The final stage of the Clausura 2023 is set to begin next week, but to complete the names of those who will fight for the title fans have to go through the stage known as the "repechaje" or wild card round.
Usually, times and dates for all games should have been revealed on Monday, but two key issues emerged to prevent that from happening. The first one was Labor Day, and the second one the involvement of Tigres and León in the CONCACAF Champions League semis, with both teams trying to get as much resting time as possible before their life-or-death matches in Liga MX.
Now, all eight teams involved in this round have agreed to play their crucial matches for this semester this Saturday and Sunday.
The first fixtures will begin with Cruz Azul and Atlas playing at Estadio Azteca. Two of the most recent Liga MX champions will face each other with different runs in the competition. Cruz Azul have only won one of their last four, while Atlas are unbeaten in their last six matches.
Next up, defending champions Pachuca lock horns with Santos Laguna, the team with the worst record to make this round. Pachuca have won three out of their most recent four -including one against Santos- while Los Laguneros have only earned one victory in their last six matches. Luckily for the away side, it will be hard for Pachuca to identify their strengths and weaknesses under coach Pablo Repetto, who recently took over as their manager and could have an ace in the hole to lead the green and white to the playoffs.
Sunday's games will start with León hosting Atlético San Luis. The team in green has only lost one of their last 12 Liga MX games, but the team may add an element of motivation if they are able to reach the CONCACAF CL finals prior to this match. Meanwhile, San Luis will return to the Wild Card round after winning three of their last seven and with a goalless draw in their final game of the regular season. The game between these teams in the tournament ended with León claiming a two-nil win, which may push most to think of them as the favorites to win this game.
The final Wild Card match will be held at Estadio Universitario, where Tigres UANL will welcome Puebla. The team in blue and gold make it to this tie with only one win in their last seven Liga MX fixtures, which coincidentally came against Puebla two weeks ago. On the other hand, La Franja return to the Universitario after their highest-scoring match of the season, which saw them claim a 5-2 win over Tijuana and their ticket to this round. Judging by how these teams have behaved recently, it would be no surprise to see Puebla claiming the spot in the playoffs, but Tigres' all-star cast will try to prove us wrong.
Have a look at all fixtures as published by Liga MX (all times CST). Add two hours to get EDT kickoff times.
