🐯🇲🇽 Experience leads to belief as Tigres lift No. 8
Pizarro, Gignac & a new face or two. This too-old roster is the Liga MX champ. PLUS: WILD title games in Central America!
Tigres are champions of Liga MX. Yes, again, and yes, even this season.
In a down year doomed for failure. There were two managerial changes during the season and questions about whether Andre-Pierre Gignac up top could still do it at age 37, whether Nahuel Guzman in goal could still do it at 37 and basically every position between them. Yet, there they were celebrating after a 3-2 extra-time victory Sunday over Chivas: Gignac, Guzman, manager Robert Dante Siboldi and everyone in between.
The second leg had everything the first leg didn’t: Notably goals, but also some drama, back-and-forth, both teams coming out to try to win a soccer match. It was the graduate level of Liga MX U, with the teams trading attacks and getting into the other final third in ways that would make you gripe were it not so fun.
Early on, it wasn’t obvious we’d be getting a competitive game. Chivas rode the wave of a home crowd at full power to a hot start.
First, it was Roberto Alvarado in the 10th minute, finishing off a goal that almost seemed too easy, as he skipped by Javier Aquino and sent the ball into the back post with his left foot.
There was nothing simple about Victor “Pocho” Guzman’s 21st-minute smash from the middle of the box on a corner kick.
Chivas were on the way to a title and had a cushion. Yet, then the challenge became not only to keep Tigres from clawing back into the match but also to stay psychologically strong and not feel like the title would slip away.
Both times Tigres scored in regulation there was a flashing-lights, here comes the goal moment that Chivas either didn’t spot or could do nothing about.
In the 56th minute, Robert Dante Siboldi’s side put together a perfect build-up only for things to end with a block. Just a few minutes after, Andre-Pierre Gignac was at the penalty spot, ready to punish one of those handballs in the box that will be called for the next several centuries even if it seems a little harsh.
Chivas goalkeeper Miguel “Wacho” Jimenez denied Sebastian Cordova, who has scored in every series this playoffs. He wouldn’t be denied in the 71st minute, as he completed Tigres’ comeback. What Chivas had protected for more than 40 minutes, Tigres undid in six.
“You have to learn to fall down and learn to pick yourself back up. That’s the very story of this club, relegation, finals lost and it always moved forward with championships won,” Guzman said after the match.
Chivas manager Veljko Paunovic has to be beside himself. The same thing he did last week to América boss Tano Ortiz happened to him. As the pieces started moving and the game was being changed, both with substitutions and tactical modifications, he waited too long to alter his squad. The result was a huge swing in momentum, even from the time Fernando Gorriaran and “Diente” Lopez came into the game at halftime.
The moment was difficult: Down two, hostile environment, but still a deep squad that has been here before.
That’s why when Guido Pizarro’s header sailed over the line in extra time, with Jimenez watching, expecting another spectacular goal-line save from one of his defenders, it was dramatic and exciting but not unexpected that Tigres would turn things around and find a way to win.
This is a Tigres team that, if anything, has too much experience. It’s a squad filled with players who have been here before, not only title-winners but also title-losers - some even against Chivas in 2017.
“The entire season, the team didn’t give up. We had a lot of situations, manager changes, results we’re not used to, and we didn’t give up. We kept trying, kept playing because just by trying we didn’t achieve anything,” Pizarro said. “I think the team tried to keep pushing until the end and we were able to turn it around. So, I’m very happy.”
I’ve written that Tigres’ attacking strategy often is to get the ball to Andre-Pierre Gignac and pray, a philosophy that often works because Gignac can answer those prayers. Something more was at play Sunday, and not just because Cordova once again rose to the occasion on the biggest of stages (though he left it early with a second yellow card just minutes after Pizarro’s winner).
After the match, Gignac went to where the Tigres’ dugout had been set up and started digging in the dirt of the Estadio Akron. He quickly found what he was looking for, revealing a rosary he’d put there, presumably hours before Sunday’s match.
Experience doesn’t always mean a win. Savvy doesn’t always bring results. Sunday night, though, Tigres knew who they felt they could rely on, putting confidence in each other, in their faith and in the way they’d been doing things for so long.
New manager, new faces, new opponent, but when you strip it all away the same old Tigres, the most powerful Liga MX team of this generation once again finding a way to win the silverware.
🇲🇽 Making it official: After strong rumors for the last several weeks, it’s now official that former Univision president Juan Carlos Rodriguez is the new president of the FMF.
Days after appearing in public with Mexico national team manager Diego Cocca, the federation also announced former defender (an Monterrey sporting director) Duilio Davino is taking over as sporting director of national teams and ex-Pumas and Necaxa manager Andres Lillini as director of youth national teams.
Other changes from the owners’ meeting last week were announced, the most interesting of which is the repechaje not entirely going away. The playoffs won’t be as large, however, with Liga MX mimicking the NBA’s playoff format.
The top six teams in the regular season will now move directly into the quarterfinals, up from four, while the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth teams will square off to try and earn the final two spots in the quarterfinals.
While I’ve been critical of the sheer percentage of teams making the playoffs in the previous format, I’ve enjoyed the NBA’s play-in and the extra stakes it can give the regular season.
I write a lot about Liga MX needing to look abroad for inspiration. It’s an unexpected source, but a good example of how a wider perspective can lead to interesting ideas.
Speaking of good ideas, Mexico’s senior men’s national team is playing a friendly match in Mexico but outside of Mexico City.
El Tri will play Guatemala on June 7 at the Estadio de Mazatlán before progressing to San Diego for a game against Cameroon. Mexico then will move to Las Vegas for the Nations League Final Four.
Conca-catch-up time
🇸🇻 The investigation into the tragic crush at the Estadio Cuscatlan continues, and authorities also decided what to do about the remaining playoff matches that were scheduled.
All professional soccer in El Salvador was suspended after the incident that killed 12 fans and injured dozens more last week before Alianza’s playoff match with FAS. Officials opted to end the tournament, with no champion declared, and also listed out the three teams who will go into the Concacaf competitions (as discussed in the weekend preview). It was a choice that didn’t sit well with everyone.
“They made the easiest decision to look good to the outside world and not us. I think they could’ve done something different, made a number of different decisions to be able to finish the tournament,” Alianza manager Sebastían Bini said.
While it’s surely frustrating to see something you put months of work into end in circumstances very much out of your control (and is especially personal for Bini who this weekend announced his departure from Aguila), it also seems premature to start hosting matches when more and more concerning details keep coming out about what led to the crush.
It apparently is not typical to meet before each match, even in the playoffs, but the federation’s security commission reportedly did not meet before the match in question, with security the responsibility of the home club.
Even so, Alianza is appealing the penalty handed to it, the most significant portion being a one-year ban on having fans present in the stadium.
Authorities are trying to do what they can to do right by people affected. Funerals have been funded and a process to refund tickets for those in attendance is underway.
Five people have been arrested: Alianza’s president, the team’s manager in charge of security, the financial manager, the general director of the company that manages the stadium and the person responsible for the operation of the gates/entrances.
The legal process will take some time, however. I’ll bring updates as they’re available.
🇨🇷 Saprissa didn’t make it easy on itself but added a 38th title Sunday, winning 3-1 Sunday to beat Alajuelense and win the crown.
Trailing 2-0 on aggregate after a first-round loss, Saprissa managed to take a 3-0 lead into halftime thanks to a 19th minute goal from Warren Madrigal, one in the 26th from Javon East and Luis Paradela scoring just before the whistle blew for halftime.