Finally, after battling it out through two rounds we have a final set in the Liga MX Apertura 2015 Liguilla. It will be a feline classic as Pumas will take on Tigres for the chance at the Mexican First Division championship.
Pumas will look to win their eighth championship in team history, meanwhile Tigres will try and win their fourth championship for their club. Incidentally, the last times these two teams won the championship was in the same year in 2011, Tigres in the Apertura season and Pumas in the Clausura season.
The paths that both teams have taken to get to the final have been very different ones. Pumas eased throughout the season as the number one seed and guaranteed themselves the home return leg throughout the Liguilla. Pumas made their way past eight-seed Veracruz advancing 1-1 due to their higher seeding in the first round and barely managed to escape into the final against rivals América 4-3 in the semifinals, holding off a furious rally from las Águilas.
Tigres had a harder road to the final as they finished as the fifth seed, after what could have been a much better showing in the regular season for Tigres as they dropped vital points late in the season. However, they were able to withstand the Chipas attack in the first round, winning by an aggregate 3-1 score, and were able to break through the stingy Toluca defense in the semifinals, managing an impressive 2-0 win in la Bombonera to advance to the final.
Now both teams are set to face-off against each other and, realistically, both teams have a chance at winning it all. Pumas has a great offense spearheaded by their leading scorers Ismael Sosa and Eduardo Herrera, who have 21 goals out of the team’s 37 scored in the season. Not to mention their playmaker Matías Britos will look to find these two up in front to rack up the goals for the team from the capital.
On the other hand, Tigres had the stingiest defense out of all the teams in the Liga MX allowing only 16 goals in 17 games. Along with dealing with the tightfisted Tigres defense, Pumas will have to deal with UANL’s French wonder André-Pierre Gignac who is the Liga MX’s third leading scorer with 11 goals to his tally.
Whatever the outcome, Tigres and Pumas will be an entertaining matchup that will be fit for a championship final. In a weird stroke of luck as well, whatever the outcome of the final the winner will be a team with 1) a university backing and 2) a feline mascot. Meow.
