While Rayados de Monterrey has been waiting for a week in the privileged room of the MX League With one of the four direct tickets to the Clausura 2023 league in hand (without a stopover in the playoffs), the other three will have to wait until the end of the regular phase to be defined, among five teams that still have a chance of achieving it.
America, Chivas, Toluca, Pachuca and Lion They make up the quintet that will fight on the last day of the tournament to stay in the honorary positions of the general table, the top 4, and thus avoid the risk of the repechage, in which a bad day can end a great season. as has already happened to some teams since this knockout model returned in 2020.
At the close of day 16, the penultimate of the Closing 2023, América retained the sub-leadership with 31 points after drawing 1-1 against Pumas at the Azteca stadium on Saturday night. The eagles, who are the only team that has qualified for the direct league since the Opening (Guardians) 2020they could not secure their place in that instance before the end of the contest, as they had done before.
But their outlook looks safe, since on the last day they will visit Bravos de Juárez, which ranks as the third worst team in the tournament and has not won for more than two months in the MX League (February 11, in the date 6). Even with a draw, the squad led by Fernando ‘Tano’ Ortiz would get their ticket to the direct league.
Chivas, who closed matchday 16 in third place overall, also has 31 points but a less profitable goal difference than América (+7 against +14). The herd climbed to the podium after beating Cruz Azul 2-1 this weekend at the Akron stadium, with a somersault included from an error by the cement goalkeeper José de Jesús Corona, and with it he completed a streak of three consecutive victories ( over León and Necaxa).
Like its staunch rival, Chivas has an accessible panorama to realize his pass to the direct league because on matchday 17 they will receive Mazatlán FC, the worst team of the season. If so, it would be the first time that Guadalajara has advanced directly to the quarterfinals, since since the playoffs returned they have not been able to finish in that high part of the table.
“This result is confirmation of the determination of this group of players to do something historic, to pursue a dream, to recover the identity and tradition that this club has. I am proud to live an experience like today again, what we have is a perfect herd”, said the Chivas coach, the Serbian Veljko Paunovic (who is living his first tournament in Mexican soccer), in the conference after the victory over Cruz Azul.
After Chivas and America are Toluca, Pachuca and León with less than 30 points (29, 28 and 27, respectively) but still with chances of getting into the top 4 with combinations of results. The Red Devils are the ones that have disappointed the most at the end of the tournament after losing to Pumas (3-1) and drawing with Bravos (1-1) in their last two rounds, games in which they looked like clear favorites.
Even so, on the last date they have the option of entering the direct league in their own hands, because with a victory against Necaxa at the Nemesio Diez stadium they would achieve 32 points and neither Pachuca nor León could snatch the ticket even if they beat Querétaro and tigers, respectively. Even a fall from América and Chivas would give Toluca the possibility of closing in the sub-leadership.
“When the tournament started, if they had said that we would be fighting for the first four places, they would not have believed it. Today, unfortunately, things are not turning out as we would like, it is true that we continue to maintain fourth place, but what more would I have liked than to be able to secure it completely; now we have to wait for a more complicated game against Necaxa”, evaluated Ignacio Ambriz, Toluca’s coach after the draw against Juárez FC on Sunday.
For its part, Pachuca settled in fifth place in the table after defeating Atlético de San Luis 2-1 with a somersault led by Cristian Arango and Illian Hernández at the Hidalgo stadium, while León fell to sixth place (it was fifth until matchday 15) by drawing 0-0 on their visit to Tijuana, completing a four-game winless streak in Liga MX.
In this way, until the end of the penultimate day of the Clausura 2023, only Rayados has their ticket guaranteed to the direct league thanks to their 37 points, which will ensure they finish the contest as leader and which represent their best participation in short tournaments together with Clausura 2016, in which they also achieved that score, although if they add at least a draw against Pumas next Saturday they will set a new record for the institution.
The rest of the tickets to the postseason, which now only aspire to the playoffs, will be fought between Tigres, Cruz Azul, Atlas and Santos, who are shaping up to finish among the best positioned to play said tie at home, while Pumas, Atlético de San Luis, Puebla, Tijuana and even Juárez FC will try to enter even as number 12.
The final fight for the direct ticket to the league
1. Monterrey* / 37 points / Closes hosting Pumas
2. América / 31 points / Closes visiting Juárez FC
3. Chivas / 31 points / Closes hosting Mazatlán FC
4. Toluca / 29 points / Closes receiving Necaxa
5. Pachuca / 28 points / Closes visiting Querétaro
6. León / 27 points / Closes receiving Tigres
*He has secured the pass to the direct league and the leadership.
