Playoff fever grips Mexico as fourteen teams are still alive for seven remaining places.
Monterrey and Morelia will fight to obtain playoff spots that will ensure their football is played through May. Cruz Azul and Guadalajara are also searching for three points that will see them through to the Mexican Clausura quarterfinals.
Atlante can do the same by beating Necaxa, a team clinging by its fingernails off the cliff edge facing them with relegation to the Liga de Ascenso, the Mexican Second Division. América and Estudiantes Tecos will close out the slate of games at the Estadio Jalisco, a venue that will allow Guadalajara's heavy América population to cheer their Mexico City-based team on. Matchday 15 is on LSTV!
We might have a potential liguilla match on our hands this Saturday in Monterrey, as the seventh seeded Monterrey Rayados face the second seeded Morelia Monarcas at the Estadio Tecnológico.
Monterrey, with 21 points, can jump to fourth with a combination of results and of course, a win over Morelia. The Tomás Boy-led team sit second with a grand total of 27 points in 14 matches, just below UNAM Pumas thanks to goal difference.
Cruz Azul defeated Monterrey 3-0 during the mid-week fixtures, leaving the northern squad in a predicament and needing to beat Morelia or at least grab a draw in their pursuit for the playoffs. Meanwhile, Morelia beat Jaguares 2-1 at home, putting a team that had been on a positive run down for the count.
Monterrey will be without Humberto Suazo, who is gone with an injury. Should there be a Santos loss at Guadalajara tonight, Monterrey would automatically be qualified with their win over Morelia.
Cancún will harbor a match between a team destined to make the final eight (Atlante) and a team apparently destined to join 17 others in the Silver Division of the Mexican football pyramid.
Necaxa are just a few days away from trapping their own destiny and signing off on a death sentence that will push them down into the Liga de Ascenso in the Latin American nation. Meanwhile, Atlante have resurged with Miguel Herrera as the team's coach, and have created an interesting offensive partnership with Christian Bermudez at midfielder and Francisco Fonseca at striker.
Atlante will look to move up the table and position themselves at 25 points, whilst keeping second-place (in Group II) América at a distance as they travel towards La Liguilla.
Necaxa's 13 points have them seventeenth in the eighteen team field, as only Jaguares' 11 are below the Aguascalientes team. A Necaxa loss coupled with a Querétaro win would seal the Rayos' doomed fate within the second division for 2011-12.
At the Estadio Cuauhtémoc in Puebla, Cruz Azul and the home Camoteros will face off in a match that historically produces a lot of open, offensive football.
Puebla's last win over Cruz Azul was a 4-1 shellacking at this very stadium, while Cruz Azul have been historically dominant, only losing twice to Puebla since 2004.
With 15 points, Puebla are also fifteenth in the league table, on the outside looking in as far as the playoff picture is concerned, with virtually no chance of making the next round.
Meanwhile, Cruz Azul are fifth overall with 24 points on the season, helped by a 3-0 win last Wednesday over Monterrey which gave them instant revenge on the Rayados after that squad left them out of the Concacaf Champions' League.
Hugo Droguett will be unavailable for the Blues, as the Chilean is out due to injury.
Guadalajara will be the stage for Chivas' potential fifth win in a row, with Santos Laguna being the team in charge of stopping what could be a quintet of Chivas victories in the last month.
Erick Torres will be the man up front for Guadalajara in charge of becoming the on point striker for a team that had been starved for offense in what had been a very goal-starved team.
Meanwhile, Santos Laguna have relieved themselves of the pressure hurting Diego Cocca, as the Argentinian had not been able to gain a single victory at the helm of the Torreón side.
Guadalajara can clinch a playoff berth with a win over Santos Laguna, something they should be able to do within the confines of their Omnilife Stadium.
With their backup goalkeeper and their starting striker out due to injury, Pachuca will host Atlas at the Estadio Hidalgo after a positive week of games, despite losing to Tigres in the mid-week matchday 14.
Atlas, with 17 points and an eleventh place within the 18-team fold, still harbor possibilities of being qualified to the playoff round, but need to beat Pachuca in order to jump up the table and position themselves amongst the eight best.
Pachuca find themselves in thirteenth, with just one point less than their rivals at the Estadio Hidalgo, by way of a positive managerial change instigated with Pablo Marini vacating the spot for Efrain Flores, former Mexico national team manager.
Rodolfo Cota, second-choice Pachuca goalkeeper, has been key in avoiding any further loss of points now that Miguel Calero has been out to injury.
San Luis will set the stage for the Alfonso Lastras Stadium to house two teams facing elimination from the postseason at a relatively early stage.
Toluca's rough week has them ninth on goal difference alone, as three other teams tie them in points and have the opportunity to leapfrog them in the standings. That is why a win at San Luis will give them the appropriate distance from other teams at this stage of the tournament.
San Luis will have the opportunity to better their current placing within the league, which is actually right below the Toluca team they're battling, as they also have 17 points.
The 75th anniversary of the IPN has produced an opportunity for these two teams to battle for a trophy: a draw will have the honor go to Toluca, while San Luis will have to beat the Reds in order to obtain the silverware.
Third place UANL Tigres will face last place Jaguares in a match that is sure to produce three points for the Monterrey squad. And although Jaguares beat UNAM Pumas a week ago and took their undefeated status away, injuries and the Copa Libertadores have severely curtailed Chiapas' chances of a deep playoff run.
Jackson Martinez, Julio Frias, Edgar Andrade, Antonio Salazar, Jorge Rodriguez and Miguel Angel Martinez have all missed time due to injury, meaning that Jaguares have had to field several second or third choice players in what has been a disastrous Clausura 2011.
Light at the end of the tunnel represents their continuing participation within the Copa Libertadores, where they recently beat holders Internacional.
Tigres UANL will qualify to the playoffs with a win over Jaguares.
Pumas' leadership is in danger for the current Clausura 2011 campaign, as a loss and/or Morelia/UANL Tigres win will knock them off the perch for the first time in several weeks of play.
Meanwhile, Queretaro is close to sealing their continuing participation within the Mexican First Division, which could come as early as this Sunday, if they achieve a seemingly impossible task and beat UNAM Pumas, a team that has gone almost a year without losing at the Estadio Universitario.
With fifteen points in fourteen matches, Queretaro still harbor hopes for the postseason, although that objective has remained secondary due to the continuing and lingering doubts about staying in the Primera División.
Pumas have qualified mathematically to the next round, but will be keen to keep racking up points as they will want the statistically easiest match in the quarterfinals for the first round of the playoffs.
Finally, the Estadio Jalisco will allow Estudiantes Tecos to bring more people in for a match against América. The Eagles are eighth in the league table, after losing last week to Chivas in the Clásico Nacional by a scandalous 3-0 margin.
The Carlos Reinoso side rested after the weekend, as they had gone ahead and played their Matchday 14 game on February 2nd, as San Luis were also in the Copa Libertadores and wished to push the match up to allow for more rest later on.
América must win in order to keep hoping for a playoff berth, against an Estudiantes Tecos team that will be excited by the larger circumstances in which their match will take place. Their sixteen points in fourteen matches have them fourteenth in the league, while América have five points more.
Nicolas Olivera will return for America after serving his one-match ban after receiving a red card in the Matchday 12 game against Puebla.
Atlante can do the same by beating Necaxa, a team clinging by its fingernails off the cliff edge facing them with relegation to the Liga de Ascenso, the Mexican Second Division. América and Estudiantes Tecos will close out the slate of games at the Estadio Jalisco, a venue that will allow Guadalajara's heavy América population to cheer their Mexico City-based team on. Matchday 15 is on LSTV!
We might have a potential liguilla match on our hands this Saturday in Monterrey, as the seventh seeded Monterrey Rayados face the second seeded Morelia Monarcas at the Estadio Tecnológico.
Monterrey, with 21 points, can jump to fourth with a combination of results and of course, a win over Morelia. The Tomás Boy-led team sit second with a grand total of 27 points in 14 matches, just below UNAM Pumas thanks to goal difference.
Cruz Azul defeated Monterrey 3-0 during the mid-week fixtures, leaving the northern squad in a predicament and needing to beat Morelia or at least grab a draw in their pursuit for the playoffs. Meanwhile, Morelia beat Jaguares 2-1 at home, putting a team that had been on a positive run down for the count.
Monterrey will be without Humberto Suazo, who is gone with an injury. Should there be a Santos loss at Guadalajara tonight, Monterrey would automatically be qualified with their win over Morelia.
Cancún will harbor a match between a team destined to make the final eight (Atlante) and a team apparently destined to join 17 others in the Silver Division of the Mexican football pyramid.
Necaxa are just a few days away from trapping their own destiny and signing off on a death sentence that will push them down into the Liga de Ascenso in the Latin American nation. Meanwhile, Atlante have resurged with Miguel Herrera as the team's coach, and have created an interesting offensive partnership with Christian Bermudez at midfielder and Francisco Fonseca at striker.
Atlante will look to move up the table and position themselves at 25 points, whilst keeping second-place (in Group II) América at a distance as they travel towards La Liguilla.
Necaxa's 13 points have them seventeenth in the eighteen team field, as only Jaguares' 11 are below the Aguascalientes team. A Necaxa loss coupled with a Querétaro win would seal the Rayos' doomed fate within the second division for 2011-12.
At the Estadio Cuauhtémoc in Puebla, Cruz Azul and the home Camoteros will face off in a match that historically produces a lot of open, offensive football.
Puebla's last win over Cruz Azul was a 4-1 shellacking at this very stadium, while Cruz Azul have been historically dominant, only losing twice to Puebla since 2004.
With 15 points, Puebla are also fifteenth in the league table, on the outside looking in as far as the playoff picture is concerned, with virtually no chance of making the next round.
Meanwhile, Cruz Azul are fifth overall with 24 points on the season, helped by a 3-0 win last Wednesday over Monterrey which gave them instant revenge on the Rayados after that squad left them out of the Concacaf Champions' League.
Hugo Droguett will be unavailable for the Blues, as the Chilean is out due to injury.
Guadalajara will be the stage for Chivas' potential fifth win in a row, with Santos Laguna being the team in charge of stopping what could be a quintet of Chivas victories in the last month.
Erick Torres will be the man up front for Guadalajara in charge of becoming the on point striker for a team that had been starved for offense in what had been a very goal-starved team.
Meanwhile, Santos Laguna have relieved themselves of the pressure hurting Diego Cocca, as the Argentinian had not been able to gain a single victory at the helm of the Torreón side.
Guadalajara can clinch a playoff berth with a win over Santos Laguna, something they should be able to do within the confines of their Omnilife Stadium.
With their backup goalkeeper and their starting striker out due to injury, Pachuca will host Atlas at the Estadio Hidalgo after a positive week of games, despite losing to Tigres in the mid-week matchday 14.
Atlas, with 17 points and an eleventh place within the 18-team fold, still harbor possibilities of being qualified to the playoff round, but need to beat Pachuca in order to jump up the table and position themselves amongst the eight best.
Pachuca find themselves in thirteenth, with just one point less than their rivals at the Estadio Hidalgo, by way of a positive managerial change instigated with Pablo Marini vacating the spot for Efrain Flores, former Mexico national team manager.
Rodolfo Cota, second-choice Pachuca goalkeeper, has been key in avoiding any further loss of points now that Miguel Calero has been out to injury.
San Luis will set the stage for the Alfonso Lastras Stadium to house two teams facing elimination from the postseason at a relatively early stage.
Toluca's rough week has them ninth on goal difference alone, as three other teams tie them in points and have the opportunity to leapfrog them in the standings. That is why a win at San Luis will give them the appropriate distance from other teams at this stage of the tournament.
San Luis will have the opportunity to better their current placing within the league, which is actually right below the Toluca team they're battling, as they also have 17 points.
The 75th anniversary of the IPN has produced an opportunity for these two teams to battle for a trophy: a draw will have the honor go to Toluca, while San Luis will have to beat the Reds in order to obtain the silverware.
Third place UANL Tigres will face last place Jaguares in a match that is sure to produce three points for the Monterrey squad. And although Jaguares beat UNAM Pumas a week ago and took their undefeated status away, injuries and the Copa Libertadores have severely curtailed Chiapas' chances of a deep playoff run.
Jackson Martinez, Julio Frias, Edgar Andrade, Antonio Salazar, Jorge Rodriguez and Miguel Angel Martinez have all missed time due to injury, meaning that Jaguares have had to field several second or third choice players in what has been a disastrous Clausura 2011.
Light at the end of the tunnel represents their continuing participation within the Copa Libertadores, where they recently beat holders Internacional.
Tigres UANL will qualify to the playoffs with a win over Jaguares.
Pumas' leadership is in danger for the current Clausura 2011 campaign, as a loss and/or Morelia/UANL Tigres win will knock them off the perch for the first time in several weeks of play.
Meanwhile, Queretaro is close to sealing their continuing participation within the Mexican First Division, which could come as early as this Sunday, if they achieve a seemingly impossible task and beat UNAM Pumas, a team that has gone almost a year without losing at the Estadio Universitario.
With fifteen points in fourteen matches, Queretaro still harbor hopes for the postseason, although that objective has remained secondary due to the continuing and lingering doubts about staying in the Primera División.
Pumas have qualified mathematically to the next round, but will be keen to keep racking up points as they will want the statistically easiest match in the quarterfinals for the first round of the playoffs.
Finally, the Estadio Jalisco will allow Estudiantes Tecos to bring more people in for a match against América. The Eagles are eighth in the league table, after losing last week to Chivas in the Clásico Nacional by a scandalous 3-0 margin.
The Carlos Reinoso side rested after the weekend, as they had gone ahead and played their Matchday 14 game on February 2nd, as San Luis were also in the Copa Libertadores and wished to push the match up to allow for more rest later on.
América must win in order to keep hoping for a playoff berth, against an Estudiantes Tecos team that will be excited by the larger circumstances in which their match will take place. Their sixteen points in fourteen matches have them fourteenth in the league, while América have five points more.
Nicolas Olivera will return for America after serving his one-match ban after receiving a red card in the Matchday 12 game against Puebla.
