Fansided

Chivas, Toluca left to wonder what went wrong

By Jahir M. Martinez

Jesus Sanchez of the Chivas grabs his back after a collision with Tijuana's Ariel Nahuelpan. (Photo by Refugio Ruiz/Getty Images)
Jesus Sanchez of the Chivas grabs his back after a collision with Tijuana's Ariel Nahuelpan. (Photo by Refugio Ruiz/Getty Images) /
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Neither the Chivas nor Toluca have much to prove for the remainder of the Apertura 2019 after yet another bad tournament for both teams.

Chivas drowned themselves in the league standings with their 7th loss of the tournament, falling at home to the Xolos de Tijuana with the only goal coming from striker Ariel Nahuelpan. The result realistically eliminated the Chivas from the playoffs.

This marks another failure for the Chivas as they have gone five consecutive tournaments without reaching the Liguilla and if that is not bad enough, they are also stuck in a relegation battle. So they will want to close out the tournament by securing points any way possible. The good and bad news for Chivas as the visiting team on Sunday will be that central defender Antonio Briseño will be available again after serving a four-game suspension for the brutal studs up tackle against Giovani Dos Santos. That incident in the Clasico Nacional against America on Matchday 12 sidelined Gio with a nasty leg injury. However, the Chivas will be without their veteran defender Oswaldo Alanis due to an injury he picked up versus Xolos.

The Diablos, on the other hand, have had a season from hell. They are coming off a tough 1-0 loss versus Tigres on Wednesday night, which means they will miss out on the playoffs for teh second season in a row. That means Toluca continues their streak of 9 and a half years since they lifted a Liga MX trophy, something that has had their fans impatient after many glorious years in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Just like the Chivas, Toluca only focus is to finish the remainder of the tournament with positive results so they do not get buried too deep in the league standings.

Both teams have many similarities once they face off on Sunday afternoon. They have the same numbers across the board in the standings: 16 points from 4-4-7 records. The only difference is the goals in favor and goals against as Toluca is a -4 (13 goals for, 17 goals against) and the Chivas are a -5 (19 goals for, 24 goals against).

Another similarity – both teams will be in search of a new coach once the tournament comes to an end as Ricardo La Volpe of Toluca and Luis Fernando Tena of Chivas know they will not be retained. What to expect on Sunday afternoon? We can only wonder after a tragic tournament from Toluca and Chivas.

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