Liga MX is going to kick back into high gear after the international break. We have one more week to go before the end of the regular season, and we’ll get right into the playoffs. The most anticipated matchup of the final week of the regular season is without a doubt, Cruz Azul vs Chivas. Both of the teams have punched their ticket to the playoffs in the bottom half of the top twelve. This means that regardless of what happens in their game both squads are going to have to play a winner take all game in the wild card round. Still both teams are probably going to want to come into that game with a win.
There’s no question that Cruz Azul had a better last half of the season than first half of the season. They were the only team that had a manager change before the end of the tournament (now Atlas is changing managers, but it’s irrelevant at this point). On the other hand Chivas got hot in the middle part of the tournament. As soon as they started facing tougher competition including their matchup against America in “El Clasico” things went south quickly!
Was The Chivas vs America Friendly Game A Mistake?
We’ve actually been highly critical of the friendly games that both MLS teams, and Liga MX teams held over the international break. Cash is king, and we get that part of the equation, Liga MX teams literally take every chance that they are afforded to go play games in the US. With how packed the calendar is though for this tournament thanks to the World Cup, perhaps a full week to rest after playing every 3 days for a month and change would not have been bad. Chivas though really had the worst possible outcome play out. They went ahead and played a friendly game versus Club America in which they got beat badly 3-1.
Going into the game Club America were heavy favorites over Chivas. Not just because they’ve had a better league year. Chivas had to deal with absences from players who got called up to the national team. They even had Santiago Ormeno get called up by Peru. That’s probably the first time that a Chivas player gets an international call up by a country other than Mexico. In any case, the Chivas team showed that they are not as deep as Club America. They extended their losing streak, and now the team is devastated heading into the playoffs.
Cruz Azul Is Almost Fully Healthy & Ready To Go
Rodolfo Rotondi who played left mid for Cruz Azul virtually the whole tournament, but was absent in the team’s late season push due to injury is set to come back. Whether that means a return to the bench for Angel Romero this weekend remains to be seen. Perhaps the biggest surprise for Cruz Azul is the fact that Paraguayan defender Juan Escobar is also said to be medically cleared to play.
Reports indicate that Escobar visited with well known doctor Rafeal Ortega to have him evaluate the knee injury that he had suffered. It was feared that Escobar suffered an ACL tear that was going to keep him away from the team for the next six months. The injury happened August 27th, just about a month removed from the incident he has been cleared to practice. There’s been a ton of speculation on why the recovery period has been so fast. In any case, Cruz Azul seems to be in rhythm, and getting healthy at just the right time. Chivas on the other hand, look like they’re moving backwards.
