2019 Apertura Round 2 preview
Round One of the 2019 Apertura is in the history books. Although it is early in the season, it gave us enough to foreshadow who could hoist the trophy at the end of the tournament.
Cruz Azul vs. Toluca
La Maquina Cementera visited Estadio Victoria in the first round of the tournament hoping to have the same result they did in Carson, defeating Necaxa 4-0. Not only did they not dominate the first week in a game that ended in a scoreless draw, but were down 10-men by the 72nd minute of play. Cruz Azul is coming off a 2-0 win over Chicago Fire in the Leagues Cup on Tuesday and is hoping to carry that momentum forward as they get set to host Toluca.
Los Diablos Rojos are looking to put their disappointing loss against a surprising Queretaro behind them and earn their first three points of the tournament. Ricardo La Volpe’s men will look to take advantage of La Maquina’s third game in a week to get their first three points.
Tijuana vs. Queretaro
Los Gallos Blancos who only won three games all of last season opened up the tournament with a bang! They dominated Toluca by controlling the ball 55 percent of the time, taking 17 shots on goal with nine on target, and scoring both of their goals in seven minutes to get the three points. It’s too early to tell if Queretaro improved that much more in the offseason or if Toluca is still struggling. The sure thing is that Queretaro looked like a much different team. They will have their hands full this weekend as they get set to visit Estadio Caliente.
Tijuana is coming off a 3-1 dominating performance over Puebla in the first round but will hope to forget their elimination of the League’s Cup earlier this week. The game will be their third in a week and will wish to keep the momentum going forward.
Chivas vs. Tigres
One of the biggest teams in Mexico has not won a game since June 14th. Las Chivas del Guadalajara started the 2019 Clausura 3-0-0, but are 0-0-6 since their last win and have played four games in a week. They will be resting for the first time in two weeks and have a chance to prepare for their opponent. Despite their loss to Santos Laguna in the opening round, Tomas Boy seems very optimistic about his team as he gets his men prepared to face the reigning champions. He praised his side’s performance in the first 40 minutes for not allowing Santos to knock on their door. He acknowledged that those individual mistakes in the second half should not happen, emphasizing that he has a great team, and most importantly, he’s happy with them. Ultimately, stating that their loss in their first game is something they will learn from moving forward.
For their part, the reigning champions Tigres UANL did not skip a beat. After losing the Copa de Campeones to America, they managed to defeat Monarcas 4-2 in the opening round. The reigning champions are coming off a 1-0 win over Real Salt Lake to advance to the Leagues Cup semi-finals. Coming into Sunday’s matchup, Tigres are favored to take the three points, leaving Guadalajara a mere 30 percent chance to draw. Chivas will look to upset the reigning champions at home and win their first game in over a month.
Leon vs. Club America
The best regular-season team of the Clausura opened up their tournament with a dominating 3-1 win over Pachuca. Coming into this game, Leon will have their hands full as they get set to host the Campeon de Campeones, Las Aguilas del America. The team that resides in the Mexican Capital have had a great week. They opened up their tournament with a 4-2 victory over Monterrey. Plus, they advanced to the semi-finals of the Leagues Cup after defeating Houston Dynamo with Giovanni Dos Santos scoring the winning penalty.
The last time these two teams faced-off was back in May during the Clausura semi-finals where after two games they ended in a 1-1 draw. Due to league rules, Leon advanced due to their place in the regular-season standings.
Round Two of the 2019 Apertura should give us plenty to talk about in the coming week.
