Liga MX 2020 playoffs final has been set after a couple of semi-finals full of emotions and surprises for the fourth teams involved in the duels. Now, we're about to see the best match we could have wished for at the start of the postseason between the 1st and 2nd team in the regular-season standings, Club León and Pumas UNAM.
León took care of Chivas Guadalajara on Saturday while Pumas returned from a 4-0 deficit against Cruz Azul, beating them with the same result at home, advancing to the final thanks to their position in the general scoreboard. These two teams are ready to go for the glory to finish a season with a lot of surprises and plenty of emotions.
Liga MX 2020 playoffs preview
Liga MX 2020 playoffs are here with a couple of changes to give fans more exciting games. This decision was made amid the coronavirus pandemic that affected Mexican football and caused the cancelation of the first tournament of the year. Here, you will find everything there is to know about the new format, the schedule, the qualification round and the brackets.
Instead of the 8-team Liguilla that had been implemented in the last decade, the league will have an additional qualification round with eight teams trying to make it to the last-eight stage, where the top-4 will be waiting.
Monterrey have left the title vacant after their victory in December of 2019. Now the title is up for grabs after the play-in games. Eight teams will try to put their hands on the trophy, especially from Club León, who were nearly unbeatable during the regular season.
Liga MX 2020 Playoffs New Format
For the first time since 2008, 12 teams will be part of the big party. Teams seeded one through four in the regular season leaderboard will directly head into the playoff quarter-finals. The rest of the teams, from five through twelve will play a preliminary round to earn a spot in the quarter-finals.
Liga MX 2020 Playoffs Schedule And How To Watch
Eight teams will play in the first stage of the playoffs, starting Saturday 21 of November. The highest-ranked two will host the other teams and the winner will be defined in a single game. If the games end in a draw, we’ll have a penalty shoot-out to see which team is going to play in the next stage.
Play-in match #1 - Saturday, November 21 at 8:00 PM (ET)
How to watch or live stream in the U.S.: Foxsports.com, Fox Soccer Plus, FOX Deportes
Play-in match #2 - Saturday, November 21 at 10:10 PM (ET)
How to watch or live stream in the U.S.: Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, UNIVERSO, Telemundo
Play-in match #3 - Sunday, November 22 at 8:00 PM (ET)
How to watch or live stream in the U.S.: TUDN.com, TUDN USA, TUDN App
Play-in match #4 - Sunday, November 22 at 10:10 PM (ET)
How to watch or live stream in the U.S. Foxsports.com, Fox Sports 1, FOX Deportes
Liga MX 2020 Playoffs Quarter-finals
The first round of the playoffs is already completed. Pachuca had no mercy against Santos Laguna, beating them by 0-3 on Saturday. Chivas took advantage of their home stadium and earned a big win over Necaxa. Tigres had a harder job than expected against Toluca, beating them by 2-1 at home on Sunday. Puebla shocked Monterrey, at home, winning them via penalty shoot-out and now will have the job to beat the regular-season leaders León.
Puebla (2) vs (1) León - first leg match - Wednesday, 25 November at 8:00 PM (ET)
Chivas (1) vs (0) América - first leg match - Wednesday, 25 November at 10:00 PM (ET)
Tigres UANL (1) vs (3) Cruz Azul - first leg match - Thursday, 26 November at 8:00 PM (ET)
Pachuca (0) vs (1) Pumas UNAM - first leg match - Thursday, 26 November at 10:00 PM (ET)
Liga MX 2020 Playoffs Quarter-finals second leg
León vs Puebla - Saturday, 28 November at 8:00 PM (ET)
How to watch or live stream in the U.S.: TUDN App, Univision NOW, TUDN USA, Univision, TUDN.com
Chivas vs América - Saturday, 28 November at 10:06 PM (ET)
How to watch or live stream in the U.S.: TUDN.com, Univision NOW, TUDN App, TUDN USA, Univision
Pumas UNAM vs Pachuca - Sunday, 29 November at 1:00 PM (ET)
How to watch or live stream in the U.S.: TUDN App, TUDN.com, TUDN USA
Tigres UANL vs Cruz Azul - Sunday, 29 November at 7:30 PM (ET)
How to watch or live stream in the U.S.: TUDN.com, TUDN App, TUDN USA
Liga MX 2020 Playoffs Semi-Finals
After four electrifying quarter-final series, the Liga MX 2020 playoffs semi-finals have been defined. Club León could complete the comeback against Puebla, beating them by 2-0 at home. Chivas confirmed their participation in this stage with a 1-2 win as visitors over their archrivals América.
Pumas held tight to their 1-0 advantage and after a goalless draw against Pachuca, signed their name on the semi-finals list. Meanwhile, Cruz Azul lost against Tigre by 1-0 at home, but that wasn't enough to eliminate La Maquina.
The semi-finals of the tournament will be played from 2nd to 6th of December.
León vs Chivas - First Leg - Wednesday, 2 December at 10:05 PM (ET)
Pumas vs Cruz Azul - First Leg - Thursday, 3 December at 10:00 PM (ET)
Liga MX 2020 Playoffs Semi-Finals second leg
León vs Chivas - Saturday, 5 December at 10:00 PM (ET)
How to watch in the U.S.: Univision, TUDN USA, TUDN App, Univision NOW, TUDN.com
Pumas vs Cruz Azul - Sunday, 6 December at 7:30 PM (ET)
How to watch in the U.S.: TUDN.com, Univision NOW, TUDN App, TUDN USA, Univision
Liga MX 2020 Playoffs Grand Final
Pumas vs León - First leg - Thursday, 10 November at 10:00 PM ET at Estadio Olímpico
León vs Pumas - Second Leg - Sunday, 13 November at 9:30 PM ET at Nou Camp
Liga MX 2020 Playoffs Qualification
This year’s liguilla will feature 12 teams. The first four teams on the regular-season leaderboard will qualify directly to the quarter-finals. Eight teams will define the other four in the play-in tournament.
5th seed will play 12th seed, 6th seed will face 11th seed, 7th seed will clash with 10th seed and 8th seed will see 10th seed in this first round.
Liga MX 2020 Playoff Bracket
Then, the winners of the preliminaries will be seeded into the liguilla playoffs based on their results in addition to their ranking on the regular-season leaderboard.
Once quarter-finals are completed, each winner will advance to the semis and then the finals.
Liga MX 2020 playoffs rules
- The team with more goals on aggregate after two matches with an opponent advances.
- The away goals rule is applied in the quarterfinals and semifinals, but not the final.
- In the quarterfinals and semifinals, if the two teams are tied on aggregate and away goals, the higher-seeded team in the leaderboard advances.
- In the final, if the two teams are tied after both legs, the match goes to extra time and if necessary, a penalty shoot-out will be employed to declare a winner.
