Four second-division teams take on four Liga MX teams as the Copa MX Round of 16 continues.
The Copa MX Round of 16 continues Wednesday night with four matches, each of which pits a Liga MX team against an Ascenso MX club. In three of the four, the Liga MX team has the benefit of playing at home. The lone exception is León at Juárez.
The knockout stage is played in a single-elimination format. If the two teams are tied after 90 minutes, the game goes directly to penalty kicks. All four home teams advanced in Tuesday night’s matches. The quarterfinal stage takes place on March 12-13.
Here’s a quick look at Wednesday’s four match-ups. The seeds are noted in parentheses.
(14) Zacatepec at (3) Pumas
Second division Zacatepec emerged from Group 3 after finishing ahead of Querétaro thanks to a 3-2 comeback road win over those same Gallos Blancos. The Cañeros are a modest club with a fascinating history, including an historic era in First Division in the 1950s under the direction of Ignacio Trelles. That decade featured two league titles and a Cup title.
In the mid-80s, Zacatepec was relegated and has bounced between second and third division since then. This year, the Cañeros are in 6th place in Ascenso MX.
The Pumas are coming off a tough home loss at the hands of León so will be eager to erase that memory and re-establish their pre-eminence in the Estadio Olímpico Universitario. The club currently sits in 9 th place after a slow start cost coach David Patiño his job. His replacement, Bruno Marioni, had gone 4-1-0 in all competitions until Sunday’s 3-1 loss to León.
UNAM last won the Cup in 1975. The Pumas reached the quarterfinals last season before losing to León on penalty kicks.
(10) Zacatecas at (7) Veracruz
The Mineros visit the port city hoping they can take advantage of the Tiburones’ poor form. But they were thinking they same thing last week and came up empty.
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Veracruz defeated Zacatecas 2-0 at home last week to claim first place in Group 7. The Mineros defeated the Tiburones 2-0 in the first group stage game, played in Zacatecas.
Veracruz is winless in league play and scored its first league goal of the season on Friday against Cruz Azul. The Tiburones won two Cup matches and scored 4 goals in 4 Cup games to slip past Zacatecas on goal differential. If Veracruz had only won 1-0 last week, this Round of 16 match would be played in Zacatecas.
The Mineros are undefeated in Ascensco MX play, with 2 wins and 5 losses. The club has trouble scoring goals (3 goals in 7 league matches) but it has recorded 6 shut-outs in league play and two more in Cup games.
Veracruz won the Copa MX in the Clausura 2016 season.
(15) Leon at (2) Juarez (9th, 10 pts)
Red-hot León travels to the border to face the underachieving Juárez Bravos. León has won five straight Liga MX matches, the last three by a combined 10-0 margin. The Esmeraldas utilized second-choice line-ups in the Copa MX group stage, barely qualifying out of Group 5 behind Oaxaca.
The big question is how coach Ignacio Ambriz approaches the Cup. Will he play his starters or will he rest a few key players ahead of Sunday’s Liga MX match against Santos. Ambriz led Necaxa to the Clausura 2018 Cup title.
Last season, the Bravos topped the Ascensco MX table but lost in the semifinals to Diego Maradona’s Dorados. In last season’s Copa MX, Juárez qualified for the knockout stages as the 16th seed, but went into Estadio Azteca and shocked top-seeded América with a late game-tying goal, before knocking the Aguilas out on penalty, kicks. The Bravos returned the next week to Azteca but lost to eventual Cup champion Cruz Azul.
(12) Atlético San Luis at (5) Chivas
San Luis qualified for the Round of 16 by winning its final two group stage matches in impressive fashion, both on the road. The Tuneros defeated América 2-0 at Estadio Azteca then scored a late winner at Necaxa after watching the Rayos come back from a 2-goal deficit to tie on a penalty kick in minute 69.
The Tuneros are currently in first place in Ascenso MX with a 5-2-0 record and a 12-4 goal differential. San Luis won the Ascenso MX title last season as the 5th seed, defeating the Dorados of Sinaloa in the final.
The Chivas are coming off a disappointing 3-0 loss to Pachuca in league play, but still boast one of Liga MX’s best defenses. The problem has been on offense where the team has simply not capitalized on scoring chances.
If Guadalajara wins, it sets up a Super Clásico against América in the quarterfinals. That game would take place in Estadio Azteca in two weeks.