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Pumas will try to get their second Win in Leon this season when they face La Fiera in their Quarterfinal clash of the Copa MX. Previously, Pumas defeated Leon 2-1 in Guanajuato but will now face a more inspired team with a new coach in Nacho Ambriz, who coached Necaxa when they defeated Pumas in the last Quarterfinals of the Copa MX earlier in the year before winning the title. While Pumas had a big momentum boost by defeating Chivas in Guadalajara for the first time in 36 years, they lost steam after wasting a 2-0 lead at home against Puebla and finishing with a 2-2 draw. On the other hand, Leon went away to Veracruz and got a 4-0 victory, which was Ambriz’s first victory with the team in Liga MX.
After a struggling season in the field of play but not in terms of results, Pumas had their season highlight when they defeated Chivas 3-1 in the Round of 16 on Wednesday. The win was historic because it was their first victory against Chivas in Guadalajara since 1982. It wasn't an easy win for Pumas but the success had the fans flying high for what was the highlight of the season so far. That feeling went away for many on Sunday when Pumas lost a 2-0 lead at home to Puebla. Once again Pumas took an early lead and failed to manage the game as they done constantly in the season. The fact they lost points at home to one of the weaker teams in the league wasn’t as strong a disappointment as they way they did. Still, Pumas did get an important victory against a Chivas team that showed to be strong in their Superclasico on Sunday (albeit with a different team than the one Pumas faced) and they might be inspired for a repeat performance.
That said, Chivas did outplay Pumas at times, and like with Puebla and other results, it seemed like Pumas was barely holding on to the lead before a freak own goal by Chivas gave Pumas the 3-1 lead. Pumas will once again need to dig deep and return to the play of old to get another away result in this Copa Mx.
Leon has continued with a pattern that fans are well aware. After a bad loss away to Santos (3-0), they fired coach Gustavo Diaz and replaced him with Nacho Ambriz. This pattern of mid season replacing of their coach had happened to their past two coaches (Luis Fernando Tena and Javier Torrente), and in both, they had an improvement of results and level of play. While Ambriz started with a disappointing loss at home to Lobos BUAP (in game that had to be delayed because of a storm in the middle of it), they then went to Aguascalientes and defeated Necaxa in the Copa MX. Ambriz had coached Necaxa last season and won the Copa MX with them, giving Necaxa their first 1st Division Liga MX competition since their move to Aguascalientes from Mexico City. At the end, the failure to get to the Liguilla cost him the job but he was able to get revenge with his first success in his new team. They then went to Veracruz and crushed them 4-0. The boost was a great victory, although against a team a lot weaker than Puebla. They should be in a better spirits than Pumas and will need to do so, as they face a team that hasn’t been able to show consistency for 90 minutes but has shown flashes that they can be a dangerous team. Something they saw in their Liga MX clash.
Date: Wednesday, October 3
Time: 7:00pm Pacific, 9:00pm Central, 10:00pm Eastern
Venue: Nou Camp, León, México
TV: ESPN Deportes (US-Spanish), Univision Deportes (US-Spanish),TDN (Mexico), FOX Sports 2 (Mexico), ESPN2 (Mexico)
Streaming: fuboTV (Free trial + monthly subscription)