Almost three years later, America and Chivas meet again in the definitive instance, but the setting of the great Mexican soccer classic is different.
In November 2020, Guadalajara entered the league series as underdogs and pulled off an upset by eliminating Águilas in the quarterfinals – eventually losing in the semifinals.
Now, the clash between the two most popular teams in Mexico looks to be the closest it has been in many years.
After another failure in the previous tournament, the leadership of the “Sacred Flock” changed direction. He sacked sporting director Ricardo Peláez and coach Ricardo Cadena, pinning Spanish Fernando Hierro and Serbian Velko Paunović respectively for those actions.
The results have been amazing.
Chivas finished third in the table with essentially the same roster from the previous tournament, supported by midfielder Víctor Guzmán – their best tournament since Clausura 2017, when they were the last champions.
Since then, Chivas had only entered the league on a few occasions.
“We should be happy, the players are growing, but we haven’t achieved anything yet,” Paunovic said. “We are going step by step, now thinking about the Classic, but this is an epic moment for the team.”
America, with the highest payroll in the country, once again qualified directly for the league and comes in as a candidate for the title. This has been happening for the last few years, but the end result has not been what its leadership had expected.
Las Águilas has not won a championship since the Apertura 2018. The current coach, Argentine Fernando Ortiz, is completing his third league season in pursuit of that goal. In the last two he lost in the semi-finals.
After barely defeating San Luis 4–3 on aggregate in the previous round, Ortiz said, “To earn glory you have to suffer and now you have.” “I understand the fans’ annoyance, they are within their rights, but my boys have to respond when they have to.”
In the regular tournament, America defeated Chivas 4–2 at their stadium for the 12th date.
Overall, Aguilas have a streak of five games without defeat against Guadalajara, whom they last won in the Apertura 2020 league.
The first leg will be played on Thursday at the Akron Stadium in Guadalajara and the second leg on Sunday at the Azteca Stadium.
Regiomontana Classic
In the other semi-final, Rayados emerged as clear favorites in their series against Tigres in the classic in the northern city of Monterrey.
Víctor Manuel Vucetich’s team signed off on a major tournament in which they accumulated 40 points and dominated practically from end to end.
Tigres finished seventh, had to go through the playoffs, and surprised Toluca in the quarterfinals.
Los Rayados are looking for their first championship since the 2019 Apertura, when they defeated America.
Tigres was earlier the champion in Clausura 2019.
In the regular tournament, Rayados won 1–0 over Tigres for the 12th date.
The first leg will take place on Wednesday at the Universitario de Tigres Stadium and the return leg will take place on Saturday at the BBVA Stadium.
