NBC Deportes presents Pachuca and León in the first and second legs of the Liga MX Clausura 2016 semifinals on NBC UNIVERSO. Game times are as follows:
First semifinal leg, Thursday, May 19
León vs. Pachuca, 9PM/8C/6P
Narrated by veteran sportscaster Sammy Sadovnik with commentary by Carlos Hermosillo.
Second semifinal leg, Sunday, May 22
Pachuca vs. León, 9PM/8C/6P
Narrated by renowned Andres Cantor with Carlos Hermosillo
Highlights of the semifinals:
- Pachuca and León have never played each other in the semifinals.
- They faced off in the Clausura 2014 final, which ended in a 2-0 win for León at Nou Camp Stadium (with an aggregate final score of 4-3).
- León’s top scorer, Mauro Boselli, ended tied for second in the league with Jorge Benítez and Oribe Peralta, all three with 9 goals – just 4 behind first-place Andre-Pierre Gignac.
- So far in the playoffs, León’s Luis Montes has scored 3 times in two games. Pachuca’s Jonathan Urretaviscaya has scored twice.
- León hasn’t managed to pull off a win in its last 4 games against Pachuca. The last time the Esmeraldas were able to celebrate a victory over Los Tuzos was in the second leg of Clausura 2014.
- The last regular season game between the two teams, back in Week 16, ended in a 0-0 tie.
- Pachuca ended the regular season in second place, 7 points behind top-ranked Monterrey.
- León was tied for points with Pachuca but came in third thanks to a 5-point goal differential.
- Four US players feature prominently in the Clausura 2016 semifinals: William Yarbrough (León), Omar González (Pachuca), Edgar Castillo (Monterrey) and Ventura Alvarado (América). González, Castillo and Alvarado are on Jurgen Klinsmann’s preliminary roster for Copa América Centenario 2016.
- If León advances to the final and América wins its own series against Monterrey, the final will be a repeat of Apertura 2013, when La Fiera finished off the Águilas 5-1.
- If Monterrey defeats América, it will be the first time it faces either León or Pachuca in a league final.
