😈 - 🦅 Three things to watch in the Liga MX final
Toluca scores goals. América keeps goals out. Can Las Aguilas win a fourth straight or is Toluca title town?
There is something about the Liga MX final that has everyone in a creative mood. Toluca and Club América met in the previous Liguilla, with the No. 7 seed Águilas embarrassing the Diablos Rojos with a pair of wins in the quarterfinals. Yet, there’s a feeling of freshness for a final that doesn’t involve two grandes - or either big spender from Nuevo León.
Everyone has a team: América fans are hoping for a fourth-straight title. Everyone else wants to see Toluca, a generally inoffensive club that has put some of the most fun football on the field this year, lift the silverware.
A hilarious voice memo requesting Toluca do a video edit for the final that mashes up “Freed From Desire” and then has Alexis Vega “coming out of nowhere” went viral, with the club carrying out the concept but fans on both sides of the final remixing the idea.
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Overall, people want more and more, they just want more and more of this final.
The first leg is tonight at 10 p.m. ET. The second leg is at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday. Both matches are on TUDN.
Here' are three things you should watch over both legs, a trio of items that will influence the results and help us work out who the winner is.
Vega won’t come out of nowhere, but how often will he appear?
Unlike in the TikTok edit, everyone will be have an eye on Vega, and he will certainly not take anyone by surprise.
Toluca’s attack is more multidimensional than simply getting the ball to Vega, but there have been moments in this Liguilla when he has decided he was going to score and would not be denied.
Being such a known quantity in Mexican soccer, there has been surprise at just how effective Vega has been - not just this season when he lead the league in G + A but specifically in the playoffs with three goals and two assists in four matches.
América will look to limit Vega’s touches on the ball. He can’t hurt you if he isn’t in possession, right?
(Alexis Vega pops up out of nowhere)
Oh no…
Will Martín mesh with América’s attack like he used to?
Club América finished second in the regular season table, losing just three matches. That trio of defeats came against teams that qualified for the Liguilla, and each time the defeats were by just one goal.
The struggles the club had this year, to the extent they struggled, came in the Concacaf Champions Cup. The glaring issue the team had was that it not only was missing starting forward Henry Martin for its quarterfinal with Cruz Azul but also didn’t have second option Rodrigo “El Bufalo” Aguirre. That meant América manager Andre Jardine was forced to opt with a false nine concept, often pressing Diego Valdes, at his best playing as a No. 10, into duty as the player who was supposed to get the furthest forward.
Martín returned for the first match of the Liguilla and has played at least 70 minutes in all four contests so far. But his only real contribution was converting a penalty Sunday in the second leg of the semifinal.
Perhaps that’s unfair. The space Marin occupies also allowed Alejandro Zendejas to rip through the Pachuca defense with a pair of goals in the second leg of the quarterfinal, and he had five total shots in the second leg, clearly serving as a target for the rest of Las Aguilas’ squad and putting some danger on the net.
Yet, it’s a far cry from what América fans are used to seeing: Henry linking expertly with the rest of the team, often starting off and finishing off plays, flexing his oversized biceps in triumph after scoring another goal.
Martín is 32, and an Achilles issue is something that can linger even after he was cleared to return. If he looks like the old Henry this weekend1, América may be unstoppable. If he continues to look like a new player they’re trying to integrate into the attack, América may not be as deadly going forward as Jardine needs.
The outside factors: History, atmosphere & the referee
Other influence always are at play in Liga MX. Remember, América has won the last three titles, while Toluca is seeking its first in 15 years after a win in the 2010 Torneo Bicentenario. To make you feel old, the top scorers that season were Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez (for Chivas), Johan Fano (for Atlante) and a Herculez Gomez (for Puebla)
Santos got revenge in 2018, beating Toluca in one of three finals the Diablos Rojos have made since their 2010 win (prior to this one), but this feels like a new era for Toluca.
At least, it did. But with Toluca flying high and América … flying low? … in the Apertura, América brushed off Toluca’s 4-0 thrashing of the Mexico City club in the regular season with 2-0 wins in both legs of a quarterfinal. América looms as the ‘final boss’ for a true Toluca revitalization.
As you’d expect from two teams with lots of history, there are plenty of other memorable meetings between the two clubs. Here’s this magical goal from Jose Saturnino Cardozo in the 2003 Apertura.
Mercy!
While they were absolutely playing some champagne soccer in that clip that Toluca team wasn’t even all that good, finishing 10th in the regular season table and falling in the semifinals of the Liguilla.
That said, it was a golden era for the club, with Cardozo, Sinha and others not seen in that clip helping win six championships between 1998-2008.
Far more critical than Toluca’s history is the atmosphere. The Estadio Nemesio Diez is nicknamed the Bombonera because of its tight spaces, and it is one of the better atmospheres in Concacaf. Fans have been at a fever pitch all season, delighted by the results the team is earning and the style it’s showing as it earns them.
It has only been more exuberant as fans sense that a drought-breaking trophy is drawing closer, that this Toluca may be the one to deliver that long-awaited title.
But, many in Mexico would say, you counter a great atmosphere with a few assists from the referee! I don’t buy into conspiracies about Televisa controlling the Mexican federation, about América paying off referees, etc. What I do buy is Mexican officials lagging behind where they could and being overly involved in matches.
Whether it works to the favor of América or, potentially, to Toluca, the officials too often take starring roles rather than serve as supporting cast. Keep an eye on the men in the middle during this series.
Much more likely, the series will be decided by the names fans want to remember: Zendejas, Vega, Martin, Paulinho, Malagon, Fidalgo, Gallardo - and maybe a hero that comes out of nowhere.
Enjoy the final. Be back in your inboxes soon!
We’re starting our weekend Thursday.
great post