🇲🇽 The Liguilla is here: Your Liga MX Clausura playoff preview

In soccer, there's always a chance for revenge

Translation is hard, and it can be even harder in the world of sports where jargon becomes commonplace and truisms become repeated gospel.

Focusing on Latin American soccer coverage in English for more than a decade, I’ve gotten used to some cliches that I know will be a pain to put in an article. Sometimes, it’s not worth the trouble. Others, you can work in a way to help the reader understand where the player or coach is going with the thought.

One of those oft-cited phrases is that “El fútbol siempre da revancha” Soccer always gives REVENGE.

But revenge is so strong in English. Not so in Spanish - in fact, it can be used for a simple rematch, no matter the stakes.

In the Liguilla, though, it feels to me that there actually is revenge on the line, with three of the four quarterfinal pairings having an obvious rivalry or ‘familiarity breeds contempt’ through line - and we don’t have to look too hard to find a storyline that makes the fourth matchup fit in with the group.

Let’s look at each matchup of the quarterfinals - with two series set to take place Wednesday+Saturday and the other two on Thursday+Sunday.