A new year is here and Liga MX will make sure to give fans their money's worth when the Guard1anes 2021 tournament kicks off on Friday, January 8.
Just like the tournament played last semester, there will be no fans allowed inside the stadiums in Mexico, unless local authorities allow teams to have fans sitting in the stands and as long as they respect social distancing rules. Such will be the case of newcomers Mazatlán, who will open Kraken Stadium while expecting 50% of their stands to be packed. The purple and black side will kick off the tournament against Necaxa.
This will not be the only game being played on Friday, as the tournament will kick off in Puebla a couple of hours before Mazatlán's match. Los poblanos will be facing Chivas, a team that made their fans dream about a new title last season, but ended up losing their semi-final tie against the would-be champions León. On the other hand, Puebla will try to show a different face when they take the pitch under Nicolás Larcamón, the newly appointed coach for La Franja.
Saturday's activity will have a couple of debuts for fans to watch. The first one of those will see Javier Aguirre visiting Atlas as Monterrey's coach. "El Vasco" will return to Liga MX after a 20-year absence, which saw him coach Mexico's National Team in two different terms. As soon as that game ends, Tigres will host defending champions León, who will try to replicate their recent success despite letting go of some key players. Last, but not least, América will begin a new era under Santiago Solari, but the boss will not be on the sidelines because his work permit was not cleared by Mexican authorities. Las Águilas will be facing Atlético San Luis at 21:00 CT.
The weekend will come to an end with three more games being played between Sunday and Monday, where Cruz Azul's visit to Santos will take most of the spotlight. On Monday, Pachuca and FC Juárez will put an end to Matchday 1, which will most likely be the start of something quite interesting in the Mexican top-flight.
Liga MX - Matchday 1 broadcast info
