SEATTLE - After another regular season tournament full of drama, Liga MX prepares for another edition of the 'Liguilla.' This time around, the playoffs will count with Mexico's four most popular teams (the so-called 'Cuatro Grandes' América, Chivas, Cruz Azul and Pumas) for the first time since the Guard1anes 2020 tournament.
The rest of the field is comprised Tigres, Toluca, Monterrey and Pachuca, four of the most successful teams in Mexican soccer in the 21st Century. Between all the teams qualified to the Clausura 2024 Liguilla, they combine for 72 Liga MX titles.
For a second tournament in a row, América finished the regular season as the best team in the country, racking up 35 points thanks to 10 wins, seven draws and only two defeats. One of those defeats though came against Pachuca, their opponent in the quarterfinals.
The most interesting matchup of the round will be, without a doubt, the rivalry between Tigres and Monterrey in the "Clásico Regio." This will be the ninth time this century that the two teams face each other in a Liguilla tie and, entering the Clausura 2024 matchup, the head-to-head is tied with both teams advancing four times each.
Here's a look at all four quarterfinal matchups; the first legs are scheduled to be played between May 8-9 while the second legs will take place between May 11-12.
Chivas vs Toluca
Chivas: closed the regular season on a six-game unbeaten streak (5-0-1) while outscoring opponents 9-2 in that span (kept five clean sheets).
Chivas: first time facing Toluca in the Liguilla since the Clausura 2017, the last time Chivas won the league.
Toluca: finished the regular season as the best offense in the league (38 goals scored); only held scoreless twice during the regular season.
Toluca: only won one of its last 14 visits to Chivas in all competitions (1-6-7 W-L-D).
América vs Pachuca
América: finished as the first-seeded team in the regular season for the 10th time since 1997; the 'Águilas' have won the title two previous occasions when finishing as 'superlíderes' (Apertura 2014, Apertura 2023).
América: only lost four Liga MX games (regular season and Liguilla) since June of 2023; América is 25-4-11 W-L-D in that span.
América: winless against Pachuca in 2024 (0-2-1 W-L-D); both defeats came away from home.
Pachuca: one of only two teams to beat América during the Clausura 2024 (Pumas was the other); eliminated América from the CONCACAF Champions Cup last week.
Pachuca: eliminated América the last three times both teams faced each other in the Liguilla (
Cruz Azul vs Pumas
Cruz Azul: finished the regular season with the second-best defensive record in Liga MX (14 goals against); 'La Máquina' had a much better tournament compared to the Apertura 2023, where they finished 16th with 17 points.
Cruz Azul: hasn't gone past the quarterfinals since they lifted the league title during the Guard1anes 2021.
Pumas: qualified to the Liguilla in back-to-back tournaments for the first time since 2018; Pumas is unbeaten in its last five Liga MX games (3-0-2, outscored opponents 8-2 in that span).
Pumas: eliminated Cruz Azul in five of the last six times in which both teams clashed in the Liguilla; Cruz Azul's only success came during the Apertura 2008.
Tigres vs Monterrey
Tigres: reached each of the last two Liga MX finals; in the last 30 years, only two clubs have reached three consecutive Liga MX finals (Necaxa between 1995-96 and Tigres themselves between 2016-17).
Tigres: only lost one of its last six home games against Monterrey (4-1-1 W-L-D), including a 3-0 win last time 'Rayados' visited their archrivals.
André-Pierre Gignac (TIG): all-time leading goal scorer in the "Clásico Regio" with 12 goals; four of those goals came in Liguilla games.
Monterrey: only won four of its last 10 games in all competitions (4-5-1 W-L-D); its elimination against Columbus Crew in the CONCACAF Champions Cup was its first time being eliminated by an MLS team in a double-legged tie.
Monterrey: has only won one of its last seven away games against Tigres in Liguilla play (1-3-3 W-L-D); the last time 'Rayados' defeated Tigres in a playoff road game they reached the final (Clausura 2016).
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