Jornada 14 Review

Data from Fotmob, Sofascore and Golstats. Photo from Récord.

Querétaro (1.10 xG) 1 - 1 (1.15 xG) León

León’s goal from this match is a perfect example of how they can make the most of James Rodríguez’s talent against a low block. Positioned on the right-side, but close to the box, James had a great angle to put the ball to the far-post, and León created a free man with “Chava” Reyes arriving from left-back to score.

However, La Fiera were often unable to find James in those advanced positions, as the Colombian kept dropping to receive the ball from his centre-backs and help ball progression. This is one of the problems that Eduardo Berizzo still hasn’t found a solutions for, and I continue to doubt the decision to play with James and Andrés Guardado together. Both offer little defensive work, and James has sort of removed the best part of Guardado’s game by dropping so frequently to get on the ball.

Querétaro regularly threatened, with transitions and direct attacks, and youngster Aldahir Pérez equalized with his second goal of the season. It was rather similar to his goal vs Chivas, arriving from deep to finish off a low cross from the left. The goal once again showed León’s weaknesses out of possession, the space in-front of the defensive line.

Tijuana (2.10 xG) 1 - 2 (0.82 xG) Necaxa

Los Rayos came away from the border with a little deserved victory, as Xolos missed clear chances and “Toño” Rodríguez couldn’t stop two strikes from long range. At home, Cirilo Saucedo returned to a more similar in-possession style to what Juan Carlos Osorio worked on previously. Tijuana showed that they can still control possession, consistently move the ball upfield and create chances from inside the box, although Necaxa’s first goal did come after losing the ball in deep build-up.

Necaxa’s PPDA was 13, higher than their season average, and they were unable to threaten as much in transitions. Missing Diber Cambindo is a key factor, given his movement and abilities in transitional situations. However, we have seen some attempts to create chances through combinations with Tomás Badaloni. The Argentine striker completes almost two more passes per game than Cambindo, and Necaxa created dangerous progression by playing into Badaloni and then looking for a third man.

Badaloni attracts Jackson Porozo to follow his movement and retains possession, creating a two vs one on the left.

Necaxa exploit the extra man to create a dangerous crossing situation.

Puebla (0.52 xG) 0 - 0 (0.55 xG) Tigres UANL

Pablo Guede started with seven natural defenders, including young centre-back José Pachuca playing right-wing-back, and came away with a clean sheet and a draw. It still seems odd to see Guede playing in such a defensive style, given what we saw from him previously in Liga MX, but his low block is pretty difficult to break down.

Guido Pizarro made seven changes for the match, focusing on the CONCACAF Champions League, and therefore we can’t take away too much from the game. However, this was Pizarro’s third Liga MX game with less than one xG created. Tigres are still adapting to his patient style, and need to improve their chance creation.

Atlas (0.74 xG) 1 - 1 (0.50 xG) Juárez

Yet again, Martín Varini’s Juárez created their type of game, tight, with few chances, and they came away with another point. Now on 22 for the season, Los Bravos have almost secured themselves a spot in the play-in.

Atlas have struggled to progress the ball in quite a few matches this season, but this game was by far the worst. Just 34 final third entries across the match, their lowest in Clausura 2025. Gonzalo Pineda’s side were often too disconnected when building-up, with few options in midfield, complicating the possibility to progress the ball whilst maintaining control.

Juárez made their usual defensive adjustments against a back-three, with the right-winger, striker and an interior/attacking-midfielder pressing the three centre-backs. The left-winger (now Madson instead of José Luis Rodríguez) drops to mark the opposition wing-back, and creates their own back-five.

Atlas’ structure tried to create problems for the Juárez back-line, but often they left themselves with no one in midfield. Aldo Rocha couldn’t create passing lanes at times, and without anyone dropping-in from attack, there were no option between the lines or to win second balls. Juárez forced long balls and covered the runs in-behind, with only a marking error leading to Matías Coccaro’s equalizer.

Pachuca (1.29 xG) 1 - 0 (0.64 xG) América

There’s a lack of data or highlights available from this game, as it wasn’t televised. Fotmob don’t have their xG available, so I’ve taken the xG model from Golstats, which isn’t the most precise, but it gives an idea of how Pachuca were the better side, making the most of América’s focus on the Cruz Azul second leg.

Los Tuzos only created 10 shots, but had a few clear opportunities, whilst limiting América to shots from distance. The only goal of the game was simple, a ball over the top for Salomon Rondón, who exploited poor marking from Miguel Vázquez to finish one vs one, and in the second half Pachuca could attack in transition after effectively pressing Las Águilas.

Atlético San Luis (1.58 xG) 2 - 1 (0.59 xG) Mazatlán

Have San Luis turned their season around? With three wins in four games, Domenec Torrent’s side are remarkably just two points off a play-in spot.

San Luis had a lot of success on their left side during the first half, before crossing to players at the far-post. The graphics show the effectiveness of San Luis’ strategy, and three different players created these dangerous crosses; wing-back Juan Sanabria, centre-back Aldo Cruz and attacking-midfielder Sebastián Salles-Lamonge.

Nicolás Benedetti has been the one positive in Mazatlán’s attack this season, and the Colombian scored an impressive solo goal. But once against, Víctor Manuel Vecetich’s attack offered little threat.

Monterrey (1.38 xG) 3 - 1 (1.10 xG) Guadalajara

With Sergio Canales injured, Martín Demichelis decided to change his formation, and to great success. Roberto de la Rosa, who scored the first goal of the game, played in a strike partnership with Germán Berterame. Nelson Deossa started as a number 10 in a midfield diamond.

Chivas’ back-line immediately struggled to mark Rayados’ front-two, whilst Deossa could attack space with both centre-backs pinned. Monterrey totally dominated the first-half, finishing with 11 shots from inside the box and two goals. Demichelis’ side created little in the second half, but maintained their lead.

The 4-4-2 diamond is a very difficult system to understand and successfully carry-out on the pitch, especially given the challenge of adjusting out of possession, but a formation with two natural strikers could create some advantages, given how rare it is in football right now. Only Puebla have used two natural number nines in the part two jornadas, and we know how little ambition they show going forwards. Liga MX centre-backs don’t often practice facing two strikers and having to man-mark, and a team could exploit this lack of preparation.

Cruz Azul (0.86 xG) 3 - 2 (1.89 xG) Pumas UNAM

Five goals from a game with 14 shots is pretty rare, and Pumas even missed a penalty. Once again, Cruz Azul’s threat came from a wing-back arriving in the box, but on this occasion, it was Carlos Rotondi attacking the crosses rather than Nacho Rivero.

Pablo Monroy has offered more attacking creativity than Pablo Bennevedo after returning from injury, and got an assist in this match. But he showed his defensive weaknesses in both Rotondi goals. With poor body orientation and a lack of awareness of Rotondi’s positioning, Monroy allowed two clear chances. When Efraín Juárez has all of his defenders available, he’ll face a difficult decision of who should start at right-back, given the different strengths of Bennevendo and Monroy.

Concept analysis for Pumas’ right-backs in 2024-25. The numbers show their percentile ranks vs other Liga MX full-backs. Rank 0-33. 34-66. 67-100.

Toluca (0.77 xG) 2 - 1 (0.64 xG) Santos Laguna

It’s going to be interesting to see “Turco” Mohamed’s decisions in liguilla. Toluca’s attacking strength has over-powered weaker opposition and gained regular season results, but at times Los Diablos Rojos have suffered by giving up far too much space in midfield. There’s a chance that Toluca’s players relaxed too much after going 2-0 up against last place. But Santos, like León and Necaxa in the first halves of their matches against Toluca, consistently progressed the ball through the centre of the pitch without much resistance.

Santos ended the match with more shots, but due to poor decision making and a lack of ideas in the final third, they created little xG. Ramiro Sordo was again guilty of attempting shots from very difficult positions. Sordo will never be a productive attacker is he doesn’t improve his shot locations, and a coaching intervention is needed. From 24 shots, Sordo hasn’t even generated 1 xG yet (0.97).

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