Chivas, Leon Square Off for a Shot at the 2020 Liga MX Guard1anes Final
Leon will visit Chivas at Akron Stadium to kick off the first leg of their Semi-final matchup. Chivas arrives to the semi-finals after having defeated archrival America in the previous round, while Leon managed to get by an inspired Puebla to reach the semi’s.
Leon to many is the clear favorite, not just for this matchup but to win the tournament outright. The team from Guanajuato finished the season in first place, 8 points clear of second place. It shouldn’t come as a surprise as well that Leon is the team that received the fewest goals during the season (tied with Pachuca) at only 14 goals. With that said, Chivas will have to outplay themselves for two games to get past Leon.
The silver lining here for Chivas is that beating Leon at this stage is possible: Puebla did it for the first leg of their matchup. Of course, we all know what happened the following game, but previous to the loss, los Panzas Verdes were undefeated in 14 games. Although for Chivas, beating Leon is possible, unfortunately, they will be coming into this series somewhat handicapped. They’ll be without Isaac Brizuela after the midfielder tested positive for Covid-19. Guadalajara also have strikers JJ Macias, Alexis Vega and Angel Zaldivar in questionable status for the first matchup. Without their strikers, Chivas will once again have to rely on veteran Oribe Peralta up front. El Hermoso has yet to score a goal for Chivas in regular season play this Apertura.
While on paper the matchup may seem in favor of Leon, Chivas does have momentum on their side after defeating their most hated rival. As all Liga MX fans know as well, once you’re in the Liguilla, momentum can carry you a long way. It wouldn’t be too farfetched to expect this one to be closer than the stats would suggest, especially if Chivas is able to count with any of their injured strikers.
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