Mexico’s soccer championship resembles many American sports leagues, whose playoffs include more teams than are eliminated at the end of the regular season.
Ten of the 18 teams in Mexico’s Torneo Apertura advanced to the playoffs, which begin this weekend with the four-team Repechaje, or play-in. The top two teams in each of its three groups move directly to the quarterfinals, while the next four teams with the best records square off in play-ins for the other two spots in the final eight.
Mexico City clubs UNAM and Club America finished first and second in Group 3 with victories on the final weekend of the season. UNAM crushed Tigres, 5-0, while America beat Morelia, 2-1.
Cruz Azul, which finished first in Group 1, was the only team to have clinched a quarterfinal berth before this weekend. Atlas finished second in Group 1 with a 1-1 tie at Queretaro thanks to an 86th-minute equalizer from substitute Rafael Murguia.
Monterrey, a 2-1 winner over Toluca, and Pachuca, which played to a 2-2 tie with Atlante, finished 1-2 in Group 2.
Guadalajara defeated Chiapas, 1-0, on a first-half goal by defender Francisco Rodriguez, but both teams earned spots in the Repechaje along with Toluca, the defending Apertura champion, and Veracruz. This week’s play-in matchups are Toluca-Chiapas and Guadalajara-Veracruz.