After the Mexican National Team’s disastrous performance in the Copa América, it is time again to focus on Liga MX, which a few weeks ago had América as champion in the Clausura, but will now be looking for a new monarch in the Apertura MX 2024.
This will be the 57th edition of the short tournaments in Mexican soccer and will start on July 5 and run until December 15 or 29.
Apertura MX 2024 Preview and Free Picks – Info
The tournament
The main change for this tournament is the rule of minors, forcing teams to use players from different youth categories for a certain number of minutes to promote Mexican youth national teams and potential sales of players abroad.
At some point, it was thought that the Play-In would be eliminated, but in the end, this phase and the same format as in the previous tournament were maintained.
Main transfers
As far as the teams are concerned, América will start with a notable loss, and that is the Azteca stadium. It is being remodeled for the 2026 World Cup, and the club has not yet made official where it will be playing its matches, leaving the door open that it will have many venues and does not rule out the option of playing some matches in the United States.
The Águilas incorporated Erick Sánchez, and he is their main reinforcement. The former Pachuca player was bought for 9 million dollars and has every intention of being a starter. On the negative side is the departure of Julián Quiñones. The Colombian-Mexican leaves the nest for Al-Qadisiyah of Saudi Arabia in exchange for 13.8 million dollars.
Meanwhile, the Mexican runner-up, Cruz Azul, broke the market with the arrival of Greek striker Giorgios Giakoumakis. The striker, a regular in his country’s national team, comes from Atlanta United, where he was tired of scoring goals. Last season, he scored 19 times in 30 games, and this season, he had five goals in 11 matches.
Another club that made a good move in June and brought in a European player was Monterrey, which signed Óliver Torres. The Spaniard, who has played for Atlético Madrid, Villarreal, Porto, and Sevilla, is a talented 29-year-old box-to-box who promises to form a good partnership with his compatriot Sergio Canales. There is no doubt that Rayados are one of the strongest teams.
Toluca also invested heavily and brought Portuguese striker Paulinho, a recent Portuguese league champion with Sporting Lisbon, and Brazilian center-back Luan from Palmeiras.They also brought in Frankie Amaya (New York Red Bulls) and Jesús Gallardo (Monterrey), two players who were very successful at their clubs.
Although they are not so big, there are other good additions made by some teams, such as Necaxa, which brought in the Argentine Agustín Palavecino (River Plate), or Tijuana, which added the Argentine Emanuel Reynoso (Minnesota United), the Spaniard Unai Bilbao (Atlético San Luis) and the Colombian coach Juan Carlos Osorio, former DT of Mexico.
Those who have not changed much
Among the teams that stand out for their changes, or rather, for their lack of changes, is Tigres. Although it was already a great club last tournament and a candidate for the title, it had always been accustomed to great additions. On this occasion, the only new face is the coach: Robert Dante Siboldi left, and Velkjo Paunovic, a former Chivas who made his debut with a 2-1 defeat against América in the Mexican Super Cup, arrived.
Pachuca is another team that surprised, as they only brought a substitute from Monterrey, Arturo González, and let go of very important players for them, such as Erick Sánchez and Roberto de la Rosa. Undoubtedly, it was a club that lowered its level for this Liga MX edition.
Top 3 candidates
América
Monterrey
Cruz Azul
Apertura MX 2024 champions’ odds
América – 3
Monterrey – 6.5
Cruz Azul – 6.5
Tigres – 6.5
Toluca – 10
Chivas – 12
Pachuca – 13
Pumas – 21
León – 26
Atlético San Luis – 41
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