Liga de Expansion Liguilla is set

After the battles of the repechaje, the Liguilla of the Liga de Expansion is set up. With only one real upset, the Liguilla will be played with the four series being Celaya vs. U de G, Tapatio vs. Tlaxcala, Atlante vs. Raya2, and Morelia vs. Cimarrones. The matches will start with the first leg of the Celaya vs. U de G being played on Tuesday.

The repechaje series were mostly disappointing, with low scoring matches and few exciting moments. The only upset came when 13th placed U de G (who only qualified because 11th placed Pumas Tabasco finished in last place of the “relegation” table and could not play in the post season) defeated fifth placed Tepatitlan by a 1-0 score away. The other matches had the expected victories by Raya2, Cimarrones, and Tlaxcala. All four teams will be underdogs in the Liguilla series, although the Morelia vs. Cimarrones series looks to be very even.

First placed Celaya might be slight favorites, as they look to get revenge for losing the last Liga de Expansion Final against Atlante. They will start their series away to U de G, where they will be heavily favored. Chivas’ farm team, Tapatio FC had a great season and finished in second place, and they will also be heavily favored against Tlaxcala. However the fact that they will not play their second leg in their home stadium but in Estadio Jalisco (Estadio Omnilife will host a Canelo Alvarez boxing match) might hamper them. Current champions Atlante will also be favorites against Monterrey’s farm team Raya2, who although they had the best performance in the Repechaje, don’t look to be able to defeat the champions. Finally we have Morelia vs. Cimarrones in a series that might have Morelia as the favorite, but it might be the closest matchup and Cimarrones going through would not be a surprise.