Liga MX: Week 1 did not disappoint with plenty of action

We saw the World Cup come and go… and now Liga MX is here

Week one of Liga MX started this past Friday and went into Sunday evening where we saw a total of nine games played, eight winners and only one tied game. A lot of teams started out strong while others look like there is still questions needed to be answered.

There was a lot of action and some surprising scores but this is the beauty of soccer, it doesn’t matter what the stats say but at the end of day whomever leaves it all out on the field, usually comes out on top. Pumas, Cruz Azul, Monterrey, Tigres, Xolos, Toluca, Santos and Necaxa are this weekend’s winners of week one of the Apertura.

Pumas looked good and in form as their new attacking rotation performed well and Pumas didn’t miss a beat despite the departures of a couple of key players in the off-season. Although they did face a weak squad in Veracruz, the jury is still open on this new front for the Pumas and a match in week two against Necaxa will be a good test for them as they look to continue piling points.

One of the surprises of week one was the defeat of America against Necaxa in a match where the Aguillas were heavy favorites. For Necaxa manager, it was a great way to start his career as 31-year old Marcelo Leano became the youngest coach in Liga MX history.

Defeating one of the giants of Liga MX in your first career coaching game has to be one of the most memorable moments for Leano, even though the season is very young, defeating Piojo Herrera and the Aguillas del America sure does make noise around the league and if they can continue this success against Pumas next week, they will be making a statement.

Cruz Azul was one of the most talked about teams during the off-season with Ricardo Pelaez jumping on-board to be the teams’ new president. Pelaez wasted no time to bring in new talent to the team as well as make necessary moves to get rid of players that didn’t fit his plan. You mix the off-season personnel changes with the return of Cruz Azul to the Estadio Azteca and the expectations for this team sky rocketed through the roof.

So when it came to face Puebla in week one at the Azteca, all eyes were on them. Cruz Azul did win the game by a score of 3-0 but the game was not that lopsided, in fact both teams were going back and forth all game but it wasn’t until the last ten minutes where Puebla’s defense suddenly collapsed and Cruz Azul managed to score all three goals in that time span.

Needless to say, Cruz Azul had a great performance in week one and are living up to expectations but the season is long and they face a tough challenge against the Chivas next week as Chivas are hungry and still looking for their first win of the season.

That brings me to the disappointment of the week, aside from America losing to 31-year old Necaxa rookie manager. The next biggest disappointment was the defeat of Chivas and new coach Cardozo against the Xolos of Tijuana.

Next: LigaMX fails to deliver at World Cup

Looking for a fresh start with new manager Ricardo Cardozo, Chivas were looking to start the season strong and get on the winning path as the pressure is on for Chivas to perform at a top level despite them losing their best player in Pizarro this off-season. If losing Saturday’s match is any indication of how the Chivas season will go, then all Chivas fans better start panicking now.

Many of these losing teams will bounce back and some winning teams might turn out to be flops but the season is young and plenty of football is still left to be played, it is still to early to name anyone champions or any team a failure. The best part of this is that Liga MX is back and it did not disappoint in week one.