Cruz Azul and Toluca first teams to book their places in the 2024 Apertura Playoffs

The end of the Apertura regular season is fast approaching and we saw the first two teams to secure their spots in the playoffs announced with Cruz Azul and Toluca achieving the feat this past weekend.

As reigning champions Club América find themselves in 9th place and well off the pace from the leading pack, the door is wide open for a different name to be carved onto the trophy.

Cruz Azul

In what has been a remarkable turnaround for La Maquiná, they currently find themselves top of the Liga MX table, with a record of 12 wins, one draw and one defeat across the opening 14 matches. Leading the league with 31 points from a possible 42 available, manager Martín Anselmi has them looking well on course for a 10th league title.

Comparing their run to this time last year, Cruz Azul ended the 2023 Apertura with five wins from 17, suffering 10 losses. The poor run saw La Maquiná finish in 16th place, only worsened by Atlas and Necaxa, causing former manager Joaquín Moreno to face the axe.

Despite a poor Apertura campaign last time around, they managed to reach the Clausura final, losing to city rivals Club América. The key issue at that time was their lack of quality in front of goal, scoring just one goal across the two-legged final, which came from a spot kick converted by former forward Uriel Antuna.

Heading into the playoffs, Cruz Azul are now the highest-scoring team in the league (34) whilst remaining the only side to have conceded single-digit goals (9). With only three games left, Los Azules face Santos Laguna, Atlas and third-placed Tigres before knowing who their quarter final opponents will be.

Toluca

Los Diablos Rojos made some eye-catching acquisitions in the summer to truly announce themselves as competitors for the Apertura title, signing Helio Junio from Red Bull Bragatino, along with Jesús Gallardo, Bruno Méndez and former Sporting Lisbon talisman Paulinho.

The blend of fresh blood with exciting young talents in Isaias Violante, Marcel Ruíz and Victor Arteaga and quality experienced stars such as Alexis Vega and Jesús Angulo makes them a start-studded side.

As expected, Toluca made themselves a force to be reckoned with. Unbeaten across their opening eight matches, the only defeat this season came in a 2-0 loss to Santos Laguna. Until that point, they were the last and only unbeaten team in the league. Since then, Renato Paiva's side are five games without a defeat, having scored nine goals within the last three matches.

One thing which could be key for them going into the postseason is that they have made their home, the Estadio Nemesio Díez a fortress, winning six of the seven matches in front of their faithful fans in the State of Mexico.

Like Cruz Azul, they are somewhat of a surprise bag this season. Whilst they finished 3rd in the Clausura, they crashed out at the first hurdle of the playoffs with a narrow defeat to Chivas. Many expected Toluca to be in the conversation, but to be four points clear in second, comfortably beating the likes of Tijuana and Atlas who are also currently in the playoff spots was not so obvious before the start of the season.

The real test for Los Diablos Rojos comes in the last few games, they start with a home fixture with León before travelling to title rivals Tigres. Ending the regular season, they welcome reigning bi-champions Club América, a side that is only a shadow of itself from last season. Winning both the Apertura and Clausura, Mexico's most successful team are in 9th place and need a late push to avoid the play-in scenario that would force them to fight for one of the last two places in the playoffs. Depending on how things play out, this final game could be a prelude for the first round of the quarter finals.

Who else will join them?

The Liga MX playoff system works so that the top six teams automatically qualify for the quarter final, whilst those placed between 7th - 10th must feature in a play-in tournament. The winner between those who finished in 7th and 8th will go head-to-head, with the winner earning passage to the quarter final and will face the 2nd placed team at that stage. The loser of that first play-in match will face the winner between 9th and 10th with one of those teams taking the last playoff spot and automatically facing the team which won the Apertura regular season.

Taking that into consideration, a win for Tigres this weekend will help their cause to avoid the play-in. Velko Paunovic's side are four points are four points ahead of those in the play-in spots but their end to the season is difficult.All three of their final games are against teams in the playoffs, including matches against the already qualified two after this weekend's meeting with 5th placed Tijuana.

Martín Demichelis' Monterrey are on 25 points, two points above 7th placed San Luís. Despite being in the top 6 all season, one win in five causes doubt for fans as they have a game less to play and face an Atlas side who are in the play-in places.

The other two sides currently making up the top six are Tijuana and Pumas with Los Xolos undefeated in their last five games whilst Pumas, who are one point above the play-in positions, have a key match-up this weekend with 8th placed Chivas.

Who do you think will join Cruz Azul and Toluca? Let us know!