Apertura 2019: New Teams, New Structure, New Owner, New Quiniela
After an exciting summer of soccer, we are now just seven days away from the start of Liga MX’s Apertura 2019.
This season, Liga MX will be played with 19 teams, after Atletico San Luis and FC Juarez both joined the league. Veracruz, who was relegated last season, was able to stay in the top flight after purchasing its spot in Liga MX by paying the $120-million-peso fee. This addition of a new team will result in a team having a bye week every week of the competition. Let’s take a closer look at the two new teams in Liga MX and your two new choices for the ETO Quinela.
Atletico San Luis returns to Liga MX after the Clausura 2013 season, which saw their predecessor San Luis FC relocate to Tuxtla Gutierrez to become Chiapas FC. They then acquired the Ascenso MX franchise of Veracruz and relocated it to San Luis for the Apertura 2013. On March 26, 2017 Atletico de Madrid announced a majority ownership of the team thus giving the them a new identity, name, and primary colors (red, white and blue), similar to their Spanish counterpart.
The Mexican “Colchoneros” won their way to Liga MX by beating Diego Maradona’s Dorados de Sinaloa in consecutive Ascenso MX Finals for promotion. Atletico has worked quickly to build a team to compete at the top level and make up for the loss of striker Nicolas Ibanez, who returns to Atletico de Madrid. Atletico San Luis signed Ricardo Centurion from Racing (Argentina) to try and fill the void left by Ibanez and will benefit from the loan of goalkeeper Axel Werner from Atletico de Madrid.
Atletico will make both their league and home debuts in Week 1 as they receive Los Pumas de la UNAM on Saturday July 20th.
FC Juarez joins Liga MX taking a less traditional route. On June 11, 2019 Juarez’ binational ownership bought the struggling Lobos BUAP franchise and relocated it to Cd. Juarez. The move not only brought soccer back to Juarez, but also made Alejandra de la Vega the 1st female owner in Liga MX.
The team has been successful in Ascenso MX, winning the 2015 title but falling to Necaxa in the promotion final.
Bravos have also worked to build a competitive team by taking on various players on loan from other Liga MX teams and by signing striker Dario Lezcano from FC Ingolstadt and his Paraguayan countryman, center-back Gustavo Velazquez.
Los Bravos will make their Liga MX debut visiting Atlas de Guadalajara on July 19th. Juarez fans will have to wait until August 4th to see their team make their home debut against Toluca.
This promises to be an amazing tournament with competition both for the top spots and in the relegation zone of the table. Atletico San Luis will start at the bottom of the relegation table along with Veracruz, while FC Juarez will inherit Lobos BUAP’s position at 14th.
