santos Laguna owners Grupo Orlegi stepping in and bringing in players like former Santos players Jesus Angulo, Martin Nervo and Javier Correa. It’s only the first season with the new group, but the Foxes will want to signal they’re headed in the right direction.
Across town at the Estadio Akron, Chivas need to have a good tournament not only to signal progress but also to avoid relegation. The Goats enter the season in the penultimate place in the relegation table. The all-Mexican club needs contributions from the veterans it signed in the summer, with 35-year-old forward Oribe Peralta, 30-year-old center back Oswaldo Alanis and 25-year-old Antonio Briseno arriving in this window.
Last year, Leon came out of nowhere to stun Mexican football, running away with first place in the regular season and making it all the way to the final before falling short against Tigres. Nacho Ambriz’s team was well-positioned to make a run with an improved defense and breakout tournaments from both attacker Angel Mena and forward Jose Juan Macias.
Despite setting the record for consecutive wins in Mexican soccer, the club still flew under the radar most of last season, leaving open the possibility that the Apertura’s Leon will be … Leon. Far from selling off the majority of contributors last season, the team instead went out and got winger Ismael Sosa and forward Leonardo Ramos to add even more depth to its attack.
Pachuca also has retooled, bringing in a handful of players from abroad to supplement a young core that includes midfielder Victor Guzman, forward Victor Davila and Mexico U-20 standouts Roberto de la Rosa and Francisco Figueroa - plus Colombia international Edwin Cardona whose nine assists last season put him one off the league lead.
Tijuana also could be in the mix, with coach Oscar Pareja now having a full season under his belt. He also will have a number of reinforcements, including forward Camilo Sanvezzo - who replaced Gustavo Bou after the Argentine’s move to the New England Revolution - wing options Mauro Lainez, Angel Sepulveda and defenders Vladimir Lorna and Jordan Silva. Leonel Miranda joins from Defensa y Justicia after a strong season in Argentina as well.
Queretaro added Liga MX experience with its signings, getting winger Fabian Castillo and forward Alonso Escoboza from Tijuana, center back Jair Pereira from Chivas, midfielder Clifford Aboagye from Atlas. They’ll need to get goals from someone other than Camilo, who moved to Xolos as part of the swap, but have an experienced guide in manager Victor Vucetich.
We’ve known Vucetich for years and years, but there are a pair of new faces as well. Thanks to one of Liga MX’s many quirks, there are two new teams in the league for the Clausura. There’s Atletico San Luis, promoted thanks to its sporting merit, and FC Juarez, which replaces the team formerly known as Lobos BUAP.
Fans in both cities have been waiting for returns to the first division for quite some time, and it should be fun to watch them enjoy having Liga MX matches in town once again. On the field? Atletico was a dynamo in the second division, twice denying Diego Maradona’s Dorados the title as it won both short seasons and went up. It has wasted little time in reloading, bringing in a handful of loanees from part-owners Atletico Madrid who should contribute plus signing Ricardo Centurion from Racing as one of several Argentines of renown arriving in the colonial city.
The football connections aren’t as deep for Juarez, but Liga MX veterans like Joaquin Esquivel and Angelo Sagal reinforce a team with a heavy Brazilian influence. Whether or not the South American imports can blend well with the Mexicans in the ranks to find success remains to be seen, but there at least will be some exciting new road trips for traveling fans this tournament. Fans hope new destinations aren’t the only things that bring excitement this season. Judging from past Liga MX seasons, they have nothing to worry about. It should be another campaign filled with twists and turns and the wild moments we see in nearly every campaign.
Let’s get the ball rolling.
