🚂 Liga MX title is Cruz Azul's to lose
...we've seen this before, though + Madness in Central America's playoffs!
The Liga MX semifinals begin tonight, and there’s a clear favorite for the title. Except, that team, simply by virtue of who it is, is difficult to name as the favorite. That team is Cruz Azul.
Cruz Azul is famous not for failure but for snatching failure from the jaws of success. The most recent “Cruzazuleada” was perhaps the most spectacular yet. La Maquina were a great team during the 2020 season and showed it in the Liga MX quarterfinals, getting past Tigres, and then smashing Pumas 4-0 in the first leg of the semifinals.
You know where this is going, though. In the second leg of the tie, Juan Dinenno scored in the fourth minute and delivered what looked like a fatal blow to Cruz Azul’s confidence, despite the fact they still controlled the aggregate, 4-1. By the time the referee blew for halftime, it was 3-0 and the body language told you all you needed to know. Juan Pablo Vigon hit the dagger in the 89th minute and Pumas advanced thanks to a better regular-season finish.
What followed were moments of soul-searching for club officials that bordered on rending of garments. Every member of the boardroom had to have a video published promising they would do better. Dante Siboldi, the manager who presided over the collapse, couldn’t continue.
Once the fallout was over and Cruz Azul had been summarily bounced from December’s Concacaf Champions League, Juan Reynoso stepped into the gap and has lost twice since taking over. The first was in January against upstart Puebla, the second was in the first leg of the quarterfinals against Toluca, with Saturday’s 3-1 victory securing a place in the last four teams left fighting for a league title.
With América falling to Pachuca despite a thrilling comeback attempt Sunday, (Los Tuzos moved through thanks to away goals in a series that ended 5-5 on aggregate) Monterrey losing to Santos Laguna on a last-minute goal in the second leg by Ronaldo Prieto and a Puebla team everyone except for the members of the squad itself seems surprised to still see alive, Cruz Azul is the natural pick to lift the trophy.
But this is a club that has been in this same type of situation several times since their last title in 1997 … and yet the drought goes on.
“It might be that we’re the only ‘grande’ that’s still alive, but it doesn’t mean anything if we don’t seal it with the championship,” Gimenez said this week. “We can’t brag about anything yet. The only thing we’re thinking about is going step by step.”
That’s the mentality any team should take but it’s certainly one Cruz Azul needs to have after finishing runner-up six times since their last title and one that has as much psychological pressure on it as La Maquina has.
Still, there are plenty of reasons to think Cruz Azul can snap the hex on it and get it right this time. For one, Reynoso has given the team a new energy, wearing his love of the club on his sleeve as a former player but refusing to fall into much talk about the pitfalls past teams have fallen into.
He also knows how to set up a team. Reynoso’s squad conceded just 11 goals in 17 league matches this season, the best in the league. Pablo Aguilar and Julio Dominguez give the team confidence at the back, as does 40-year-old goalkeeper Jesus Corona, but Luis Romo’s work in the middle of the field has ensured that teams aren’t able to take advantage of any loss of speed those veterans may have suffered.
With defensive responsibilities taken care of, Roberto Alvarado and Orbelin Pineda have been freed up to get into the attack with regularity this season, helping to link the back and the front of the team.
Cruz Azul tied for most goals scored in the regular season with 26. Cruz Azul teams of the past have had the solid base but rarely has the attack flowed or been as deep as it is now. If starting forward Jonathan “Cabecita” Rodriguez, can’t get the job done, Brayan Angulo is showing confidence and Gimenez getting his first goal in eight months is another positive sign for Los Celestes.
Santos Laguna, which narrowly missed out on a top four spot, steamrolled Queretaro 5-0 in the ‘reclasificación’ match and latter knocked off Monterey, is the other presumptive finalist thanks to its form and manager Guillermo Almada’s style emphasizing aggression and taking advantage of teams that can’t compete with the skills of his wide players.
It would make for a fascinating final, but both teams will be conscious there’s work to do before that. For Cruz Azul, coping with the demons of the past, Wednesday night’s away leg in Pachuca will be a game they want to avoid losing so they don’t need a second-leg comeback like they did in the first round.
It’s difficult at times to put faith in Cruz Azul, but at this stage of the tournament it’s hard not to think that este año sí es el bueno.
You seeing what’s happening in Central America?
College football fans have #Pac12AfterDark, MLS fans adapted #MLSAfterDark but things get really frisky when it’s #CostaRicanPlayoffsAfterDark.
We may need to work on that hashtag, but the first leg of the semifinal between the country’s biggest rivals, Alajuelense and Saprissa, provided some off-the-wall fun Sunday night.
With an intentionally late kickoff to discourage fans from gathering outside the home to watch the game amidst a spike of coronavirus cases, the ball didn’t start rolling until after 9 p.m. local time. The teams’ last meeting ended in a 5-0 Alajuelense victory that, combined with the Concacaf Champions League defeats to the Philadelphia Union, spelled the end for Roy Myers as manager.
Results have been better with interim Mauricio Wright, and that continued Sunday as Saprissa ended their rival’s unbeaten league season that had LDA manager Andres Carevic linked with a return to Mexico ahead of signing a contract extension last week.
Esteban Espindola scored from a set piece in the first minute and an own goal off another set piece plus a strike from Christian Bolaños in the 23rd minute gave Saprissa a 3-0 advantage before half an hour had gone. Bryan Ruiz pulled one back from the spot for LDA in the 37th minute to take things into the break at 3-1.
After another LDA goal in the 53rd minute, Bolaños again found the back of the net, this time with a header, but Ruiz was back on the penalty spot in the 76th minute. He attempted a panenka that was saved.
Though Bolaños was key for Saprissa, he was the goat on the for the final goal of the match, trying to dribble the ball out of his own area and getting his pocket picked as LDA set up the final goal of a 4-3 Saprissa win.
Kendall Waston was sent off just after the goal for booting the ball which already had entered the goal back toward goalscorer Johan Venegas as Venegas looked to pull the “pick up the ball and run back to the circle” move. It led to this iconic image:
But despite his protestations not only did the card stand but he’s suspended for four matches, meaning his season is over.
Bryan Ruiz, however, failed to convert the penalty, meaning LDA needs the victory tonight in another late start. Kickoff is at 11 p.m. ET/9 p.m. local.
I don’t always recommend watching a 12-minute highlight package, but this one is worth it if you have some time:
🇭🇳 In Honduras, Olimpia lost to Motagua on a pair of penalty goals and ended with eight men after red cards in the 71st, 78th and 90th minutes.
Manager Pedro Troglio was predictably perturbed. He came onto the field to protest Deybi Flores’ second yellow in stoppage time and later reacted to a post-match question about why he didn’t control himself better on the touchline with frustration, saying Motagua manager Diego Vazquez should get the same question because he doesn’t shut up and emphasizing how crazy he himself is about football and how badly he wants to win titles before leaving the press conference.
The Argentine manager was suspended four matches and fined. If Motagua keep the advantage tonight and win the series, the teams will play another two-legged series to determine the final champion.