The 2019 Liga MX Clausura semifinals are here. Only four teams remain, and just like the oddsmakers have been predicting for the last few weeks, it is Club León, Tigres UANL, Club América and Monterrey who will have the chance to lift the Liga MX title.
What a way to prove their doubters wrong. From the start, many predicted Club León’s quarterfinal matchup against Xolos de Tijuana was going to be a tough one for La Fiera, but instead the league leaders cruised to a place in the final four with a 5-2 aggregate win.
If it wasn’t before, it is now abundantly clear why Club León is the oddsmakers’ favorite to win the championship. Any talks of a “superlíder curse” was left behind, and most telling of all, they did it in style. They were by far the highest-scoring team in the quarterfinals round, and they kept the same tempo offensively through the course of both legs, scoring three times and clinching only their second-ever win at the Estadio Sportsbook.
All of a sudden, León is looking as talented and as capable as the rest of the teams in the semifinals, and they will have a golden chance at proving any remaining doubters wrong when they take on defending champion América in the semifinals.
Club América will need to be at its best
It is arguable that of the remaining four teams in the Liguilla, it was Club América that looked the least impressive in the quarterfinals round. While advancing over rival Cruz Azul in the previous round is a nice boost psychologically, the truth is Club América will have to improve tremendously if they are going to want to beat Club León.
What could give América an edge in their matchup against León is that they are without question the most sturdy side remaining in the Liguilla. As they demonstrated against Cruz Azul, even when their offense isn’t ticking, their defense has an ability to stay put and block everything out. Moreover, they have the best goalkeeper in the league in Agustin Marchesin, who played a huge part in last season’s championship run and was once again key against Cruz Azul in the quarterfinals.
A collective game should be of importance to Tigres
Along with Club América, the other team that struggled in the quarterfinals was Tigres UANL. The oddsmakers remain uncharacteristically high on Tigres, despite the fact that they already lost once to Rayados in the CONCACAF Champions League final and they were a little lucky to advance from the quarterfinals stage. Against Pachuca, Tigres came within 10 minutes of getting eliminated, but a late goal from Andre-Pierre Gignac spared the blushes for Los Felinos.
This is the thing about Tigres. It often seems like they depend more on their individualities than their collective play. While Tigres is definitely good enough to win important games by just relying on moments of brilliance from players like Gignac and Eduardo Vargas, the truth is that they are going to need more than that if they want to win the title, especially taking on their rivals Monterrey through the course of two legs.
Don’t count out the CONCACAF champs
If the oddsmakers have been incredibly high on Tigres all season, Rayados has been a team they have been ignoring regularly. Now, in a semifinal matchup against a team they already beat two weeks ago in a continental final, Monterrey has to like its chances of advancing to the Liga MX final.
Sure, Diego Alonso’s men looked a bit slow against Necaxa in the quarterfinals, but it was always going to be tough against a team with nothing to lose like Los Rayos. With Tigres, it’s a different ballgame. Clásicos are clásicos, and anything can happen.
- León +185
- Tigres UANL +225
- Club América +300
- Monterrey +300
