Similar to when you take a few days off work and come back to an endless email waterfall in your inbox, having no clue what happened in the office, whether Ken from accounting processed your paycheck or not, or what happened to the project you delegated to thenew intern, Liga MX is back after the FIFA international window and we’re here to fill you in on what you missed out.
Before teams around the world took a break so their players could take part in FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Club América infamously led the Mexican championship. Facing intense media scrutiny for the ‘Azulcrema’ playing style not being offensive enough, manager Santiago Solari and those under his tutelage showed a strong defensive shape and produced just enough offensive spark to remain unbeaten at the top.
With Juárez at the bottom and Chivas somewhere in between, with Santos Laguna and Monterrey also not knowing what it means to lose, and with Querétaro barely remembering how to score, it’s time to get back into Liga MX action. There are still 11 games to be played in the regular season, and as tradition dictates, most squads can still qualify for the Liguilla ‘Reclasificación’ and playoffs. Here’s where everybody left off:
Club América
- League position: 1st, with 17 points (5 wins, 2 draws, 0 losses).
- Last 3 games: León 1-1 América, América 2-0 Xolos, Juárez 1-2 América
- Next 3 games: @Mazatlán, (Interrupted by the second leg of the Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League (SCCL) semifinal against Philadelphia Union) @Toluca, vs. Chivas.
- Best player thus far: Pedro Aquino. Serving as the perfect link between a stern defense andthe forward line, the Peruvian midfielder has settled right into the starting eleven in his first season as an ‘Águila’, starting all seven games and being voted Man of the Match for his performance against ‘Los Esmeralda’.
- Coming up: A visit to the ‘Estadio Kraken’ in Sinaloa, where América will face a Mazatlán side probably eager to get back at them for the missed transfer of Nicolás Benedetti, whose high salary was the main obstacle to his signing, according to several Mexican media outlets.
- Good news: Defense. Santiago Solari’s side might not be the most entertaining, but allowing a mere three goals has allowed los ‘Azulcrema’ to rise to the top of the league.
- Bad news: The SCCL game against the Union might be disruptive for starters’ fitness if they’re required to wrap up the 2-0 score achieved in the first leg.
Omar Fernández has been the shining light of Leon’s attack. He recently arrived from Puebla (Getty Images). Veteran Rubens Sambueza is Toluca’s most dangerous player, in spite of being 37 years old (Getty Images). Diego Valdés first arrived to Mexico to play for Morelia, but has since become a leading figure at Santos Laguna (Getty Images). Julián Quiñones is enjoying life in Guadalajara after recently becoming an Atlas player (Getty Images). Víctor Guzmán is one of manager Paulo Pezzolano’s strongest players, showing his worth during the Grita México A21 (Getty Images). After 11 years as Tigres manager, Ricardo Ferretti is now at the helm of FC Juárez, who sit bottom of Liga MX (Getty Images).
