2020 Liga MX in Review – The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
2020 has been an incredibly tough year for everyone in the world. The global pandemic has affected our everyday life and the sports world has not been immune to the effects of Covid.
Liga MX had to cut their Clausura 2020 tournament short in May due to worsening conditions in Mexico. Play eventually resumed in July but this time in empty stadiums with teams taking precautions to prevent more Covid spread.
Even with the a global pandemic, Liga MX roared on and provided much needed entertainment for Liga MX fans around the world. As 2020 comes to an end, we’ll review what was the good, the bad and the ugly of this crazy 2020 season.
The Good
Leon
Nacho Ambriz led an ambitious Leon team that led the league table with 40 points and only lost once in regular season play. Once the playoffs began, Los Panzas Verdes were surprisingly challenged in their first matchup against Puebla but quickly regrouped to play on against Chivas.
In their semifinal matchup, Leon did something that America could only dream of and stifled the Guadalajara attack. Leon was able to move on to face Pumas in the Finals.
Pumas had made history coming back from a 4-0 deficit against Cruz Azul (more on that later) and had plenty of momentum behind them to take on Leon. After a tight first leg, Leon took care of business at home with a convincing 2-0 win to take home their 8th league title and their first one since Rafa Marquez led them to back to back wins in 2013-14.
League MVP Luis “Chapito” Montes” scored 4 goals and gave 4 assists on route to the championship. Montes has long been declared by pundits, and even national team manager Tata Martino, as the best Mexican player in Liga MX, but Montes has stated that he has retired from national team duty.
Tigres vs LAFC
The 2020 edition of the Concacaf Champions League Final presented us with an incredible matchup between the Liga MX team of the last decade Tigres and 2019 Community Shield winners LAFC and its Mexican superstar Carlos Vela. Tigres were hoping to avenge its previous 3 losses in CCCL Finals, the most recent being the 2019 loss against cross-town rival Monterrey.
LAFC dominated much of the match, playing elegantly and employing a constant press that forced Tigres into their own half for much of the game. Diego Rossi opened the score midway through the second half, but the Uruguayan’s goal was the catalyst for the Tigres offense to wake up and score twice in the last 20 minutes of the game. Los Felinos managed to seal their first ever Concacaf Champions League title and booked a ticket to the Club World Cup in Qatar set in February.
LAFC shouldn’t hang their head low as they defeated some of the best of what Liga MX has to offer on their way to the final. The black and gold were the first MLS team to defeat three Liga MX teams in successive fashion in any tournament. This is a testament that even though MLS is still a few notches below Liga MX in terms of the level of play, MLS will soon be able to compete at the same level.
Los Tres “Chicotasos”
In their lone regular-season meeting of 2020 Club America defeated Chivas 1-0 with a spectacular goal from Gio Dos Santos. All throughout the Guard1anes season, Chivas dealt with indiscipline from its players, a new head coach, and at times lackadaisical playing on the pitch.
Also, JJ Macias and Alexis Vega were scheduled to be out for most of the playoffs due to injuries. So it was no surprise that Chivas was viewed as the underdog coming into their quarterfinal matchup against Las Aguilas.
On the other hand, America had qualified for the playoffs, coming in third in the tournament and were regaining Nico Benedetti from injury. It was supposed to be a matchup filled with fireworks from both teams but ultimately it was only Mexico’s most popular team that would end up celebrating.
Chicote Calderon would take center stage by scoring only not one, not two, but three absolute bangers from outside the box against Guillermo Ochoa. The first goal from Calderon came towards the end of the first leg of the quarterfinal matchup where Chicote controlled a bad clearance from America’s Emanuel Aguilera and launched a left-footed rocket that bypassed Ochoa. The next 2 goals were nearly identical in quality and positioning as Calderon again shot from outside the area and left Ochoa stunned.
Even though Chivas would go on to be eliminated in the semifinals, the memory and joy of crushing their arch rivals in the “Liguilla” will leave Chivas satisfied and looking forward to what else is to come in 2021.
Pumas
By far the biggest surprise of the Guard1anes 2020 tournament has to go to Pumas UNAM. A team whose head coach left the team mere days before the tournament started, Pumas was not projected to make a lot of noise let alone get to the finals of the tournament. Yet, Pumas prevailed and with interim head coach Andres Illini lead the team from Mexico City to 38 points, good enough for second place in the league table.
In the playoffs, Pumas easily dispatched Pachuca and moved to face title contender Cruz Azul. The first leg turned into a nightmare for Pumas when La Maquina dismantled Puma’s defense by giving up 3 goals in the first 15 minutes of the game and losing by a total of 4-0.
All hope seemed lost for the second leg and with Cruz Azul knowing that Pumas needed at least four goals to go through to the finals, La Maquina played a conservative game. Pumas would not go down without a fight and scored 4 times without an answer from Cruz Azul. A Cruzazuleada was in full effect (more on that later) and Pumas would end up going through to the finals against Leon due to being a higher seed.
Will Pumas get back to finals in 2021? It’s doubtful. Especially with teams such as Tigres poaching key players such as the Paraguayan Carlos Gonzales. No one expected Pumas to get to the Finals in 2020 so the verdict is and with Pumas, you can never count them out until the very end.
The Bad
America vs LAFC
On the night Canelo Alvarez was set to defend his the WBA and vacant WBC super-middleweight titles against Callum Smith in San Antonio, Texas another fight was happening a few hundred miles away in Orlando, Florida.
After a hard fought and tense first half, America was leading 1-0 over LAFC in the semifinals of the Concacaf Champions League. After a rough tackle to end the half, Luis Reyes exchanged some words with the LAFC assistants and it’s head coach Bob Bradley. Soon players from both teams got involved and it wouldn’t be long until former Mexico head coach Piojo Herrera got involved.
Herrera somehow went face to face against an LAFC assistant and grabbed the assistant by the back of his hair. The LAFC assistant retaliated and punched Herrera near his left eye. Ultimately, El Piojo was kicked out of the match and had to be escorted far away from his team while still giving instructions from the bleachers.
This was an embarrassing and sad display for one of Mexico’s more storied and popular teams. America had not improved their level of play after a spiritless second leg at the hands of Atlanta United and were now facing off against a disciplined LAFC team and it’s superstar Carlos Vela. Ultimately, Vela would finish off Club America by scoring twice in the second half ending America’s tumultuous 2020.
On a low note, the humiliating defeats against LAFC and Chivas along with Piojo’s antics proved too much for Club America owner who would later sack Miguel Herrera from Coapa. 2021 will most likely mean a rebuilding year for a Club America that will need to retool its team and get back to their 2018 title-winning glory.
The Ugly
La Cruzazuleada
Death, taxes and apparently La Cruzazuleada. It’s been close to 25 years since Cruz Azul has won a league title and they will have to wait at least a few more months until the curse can be broken.
Where did it go wrong for Cruz Azul in 2020? La Maquina was riding high from a 4-0 defeat of Pumas in the first first leg semifinal. Cruz Azul’s offense was flying high and they had virtually assured their spot in the finals and a chance to break their curse.
It was certainly not Sebastian Jurado’s fault at goal. Was it Robert Siboldi’s coaching and timid approach to the game? It was all inexplicable as most Cruz Azuleadas are but this Cruzazuleada was the most disappointing. I’d even dare to say that it was more disappointing than the 2013 loss at the hands of America. At least in that final Cruz Azul fought and clawed and lost in a once in a lifetime way.
In 2020, La Maquina gave up four goals when they needed only one goal to seal Pumas’ fate. It’s embarrassing for one of Mexico’s top teams to constantly get in their own way of glory and continue this prolonged suffering of their fans and players. Cruz Azul will need to be better mentally in order to win their first championship since the last century.
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