With the Liga MX Clausura ending this past weekend, the playoffs are on deck. Here are five things to know about how they work and why you should be interested.
Season Format
Like many leagues in Latin America, Liga MX uses a split-season schedule. The campaign begins with the Apertura (“The Opening”) from July to December and the Clausura (“The Closing”) from January to May. During both seasons, teams play a 17-game schedule, with the top eight clubs at the end of each campaign qualifying for the playoffs.
Here is how the top eight teams finished during the 2017 Clausura:
|
Rank |
Team |
GP |
W |
L |
D |
Pts. |
GD |
|
1 |
Tijuana |
17 |
9 |
4 |
4 |
31 |
+8 |
|
2 |
Monterrey |
17 |
7 |
4 |
6 |
27 |
+8 |
|
3 |
Guadalajara |
17 |
7 |
4 |
6 |
27 |
+3 |
|
4 |
Toluca |
17 |
8 |
6 |
3 |
27 |
+1 |
|
5 |
Santos Laguna |
17 |
5 |
1 |
11 |
26 |
+5 |
|
6 |
Atlas |
17 |
7 |
5 |
5 |
26 |
+4 |
|
7 |
Tigres UANL |
17 |
7 |
6 |
4 |
25 |
+14 |
|
8 |
Morelia |
17 |
6 |
5 |
6 |
24 |
+3 |
La Liguilla
The Liga MX postseason is commonly referred to as La Liguilla, (“the Little League”).
The pairings are simple, with the No. 1 seed facing No. 8, No. 2 vs. No. 7, and so on. Teams face off in a two-leg home-and-away series from the quarterfinals to the final, with the side that holds the aggregate goals advantage advancing.
One interesting aspect of La Liguilla is how a team advances in the case of a tied aggregate score line after two matches. While the first tie-breaker is the standard away goes rule, if the teams are equal there as well, Liga MX gives the advantage to the higher seeded team to advance, putting greater emphasis on a club’s regular season performance.
U.S. MNT Players in La Liguilla
The U.S. Men’s National Team has representation on three sides that qualified for the postseason.
Top-seeded Club Tijuana features winger Paul Arriola, midfielder Joe Corona and defender Michael Orozco, though he will likely miss at least Xolos opening series against Morelia due to injury.
- READ MORE: Paul Arriola on the Rise for Xolos
Second-place Monterrey features left back Edgar Castillo, while fellow defender Jorge Villafaña’s strong performance during the past two months helped lift Santos Laguna into fifth position.
Though they just won the 2016-17 CONCACAF Champions League, MNT center back Omar Gonzalez and Pachuca just missed out on a playoff berth, finishing tied on points with eighth-place Morelia, while goalkeeper William Yarbrough and Club León finished four points back of the final spot.
Past Winners
Almost every U.S. MNT player that has featured in Liga MX since 2010 has won La Liguilla at least once. Here’s a rundown of who has lifted the trophy:
|
Player |
Titles |
When They Won |
|
Ventura Alvarado |
2 |
Club América (2013 Clausura, 2014 Apertura) |
|
Edgar Castillo |
2 |
Santos Laguna (2008 Clausura); Club Tijuana (2012 Apertura) |
|
Jose Torres |
2 |
Tigres UANL (2015 Apertura, 2016 Apertura) |
|
William Yarbrough |
2 |
Club León (2013 Apertura, 2014 Clausura) |
|
Joe Corona |
1 |
Club Tijuana (2012 Apertura) |
|
Greg Garza |
1 |
Club Tijuana (2012 Apertura) |
|
Herculez Gomez |
1 |
Santos Laguna (2012 Clausura) |
|
Omar Gonzalez |
1 |
Pachuca (2016 Clausura) |
The Schedule
Though Villafaña and Santos Laguna have been eliminated, Arriola, Corona and Club Tijuana are set to take on Tigres UANL in the Semifinals beginning Thursday, May 18.
The full schedule:
|
Liguilla Semifinals |
||||
|
High Seed |
Low Seed |
First Leg |
Second Leg |
Aggregate |
|
#3 CD Guadalajara |
#4 Toluca |
May 18 |
May 21 |
- |
|
#1 Club Tijuana |
#7 Tigres UANL |
May 18 |
May 21 |
-
|
|
Liguilla Quarterfinals |
||||
|
High Seed |
Low Seed |
First Leg |
Second Leg |
Aggregate |
|
#1 Club Tijuana |
#8 Morelia |
0-1 |
2-0 |
2-1 |
|
#2 Monterrey |
#7 Tigres UANL |
1-4 |
0-2 |
1-6 |
|
#3 CD Guadalajara* |
#6 Atlas |
0-1 |
1-0 |
1-1 |
|
#4 Toluca |
#5 Santos Laguna |
4-1 |
1-3 |
5-4 |