Getting Concacafed

Liga MX is back, having resumed play with a pair of matches Thursday and getting in a full jornada before the World Cup final and starting the second round of games Tuesday. Yes, the sprint season that is the Apertura is back. Here’s a few things to watch as the ball gets rolling once again in one of the world’s most fun leagues to watch.

From meme to manager, Huiqui once again establishes his place in Cruz Azul history It seemed like the type of moment that would change a game. After several physical moments that saw the referee lose control, the man in the middle had to try to wrest that control back. He showed a yellow card to Uriel Antuna, but the call was coming. Go to the monitor. Check the video. It was obvious the Pumas winger had stomped on the ankle of Cruz Azul’s Jeremy Marquez.

It was over. Pumas had scored three goals on América - again. But rather than learning the lessons from the first leg, when América rallied from two goals down to secure a 3-3 stalemate, Pumas manager Efrain Juarez eased off the gas and settled his team into a defensive posture. América picked apart the low block and was back within a goal by the 40th minute - and nearly ahead on a set piece goal called back for offside just before the halftime break.

It was over. Pumas had scored three goals on AmĂŠrica - again. But rather than learning the lessons from the first leg, when AmĂŠrica rallied from two goals down to secure a 3-3 stalemate, Pumas manager Efrain Juarez eased off the gas and settled his team into a defensive posture. AmĂŠrica picked apart the low block and was back within a goal by the 40th minute - and nearly ahead on a set piece goal called back for offside just before the halftime break.

Continued thanks for your patience as I work out the newsletter schedule alongside my full-time role with USA Today - plus work through a few real-life things that altered my schedule. Recently, I wrote about the #SaveTheCaps movement’s ties to the NASL Whitecaps, what the unveiling of the Cobi Jones statue means to the USMNT legend & how he accepted the role as an African-American trailblazer.

Thanks for the well-wishes and the patience with the newsletter as I get settled in at my new home USA Today! Make sure you click over there, follow me on Bluesky for links & share the local soccer coverage so we can keep doing lots of it! We’re still wrapping our head around Jornada 15, but Jornada 16 begins tonight! The Estadio Azteca is open once again with renovations nearly complete ahead of the opening match of the 2026 World Cup.

I remember sitting in the Miami Airport when I turned on paid subscriptions to this newsletter. Then I refreshed. And refreshed. And refreshed. Once I’d given readers a chance to actually, you know, read the plea I’d written for financial support, the number went from 0 to 1. Then, it kept ticking up. I was so relieved. I had built a community. Better said, I gave an existing community a place to come together. The community got stronger than I ever expected.

It has been a dream campaign for Chivas. The Guadalajara grande plays fun soccer, has young Mexican talents standing out and is one of the favorites for a title - one that would be their first since the 2017 Clausura. Even after a 4-1 thumping from Tigres in El Volcan, Chivas are three points clear at the top of the table. They seem unbeatable at home. Th…

This is the region of Concachaos, of ConcacAFterDark, of days so crazy you must Concacaffeinate to get through them. So, why does the W Championship qualification feel like itā€™s on decaf? Heading into the final window - an extended international date with matches beginning tomorrow and concluding April 18 - the favored team in each of the six groups to get through sits in first or in second place with a game in hand. There should be drama.

When you read this, the world’s greatest club competition will be making its long-awaited return, entering the best round of the tournament full of interleague clashes between heavyweights. No, not the UEFA Champions League. And not the group stage of the Copa Libertadores. It’s Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinals time. Once again, let’s look at each of the teams in a power rankings format going from least-likely to lift the trophy to most.