Last round of Guard1anes 2021: What’s at stake for the Liguilla

With the last week of Liga MX coming up this week, it is important to analyze what’s at stake.

It is estimated that the impact of the pandemic to the Mexican Soccer Federation amounts to losses of 1,400 million dollars. Due to Covid, there was no champion in the Clausura 2020, however, the next tournament (Guard1anes Apertura 2020) Leon won the title 2-1 to Pumas. Now in this 2021 we will see if Leon manages to defend the title or if we will have a new winner. The return of the fans to the stands is finally coming in at perfect timing for the closing of the Guard1anes 2021 Clausura.

Last Monday, Pachuca beat Santos and still has a chance to pass to the next round, as the only ones eliminated so far are Atletico de San Luis, FC Juarez and Necaxa.

Cruz Azul and America are the only ones with direct pass to qualify directly for the quarterfinals. The top 4 teams qualify directly into the quarterfinals while the “repechaje” is played for the remaining 8. Cruz Azul is in the top spot with 40 points and equaled it´s record for points made in short tournaments, while America, after its defeat in Toluca, remains in second position. The last two direct places to the quarterfinals are still in dispute, with Puebla and Monterrey actually located in third and fourth of the table, but Santos and Leon can still fight for those direct passes.

Nine teams are still in pursuit for a liguilla spot. For now, Toluca, Atlas, Chivas, Tigres, Queretaro and Mazatlan are the ones that would play “repechaje” games. While, Pachuca, Tijuana and Pumas are waiting for the stumbling of their rivals to sneak into the top 12. Here the most complicated scenario belongs to Pumas. They are forced to win against archrival America, but they also depend on whether Mazatlan or Queretaro lose and both Tijuana and Pachuca must lose or draw.

The “repechaje” duels will be played on the following Saturday and Sunday, with direct elimination and the home team being the one that was positioned best in the table.

At the moment the path to the title would be carried out as below:

The schedule for the last round is as follows:

Thursday April 29:

Atlético de San Luis vs Pachuca

Friday April 30:

Necaxa vs Atlas

Juarez vs Toluca

Saturday May 1:

Chivas vs Tigres

Leon vs Queretaro

Cruz Azul vs Tijuana

Monterrey vs Mazatlan

Sunday May 2:

Santos vs Puebla

Pumas vs America

Additionally, for those keeping tabs, the goalscorers table is as follows going into the last week: