Liga MX Clausura Week 14: León make history, Clásico Joven ends in stalemate

Here are your five conclusions from the fourteenth week of play in the 2019 Liga MX Clausura.

Club León make history

With Club León’s 2-0 win over Puebla on Friday night, La Fiera made history by becoming the team with most consecutive wins in a single Mexican fútbol season. With eleven straight victories, León are in cruise control right now, and as corny as it may sound, the only thing capable of stopping León on their path to the title is themselves.

The fist thing that comes to mind with regular season records like these is the 2016 Golden State Warriors. In the case of Golden State, little did their record breaking 73 regular season wins matter, as they went on to lose in the NBA Finals to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The same could be said about León. Nobody will remember this record if they don’t go on to lift the title at the end of the season, and that’s the type of pressure León will have to assume for the rest of the season.

Pachuca give Veracruz a historic beating

Speaking of historic, Pachuca accomplished one of the biggest wins in Mexico in more than 40 years, beating Veracruz 9-2 at the Estadio Hidalgo. Evidently, this was the first time a Mexican team scored nine goals in league match since 1976, and to the surprise of nobody, it was the Tiburones Rojos who were on the receiving end of all of this. Veracruz have been “relegated”(in quotes because you just never know in Liga MX) for some time now, and if they were to be kicked out for the last three games of the regular season, chances are not even their own fans would complain.

Chivas start Tomas Boy era with a defeat

Chivas Guadalajara’s shambolic season continued on Saturday as the Rojiblancos suffered yet another defeat, losing 1-0 to Monarcas Morelia at the Estadio Morelos. If it wasn’t already, it’s becoming abundantly clear that Chivas will spend another season without making the Liguilla. Their hopes of making the playoffs look dead and buried after this latest defeat, though many would argue they were dead and buried the instant Tomas Boy was named manager of the team early last week. Boy certainly has his admirers, but he is hardly the manager you want coaching a team like Chivas. If anything, he is looking like upper-management’s next big scapegoat ahead of next season, one in which, by the way, Chivas are now poised to be last in the relegation table in.

Tigres keep rolling on

With León making history and Club América playing relatively good fútbol, it is easy to get sidetracked and not mention Tigres. Apart from losing to América in Week 12, Tigres have been in dazzling form, winning their latest match against Lobos BUAP by a score of 3-0. With 32 points, los Felinos are on pace to have one of their best regular seasons ever, and in addition to already having their spot in the Liguilla guaranteed, they are also in the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League Final, where they will face none other than rivals Monterrey.

Perhaps most impressive of all is the fact that they have done all of this without star striker Andre-Pierre Gignac, who has been out through injury for several weeks now. With all the “doblete” talk surrounding América, the focus might be on the wrong team.

Stalemate at the Azteca

Another Clásico Joven, another draw. On Sunday, Club América and Cruz Azul settled for a goalless draw at the Estadio Azteca, making it five draws in the last seven meetings between these two teams across all competitions. Having won the Copa MX title just a few days before, Las Águilas were unable to capitalize on their momentum to get to the coveted 25-point mark.

The biggest takeaway from this match might be the injury to Cruz Azul’s Pablo Aguilar. The center back was arguably the best defender for La Máquina in last season’s run to the final, and with his injury appearing to be serious, coach Pedro Caixinha has a lot of adjusting to do to his backline. Cruz Azul has already lacked the consistency they had last season, and Aguilar’s absence could play a major role in their future title aspirations.