Liga MX: America battles Cruz Azul to draw; now what?

A less-than-thrilling affair at the Azteca in the first leg sets up an exciting second leg on Sunday to decide the Liga MX Apertura 2018 champion.

From minute 60 until about minute 83, I was busy calming down my son, who had been refusing to go to sleep for two hours at that point. It was not fun. Temper tantrums are a part of daily life around my house these days. Three kids under five years old will do that. But I got him calmed down enough to get back to the Liga MX Apertura 2018 final first leg. More temper tantrums. This time from full-grown men trying to gain an advantage in a futbol match. I don’t have responsibility for these men, though, so it was entertaining in its own way. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a whole lot else to add to the list of entertaining aspects of the match.

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America and Cruz Azul slugged it out for 90 minutes and couldn’t come up with one goal between the two of them. There were a number of questionable calls, or no-calls, rather, that left both sides with their hands out, puzzled looks and hot tempers. Early in the match, America had a case for a penalty, when Cruz Azul’s Igor Lichnovsky seemed to get away with a rash challenge on Bruno Valdez, who was rising for a header in the box. Valdez was involved again, later, when a Cruz Azul player seemed to step on his ankle, inciting more anger from America. It wasn’t all against Las Aguilas, though. Late in the match, Pablo Aguilar seemed to take a shot to the face from an America player that could have potentially left America playing with 10-men for the remainder of the match. VAR is in place in Liga MX, correct? Why wasn’t it used? Inquiring minds want to know.

It is in the past, however. Now we look ahead to Sunday night, when America and Cruz Azul will have the final battle to decide the champion. How we’ll survive the excitement until then, I’m not sure.

America will be without Mateus Uribe and Roger Martinez, who were both injured in the match. Uribe was my key player in the preview for the first leg, and losing him is absolutely massive. Before La Liguilla, I would have said Guido Rodriguez was America’s most indispensable player, and I think I still stand by that, but Uribe’s play in the last few matches has been superb. Piojo Herrera will have a hard time finding a replacement.

Martinez is a big loss, as well. He looked a bit overwhelmed by the moment in the first half, but seemed to settle down before his injury. He’s been another player that has stepped up their game during these playoffs and, like Uribe, his absence will change the look of America drastically.

For Cruz Azul, the issue will be finding the best way to score. Milton Caraglio looked pretty bad to me, but wasn’t subbed off until the 89th minute, so perhaps Pedro Caixinha disagrees with me. America did well to neutralize the Cruz Azul midfield for the most part, but couldn’t get going themselves in the process!

One of the enduring scenes from this match was after the final whistle, when players, coaches, officials, and whoever else was out on the pitch scuffled at the touch-line. Yelling, pushing, and crazy eyes were all around. Miguel Herrera was one of the individuals involved, and who calmed him down, but his counterpart, Pedro Caixinha. It represents the stark contrast between the two teams. One running on adrenaline and passion, the other on tactics and reflection. Both have their strengths. Both have their weaknesses. Between now and Sunday, both will have their work cut out for them to solve the puzzle of their opponent.

Finally, we have to mention that shot. You know the one. The shot Edgar Mendez will see in his sleep every night until Sunday and, if they don’t find a way to lift the trophy, perhaps longer than that. In stoppage time, a misjudged attempt at a tackle from one of the America centerbacks saw the ball rolling towards the net, teed up beautifully for the Spanish midfielder to be the hero. Agustin Marchesin came out to meet it. Mendez got the shot off with an open net. Woodwork. The ball struck the joint between the crossbar and the left post. Let the reader decide how to interpret that, but that shot will certainly haunt the thoughts of Cruz Azul fans if they lose a close match on Sunday.

Time will tell, there is still 90+ minutes of futbol to be played to decide who is the best team in Liga MX this Apertura. For neutrals, I hope we see an exciting match. For fans of the two clubs, I’m not sure we care how pretty it is. Just win.

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