The last eight teams in Liga MX begin their battle to win the title in the ongoing tournament. After a rather unnecessary play-in stage, since the top-ranked teams made it to the playoffs after those three matches, the stage is set to watch the intensity of Liga MX's Liguilla, and it could not be any more exciting for those watching live at all the stadiums or at home.
For the first time in years, seven of the most-winning eight teams in the league will be involved in the fight for the title. This will see some nerve-wracking matches between all contenders, including some quarrels between neighboring clubs. As you may already know, the return legs for all these matches will be held between Saturday and Sunday, which makes these games even more interesting since they will have a direct influence in how the weekend's matches are played.
Without further ado, let us give you a heads up on how things will unfold this week. Remember that the first tiebreaker is the aggregate score, but in the event of a draw after both games, the regular season standings will be used to determine which team makes it through.
Liga MX - Quarter final matches (1st leg) on May 8-9, 2024
Wednesday, May 8
Guadalajara vs Toluca: The most popular team in Mexican football returns to the playoffs after ending the regular season in sixth place. The team led by Fernando Gago will be facing Toluca on Wednesday, one of the teams that fought all the regular season for the top spot, but an unfortunate loss in the final match saw them slide down to third. These teams have played title matches in the past, with Chivas claiming the crown back in the Apertura 2006, a competition they managed to win at Toluca's stadium. Their match during the regular season ended with Chivas winning a tight 3-2 clash.
Pachuca vs América: The defending champions lost a bit of their light in the final weeks of the regular season, but they are still one of the most powerful teams in the lot. Las Águilas get to face Pachuca in this stage, one of the few teams in Liga MX that managed to defeat them, and who incidentally eliminated them from the Concacaf Champions Cup last week. If that was not enough reason to make América's fans nervous, how about remembering that Pachuca has eliminated América in six of their seven KO stage meetings across all comps? With those odds between these teams, it would not be strange to see América trying to keep Pachuca's offense at bay, especially since los Tuzos will not have Oussama Idrissi around after a blatantly absurd red card on Sunday.
Thursday, May 9
Pumas UNAM vs Cruz Azul: This rivalry from Mexico City will see La Máquina visiting Pumas at Olympic Stadium once again. This will be the eighth Liguilla meeting between Pumas and Cruz Azul, with Pumas being far more dominant than their counterparts with five KO stage wins. Both teams will enter this stage with unexperienced coaches at the helm, since Gustavo Lerma and Martín Anselmi will be making their debuts in a Liga MX playoff stage. It should be an interesting game to watch, far more intense than that goalless draw between them back in March.
Tigres UANL vs Monterrey: The top rivalry in the North side of Mexico will see two of the most winning teams in recent Liga MX history going at it one more time. Their regular season game ended in an electric 3-3 draw back in April, but the biggest battles between these clubs have taken place in title-deciding matches, one of them in the Apertura 2017 tournament (won by Tigres) and the other one being held in the 2019 Concacaf Champions League (won by Rayados). These matches are frequently involved in controversy due to the intensity of both teams' fans, and considering their recent rifts, this one should not be any different.
Here is the full list of midweek games being played in Liga MX's playoffs. Click on each fixture for full broadcast and streaming options in your country.
[SCHEDULES competition 40 2024-05-08 2024-05-10]