Tag: Tigres

Chivas win first Liga MX title in more than a decade

A title that proves a homegrown team can still succeed in a time of big-money foreign acquisitions

Though the first leg of the Liga MX Clausura final ended 2–2, it seemed that reigning champions Tigres had taken control. Chivas jumped out to a 2–0 lead, but Andre-Pierre Gignac, the Frenchman who has been a dominant force in Liga MX, scored twice in the final 10 minutes to destroy their momentum.

Entering the second leg, Chivas, the only club in Mexico that exclusively fields Mexican players, had not won a Liga MX title since 2006. Before that, they hadn’t won since 1997. Before that, they hadn’t won since 1987. And before that, they hadn’t won since 1970, which ended a run of eight titles in a span of 13 years—Chivas’ golden age in a very different footballing world.

Now, facing the poster boy of foreign influence on Mexican football, the country’s most popular club faced what could have been another painful failure. Instead, Alan Pulido scored just 17 minutes into the second leg. Then Jose Vazquez added what would be a necessary insurance goal in the 70th minute, leading to what would be a 4–3 aggregate win for Chivas, sealing their 12th Liga MX title to match Club America for the most ever. And since Chivas had already won the Copa MX, it gave them just their second double in club history—the only other coming in 1970.

Much of the credit for this success goes to manager Matias Almeyda (though Chivas’ players must be Mexican, their managers can be Argentinian). After the match, he had his squad kneel down around the trophy and pray before celebrating.

It was an unusual sight, especially in a modern game where the only thing football clubs bow down to is money. But the gesture was a fitting one for a club that still adheres to old traditions that go against contemporary practices.

Of course, if the pattern of the last 47 years is anything to go by, Chivas supporters better enjoy this celebration, because it could be their last for a while.

Andre-Pierre Gignac scores absurd equalizer in Liga MX final

You don’t need balance when you’re this good

 

Chivas were leading Tigres 2–0 in the first leg of the Liga MX Clausura final, but then Andre-Pierre Gignac happened. He scored his first in the 85th minute, then, just three minutes later, he chased down a long pass that slipped through Chivas’ back line, hopped over the goalkeeper like Super Mario over a turtle shell, and lobbed a shot into the empty net at a tricky angle while falling backwards.

That made it 2–2, completely swinging the momentum to the Apertura 2016 champions going into the second leg.

Gignac now has nine goals from his last 15 shots. Not matches. Shots.

The man is unstoppable.

Andre-Pierre Gignac broke his goal drought with a hat trick after undergoing hypnosis

Struggling footballers might want to invest in a swinging pocket watch

(Tigres)

A two-month goal drought is enough to make a player who had been Liga MX’s top scorer, averaging more than a goal per game since his arrival in Mexico, try just about anything to get back on track. For Tigres striker Andre-Pierre Gignac, that meant getting hypnotized. And not in the Notorious B.I.G. kind of way. Like, actually hypnotized.

ESPN FC’s Tom Marshall reports:

Gignac visited hypnotist John Milton ahead of Tigres’ crucial Liga MX quarterfinal second leg against Pumas on Saturday, and whatever he did seemed to work. The French striker netted his first goal since Sept. 18 and went on to complete the night with a hat-trick in his team’s 5–0 win.

He even celebrated one of the goals by “falling asleep” in the hypnotist’s style.

So there you have it. Indisputable proof that hypnosis is the greatest cure for poor form. Man United should hire this John Milton character to be their next manager.


https://upscri.be/16bb19

Tigres manager has furious meltdown after Liga MX playoff elimination

The man you see in the video above shouting like a lunatic and storming out of his own press conference is Tigres manager Tuca Ferretti. He was freaking out because he likes to let female journalists ask questions first, but a male journalist spoke out of turn. But the root of his anger was the manner in which his team was eliminated from the Liga MX quarterfinals.

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DTotD: River Plate goalkeeper knocks out teammate with knee to the face

The Copa Libertadores is serious business and River Plate goalkeeper Julio Cesar Chiarini proved that during his side’s match against Tigres by putting his desire to make a clearance ahead of his own teammate’s well being. While going for the ball, Chiarini delivered an uppercut with his knee to defender Ramiro Funes Muri, putting Muri down for the count.

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