Liga MX Countdown Day #1: Round One Preview
The start of a new season for Liga MX is upon us as the 2019 Apertura tournament gets underway tomorrow. We are coming off a tournament where Tigres crowned themselves Champions for the 7th time in their history. One of Mexico’s most prominent teams, Guadalajara, is on the verge of being relegated and Club America who has been one of the best teams in the league in the last decade has improved much better on paper.
The Apertura kicks off with Xolo’s visiting Puebla at Estadio Cuauhtémoc. Puebla ended last season 10th in the standings after a 1-2-2 record in their first five games. They will look to get off to a better start when they host Club Tijuana who finished two spots above them in the table. Xolos began the season 2-0-3 but managed to secure the last entry in La Liguilla. Ultimately, falling to the best regular-season team, Leon in the quarterfinals. Both sides will look to improve on their past performances and hope to be one of the final eight teams at the end of the season.
Las Aguilas del America came in as the favorites last season. With many new reinforcements to replace their young prospect Diego Lainez, many expected it would improve their style of play. Even after the rough start to their season, America was able to finish fifth in the standings. Las Aguilas’ season came to an end in the semi-finals at the hands of Leon. Due to the positioning in the standings, America was sent home despite the home-and-away series finishing tied a one all. Miguel Herrera’s team is coming off defeating the 2019 Clausura Champions Tigres, in the Campeon de Campeones in penalties. They made a big splash this off-season by signing Giovani dos Santos; who has not played since the 2018 MLS season. Gio is expected to make his debut no earlier than the 2-3rd game of the season as they tried to get his football rhythm back. America will host Rayados who were unbeaten in the first ten games of the season. Monterrey ended third in the standings before losing to Tigres in the Clasico Regiomontano showdown that took place the Liguilla semi-finals. Los Rayados will look to begin this season similar to last and hope to finish as the best team of the tournament.
Los Rayos del Necaxa are coming off a disappointing performance in their 0-4 loss to La Maquina Cementera in the Super Copa MX final this past weekend. Necaxa skipper, Guillermo Vazquez, cited that his team is not in rhythm to fight against a team like Cruz Azul. He added that they need more work with their new reinforcements and their complete team. Vasquez also said that they still need a lot more work to do defensively and offensively before opening up the tournament against the same opponent. Cruz Azul did not have the start they wanted to last season with many early struggles especially after making it to the championship the prior season. Even so, they managed to keep their composure and finished fourth in the standings eventually losing to no other than Las Aguilas. La Maquina hopes to have a better start and finish to their season this year and forget that Club America has ended their season the last two tournaments.
Round One of the 2019 Apertura will be capped off with Santos Laguna hosting Las Chivas de Guadalajara. Santos didn’t perform up to their standard last season winning just six games, one better than Guadalajara. In their previous matchup, Santos took home the three points giving Chivas their first loss of the season after having started the season 3-0-0. Guadalajara lost six of their last seven games to end the season and are on the verge of relegation. Tomas Boy will count on a couple of reinforcements to help them get the results needed. They brought back Oribe Peralta (formerly played with them on loan) and Pollo Briseño who had a quick stint in Europe. The start of a new season is a much needed fresh start for both teams as they have nowhere else to go but up.
