FMF InterLiga Preview

Chivas players Javier Hernandez and Ramon Morales celebrate winning the 2009 InterLiga. (Photo: Victor Decolongon/Getty Images)

With the two remaining Mexican spots in the 2010 Copa Libertadores on the line, InterLiga will start Saturday (January 2) at Robertson Stadium in Houston. With group play also taking place in Frisco (Texas, at Pizza Hut Park) and Carson (California), eight teams will spend the next week in round-robin, group play, with the top two finishers in each four team group advancing to next weekend’s finals. Two matches – each group’s winner against the other group’s second place finisher – to decide which clubs advance to the hemisphere’s elite club tournament.

Who’s In and Who’s Out

Amongst the clubs not already qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League or the Copa Libertadores, the top eight finishers from the Apertura qualify for InterLiga.

That means Cruz Azul, Toluca, Pachua and Pumas – all Champions League participants – are not eligible.

That means Chivas, San Luis, and Morelia – all already in Cope Libertadores – need not bother.

That leaves these two, four team groups:

How They Stack Up

Less than a month removed from the Liguilla final (where Monterrey was crowned Apertura champions), we have a decent idea of where these clubs stand, though the transfers that have taken place since season’s end have strengthened (and weakened) have changed the landscape.

Group A

Here’s how the Group A clubs fared in the opening tournament:

During the Apertura, here’s how the teams faired against each other:

September 4: Estudiantes 2, Santos 4
September 13: América 5, Estudiantes 0
September 19: Atlante 0, Santos 1
September 27: América 1, Atlante 0
November 14: Atlante 0, Estudiantes 0
November 15: Santos 1, América 1

(In that round-robin, América wins the group on tie-breaker with seven points (7 GF, 1 GA) over Santos, who also got seven points in their three matches)

Changes

• America: signed Luis Alonso Sandoval (29, W, Mexico) from Morelia; lost Andrés Chitiva (30, M, Colombia) to Atlas, returned Ricardo Rojas (35, D, Chile) to Nexaca.
• Atlante: signed Johan Fano (31, F, Peru) from Colombia’s Once Caldas; loaned Gabriel Pereyra (31, M, Argentina) to Morelia, lost Diego Alberto Cervantes (25, D, Mexico) to Monterrey.
• Estudiantes: Bruno Marioni (34, F, Argentina) retired, lost Carlos Morales (30, W, Mexico) to Santos.
• Santos: signed Carlos Morales (30, W, Mexico) from Estudiantes, signed Felipe Baloy (28, D, Panama) from Monterrey, signed Oribe Peralta (25, F, Mexico) from Chiapas; lost Christian Sánchez (20, D, Mexico) to Morelia, returned Juan Carlos Mosqueda (24, M, Mexico) to América, who then loaned him to Nexaca.

Santos has made a number of impact signings, though they would have been favored to get out of this group regardless.  Atlante is the main threat to either América or Santos, but it is unclear whether Fano will be able to sold their problem scoring goals.  Whether Santos has made enough improvements to take this group from América (and avoid a likely final match-up with Monterrey) is the question.   Neither club, should they finish second in group, should be considered favored to get past the Rayados.

Group B

Here’s how the Group B clubs fared in the opening tournament:

During the Apertura, here’s how the teams faired against each other:

July 25: Tigres 1, Puebla 1
August 8: Tigres 0, Chiapas 1
August 22: Tigres 1, Monterrey 2
September 12: Chiapas 0, Puebla 1
September 26: Monterrey 2, Puebla 1
October 17: Monterrey 1, Chiapas 2

(In that round-robin, Monterrey wins the group on tie-breaker with six points (5 GF, 4 GA) over Chiapas, who also got six points in their three matches)

Changes

• Chiapas: signed Diego Ordaz (25, D, Monterrey), signed Edgar Andrade (21, M, Mexico) from Cruz Azul; lost Neri Cardozo (23, M, Argentina) to Monterrey, lost Adolfo Bautista (30, F, Mexico) to Chivas, lost Carlos Balcazár (25, M, Mexico) to Atlas, released Josiel (29, F, Brazil), lost Oribe Peralta.
• Monterrey: signed Neri Cardozo, signed Diego Cervantes, signed Sergio Pérez (23, D, Mexico) from Puebla; lost Felipe Baloy, lost Elliott Huitrón (26, D, Mexico).
• Puebla: got Alvaro González (36, F, Uruguay) back, signed Marco Capetillo (33, F, Mexico); lost Sergio Pérez and Jared Borgetti (36, F, Mexico) to Morelia.
• Tigres: received Sergio Amaury Ponce (28, M, Mexico) on loan from Chivas.

It would be surprising if Monterrey does not win this group, and there is little chance that they would fall to third.  Because of the way the finals are determined and the nature of Group A, there is little functional difference between  finishing first and second.  SuperLiga champions Tigres is most likely to finish second.  They finished strong in the Apertura (3-3-1 in their last seven), and their goal differential hints at a team that should improve upon their opening tournament performance.  They will need to pull a small upset to beat América or Santos and qualify for Libertadores.

Schedule

January 2, Robertson Stadium: Atlante v. Estudiantes
January 2, Robertson Stadium: América v. Santos
January 3, Pizza Hut Park: Tigres v. Chiapas
January 3, Pizza Hut Park: Monterrey v. Puebla

January 5, Pizza Hut Park: Estudiantes v. Santos
January 5, Pizza Hut Park: Atlante v. América
January 6, Robertson Stadium: Chiapas v. Puebla
January 6, Robertson Stadium: Tigres v. Monterrey

January 9, Home Depot Center: Santos v. Atlante
January 9, Home Depot Center: América v. Estudiantes
January 10, Home Depot Center: Puebla v. Tigres
January 10, Home Depot Center: Monterrey v. Chiapas

January 13, Home Depot Center:  Group A winner v. Group B Runner-up
January 13, Home Depot Center: Group B winner b. Group A Runner-up

The winner of InterLiga will be the club amongst January 13th’s winners who have accumulated the most points. They will go directly into the group stage of Libertadores. InterLiga’s second place team will have to navigate the last round of Libertadores pre-group stage qualifying.

After the four teams that make the January 13th finals have played four matches in eleven or twelve days, they will turn around and start the Bicentenario (the renamed Clausura, for this tournament) on the weekend of the 16th. Aside from Tigres’ visit to Puebla, every club in InterLiga will open the Bicentenario against a club that’s had more than one month off.