Liga MX Clausura 2025: Team of the Season

Data from Fotmob, Wyscout and Golstats, photo from La Página Millonaria.

With the regular part of Clausura 2025 finished, I’ve selected my team of the tournament, but with a couple of conditions to make it a little bit more interesting. Firstly, I can only pick one player per team. Also, the players must be put in their realistic positions. No strikers out wide, or full-backs at center-back, and each player must be placed on his correct side. For example, the left-center-back must have played more on the left-side.

Goalkeeper | Nahuel Guzmán | Tigres UANL

Key metric- 3.7 goals prevented.

Nahuel reached more than 400 Liga MX games during this season, and extraordinary achievement, and at 39-years-old he continues to play at a high level in the Tigres goal.

Guzmán is still a good sweeper who can cover the space behind his defense, and help out in deep build-up, but this season he’s also stood-out for his ability to make saves. With 3.7 fewer goals conceded than expected, according to the post-shot xG model, Nahuel was the most effective keeper at making saves. Only América conceded fewer goals than Tigres during Clausura 2025.

Left-back | Juan Manuel Sanabria | Atlético San Luis

Key metric- 1.88 chances created per match.

If any team (Tigres? América?) is looking for an upgrade on their left full-back/wing-back, Juan Sanabria has to be the number one option.

This season was a disappointment for San Luis, but the Uruguayan maintained a consistent high level. He’s the most complete left-back/wing-back in the league right now, combining aggression and effectiveness out of possession, with creativity in attack. Sanabria is 25-years-old, and therefore still has a good number of peak age seasons ahead of him.

Sanabria concept analysis

Left center-back | Rubén Duarte | Pumas UNAM

Key metric- 78% of duels won.

Playing as a center-back in a back-four, back-five, and as a left-back, Rubén Duarte has stood-out in a disappointing Pumas season.

Solid in defensive duels, Duarte also makes positive contributions with the ball, as Pumas build-up attacks. Few center-backs have his combination of effectiveness with and without the ball. Pumas will improve next season if Duarte, Lisandro Magallán and Nathan Silva can avoid injuries and play more matches together.

Right center-back | Stiven Barreiro | León

Key metric- Leader for progressive passer within Liga MX center-backs.

Consistently one of the best center-backs in recent Liga MX seasons, Stiven Barreiro can do pretty much everything one would look for in a defender.

Aggressive to jump and press opponents, physically dominant, effective in both aerial and ground duels, and comfortable on the ball to start progression. Barreiro is a complete center-back, and was a key part of León qualifying directly for liguilla. The only disappointment is that he didn’t score from a set-piece, despite totaling one xG from all of his opportunities.

Right-back | Nacho Rivero | Cruz Azul

Key metric- 0.44 goals per game, nearly one goal every two matches.

It’s always interesting to watch a player re-invent himself and prolong his career. Helped by Vicente Sánchez maintaining many of Martín Anselmi’s ideas, especially regarding the attacking importance of the wing-backs, Rivero has developed highly effective movement inside the box.

This season we didn’t just see Rivero making runs to the far-post to attack crosses, he also made runs in-behind defenses to attack high lines. Nacho ended Clausura 2025 as Cruz Azul’s top scorer, without taking penalties, and he was required to fill-in a variety of positions, playing on both wings and at times in central midfield roles.

Left central midfielder | Álvaro Fidalgo | Club América

Key metric- Leader in ball progressions to the final third.

One of the best players in recent Liga MX seasons has added another string to his bow. Fidalgo continues to have a huge impact in América’s attacking build-up, but this season has also greatly developed his ability to arrive in the box and score goals.

With injuries to Henry Martín and Rodrigo Aguirre, André Jardine decided to adjust his system, using a 4-3-3 with the interior midfielders (Fidalgo and Érick Sánchez) making runs into the box and in-behind defenses. Fidalgo has interpreted his new role extremely well, generating 0.37 xG per game, with the majority of his shots coming from inside the box. With quality finishing on top, the Spaniard has scored seven times.

Right central midfielder | Agustín Palavecino | Necaxa

Key metric- Above the 90th percentile this season in xG, final third progressions and ball recoveries.

Choosing between Necaxa’s tridente was perhaps the most difficult decision of this team of the season, but I’ve gone for Agustín Palavecino, given his impact with and without the ball. Palavecino has been key to Nicolás Larcamón bringing to life his intense style of play, and he’s effective in almost every important concept for a box-to-box midfielder. His only weakness is his poor ball retention, but this isn’t a problem in a team that like to take risks.

The Argentine can also shoot a bit too often from distance, but he’s normally precise from around the edge of the box, and is a great creator as well. Palavecino’s xA p90 is actually the same as teammate José Paradela, but Paradela has more assists thanks to the finishing of other Necaxa players.

Left-winger | Alexis Vega | Toluca

Key metric- 17 goal involvements (goals + assists)

The only disappointment in the best season of Alexis Vega’s career is that he didn’t add to his goal tally in his last four matches, and only got one assist.

Vega’s attacking output exploded this season, with “Turco” Mohamed’s more transitional attacks getting the best out of him. Alexis also got into much better positions, inside the box, before shooting or setting-up a teammate, which was key to the dramatic increase in his goal involvements. Finally, Vega even had a better attitude and work-rate when Toluca didn’t have possession, increasing all of his defensive numbers this season.

You can read more about Vega’s season in this article.

Attacking-midfielder | John Kennedy | Pachuca

Key metric- Leader in xG per game, when removing strikers from the list.

I had two clear options from Pachuca, and if this team needs a bit more balance, we could change John Kennedy for Elías Montiel.

Kennedy has been more limited in his game than I’d expected, after analyzing his performances in Brazil, and is one of the least creative attacking-midfielders this season. But, his ability to score goals has been remarkable. 0.48 xG is huge for an attacking-midfielder/second striker (the highest I’ve seen), especially given than he plays alongside Salomon Rondón, who himself takes over three shots per game and doesn’t create too much. Kennedy has also out-scored his xG, adding three goals from quality finishing (comparing his post-shot and pre-shot xG).

Right-winger | Sergio Canales | Monterrey

Key metric- 0.31 xA per game.

Rayados have depended on Sergio Canales a lot this season, funneling many of their attacks through the Spaniard. Canales was given freedom to roam between the lines, after usually starting from a right-wing position.

Only Alexis Vega averages more shots taken and created per match in Clausura 2025, and Canales is this only attacking-midfielder with greater than 50 passes per game. His decision making could improve, especially given that he only scored once from outside the box this season, but his creativity still made him stand-out.

Striker | Raúl Zúñiga | Tijuana

Key metric- 0.18 xG per shot.

Xolos had the best attack of any side that didn’t make play-in or liguilla, and Zúñiga was a key part of that.

Zúñiga ended the season as goleador (alongside Uros Durdjevic and Paulinho) despite having to play five matches from the left, under Juan Carlos Osorio. The Colombian has maintained his excellent ability to generate shots from high value locations, attempting just two shots from outside the box, and also helped Xolos with his strength and aerial ability.

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