The Liga MX playoff format that was adopted after the season that was completely abandoned thanks to the COVID pandemic allows a ton of bad teams to make the playoffs. At the end of the regular season 12 out of the 18 teams in the league still have a chance to be crowned champions. The format has come under a lot of scrutiny with many people arguing that the system rewards mediocrity. Managers like Santiago Solari have been highly affected by the system. Through his time at Club America there was no other club that scored more points than them in the regular season. However, he got sacked without being able to lift a Liga MX championship trophy.
Whether you think the system is fair or not, it is what it is. Teams that signed up to play at the beginning of the tournament knew what they were up against. Fair or not the competition system allows us to speculate which team could be this season’s Cinderella at the dance! That’s exactly what we’re going to do!
Teams On The Outside Looking In
There are a couple of teams that are currently in the bottom places in the league that could still make the playoffs with a strong finish. Out of those teams currently on the outside looking in, is there any team that could become the Cinderella, and maybe make the semifinals or beyond? Two time champion Atlas seems to fit the bill. The problem is they only have 3 games left, and they are 5 points from that 12th spot. So it’s highly unlikely that they can get in even by winning their 3 remaining games. Cruz Azul still has 4 games to go, and has 12 points, so they’re actually only a game out of 12th.
However, the team is a mess. If they make it in they may not necessarily be the team that everyone wants to play, but at this point it seems that they have too many internal issues to overcome. That leaves in our opinion one other viable option which is Pumas. They’ve never been the best regular season team under Andres Lillini. Still, he has saved a couple of seasons with good performances in the tournament after average to below average league play. If he can get his team in the dance they may become the thorn in someone’s side.
Teams That Won’t Get A Bye Week
There are really only two teams that are currently within the 5th spot on the table, and the 12th spot which we feel realistically could do something in the playoffs. Those two teams are Toluca, and Chivas. Maybe Club Leon at 11 could surprise someone, but they are too inconsistent in the back. Certainly Puebla would be a fan favorite, and they may have more offensive firepower than they’ve shown so far. Jozy Altidore came in way out of shape, but if he gets hot he could be right up there with some of the best strikers in the league. We’re not counting Tigres, as a Cinderella team because they very well could be in the top 4 before the regular season ends.
Back to Chivas, and Toluca, they have one thing in common that is that they may get an extra boost from refs in tight games. We have to call them like we see them, Chivas like any other popular club across the globe tends to get some ref help. Unless their opponent is Toluca. The “Diablos Rojos” have been favored by refs quite a bit this season. What these two teams don’t have in common is that Chivas are finding their best form in these final weeks. They are still kind of bland up front, and that could cost them. We still feel they could be the non-top 4 team that makes the deepest playoff run though. Toluca will get in because of what they did at the beginning of the tournament, but could literally lose every game from now until the end of the year!
