Usually around this time of year you see articles pop up in American outlets giving you a(n often very) rough guide to the Premier League, telling you why you should pay attention to it and all sorts of stuff about the teams. They usually tell you about how great Manchester United is, how romantic Liverpool is [include Beatles reference], some wise crack about Arsenal (usually related to Wenger's big coat) because they know Arsenal's fans will take the bait -- they always take the bait -- and they nearly always wind down by telling you that you ought to give some serious consideration to throwing your support behind that scrappy Tottenham, probably because the author hates you.
I decided to do something different and do a forum post (and let's be honest here, SG has more credibility than NBC these days) on why you should pay attention to Liga MX. Truthfully I was going to do a post on the entire Mexican league but I decided to cut it down to Liga MX, this is because I'm lazy. All of this information is probably wrong.
Overview:
Liga MX is the biggest, richest league in all of North America, slightly ahead of the Columbia (SC) Adult Summer League, Men's 30+ division. It is the SEC of North American soccer. The league runs two 17-game single table tournaments per season (Apertura: July-Dec; Clausura: Jan-May), the top 8 teams at the end of each season qualify for the playoffs ("la liguilla") with the winner of la liguilla where the champion is determined. At the end of the overall season one team is relegated to Ascenso MX, relegation is determined by averaging the points-per-game ratio over the last three seasons.
Clubs:
América: Club América is probably the biggest team in Mexico (and in North America) though Chivas would probably take umbrage with that statement. América plays at Estadio Azteca, the largest (105,000) stadium in the country. Along with being one of the most popular teams Las Águilas are also the most hated, a fact that they revel in with their fans having adopted "Ódiame Más" ("hate me more") as their motto. [11 Leagues, 6 Cups, 5 Champions Leagues, 1 Giants Cup]
Atlas: Atlas is one of the older clubs in Mexico but it hasn't always been very successful, despite this the club is actually pretty popular and enjoys pockets of fans all over North America. Los Zorros at Estadio Jalisco (60,000) in Guadalajara and are known for their successful youth academy. [1 League, 4 Cups]
Chiapas (Jaguares): Honestly, pretty nondescript. They're based at Estadio Víctor Manuel Reyna (31,500) in Tuxtla Gutiérrez. Carlos*son Martínez had a cup of coffee there.
Cruz Azul: A big ass club owned by a big ass cement company. Most teams would be thankful to own one nice stadium...Cruz Azul owns two (Estadio Azul, Mexico City -- 35,000 & Estadio 10 de Diciembre, Hidalgo -- 17,000). They play all of their home games in Mexico City with their reserve teams playing slightly to the north in Hidalgo. Often referred to as La Máquina (the machine). [8 Leagues, 3 Cups, 6 Champions League*]
Guadalajara (Chivas): The other club that could claim to be Mexico's biggest. They're traditionally very successful (13 titles in the amateur era), though they've fallen on hard times in a bad way. Chivas built a new stadium recently (Estadio Omnilife, 50,000) but could actually go down this season if they don't sort things out quickly. [11 Leagues, 2 Cups, 1 Champions League]
León: Pretty successful club, especially lately. Last season Leon won both titles and they've got deep pockets too. They play at Estadio Leon (30,000) in Guanajuato. Pilar Perez is a La Fiera fan. [7 Leagues*, 5 Cups]
Monterrey: One of the two big teams from Nuevo Leon, Monterrey basically owned CONCACAF between 2010 and 2013, winning all three editions of the Champions League during that period. They plan on moving to a world class stadium in 2015. Traditional rivals with Tigres. [4 Leagues, 1 Cup, 3 Champions Leagues]
Morelia: A traditional club from Michoacán, they usually do pretty well but haven't won a bunch of trophies. They have a pretty big fan base and play at Estadio Morelos (35,000). [1 League, 1 Cup, 1 Super Cup*]
Pachuca: The oldest team in Mexico. Refer to themselves as Mexico's team. They had a really good period between 2000 and 2010. They've got money, fanatical support, and a very nice stadium (Estadio Hidalgo, 30,000). [5 Leagues, 4 Champions Leagues]
Puebla: Puebla is nicknamed La Franja (the stripe) because they have a big stripe on their shirts. Estadio Cuauhtémoc (42,500) is big. I'm trying to think of things to say. Their theme song is kind of catchy? Puebla will probably get relegated this season. Cuauhtémoc plays there now, he'll turn 42 this season. They were actually pretty good at one time. [2 Leagues, 4 Cups, 1 Champions League]
Querétaro: If you watch Queretaro play you'll hear a rooster call. They play at Estadio Corregidora (45,000) and they're a soccer team. They got "relegated" once but bought and relocated Jaguares (who in turn bought and relocated San Luis) so they stuck around.
Santos Laguna: A strong team from Torreón, Coahuila in northern Mexico. They usually compete for the championship and are generally a really well put together organization. They play at the 30,000 seat Estadio Corona and usually pull in good crowds. [4 Leagues, 2 Champions Leagues]
Tijuana: Officially called "Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente", usually simply referred to as "Xolos". The youngest team (2007) in Liga MX and a team that enjoys growing popularity (and hate) on either side of the border. Big ambitions. Owned by this man. [1 League]
Toluca: Another big team. Toluca is one of Mexico's older teams and they play at a charming little stadium (Estadio Nemesio Díez, 27,000) which they call "La Bombonera". If you live in North America you probably know a Toluca fan. [10 Leagues, 2 Cups, 3 Champions Leagues]
UANL (Tigres): Affiliated with Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, a huge public university in the Monterrey area, but currently licensed to Cemex. They're Monterrey's rivals, the two contest the Clásico Regiomontano against one another. Tigres is a very popular club and it's very rare to see Estadio Universitario (45,500) not sold out for a game. [3 Leagues, 3 Cups*]
UNAM (Pumas): The official team of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in Mexico City, the largest university in Latin America. Lots of fans. They play at Estadio Olímpico Universitario (63,000), the main venue for the '68 Olympics. They hate Club América, even more than the other teams do. [7 Leagues, 1 Cup]
U. de G. (Leones Negros): Freshly promoted. They're pretty popular given their affiliation with Universidad de Guadalajara. I have a thread on here about an FM save with them, you should read it. They were rivals with Tecos until Tecos got moved. Tecos' last game was actually a loss to Leones Negros on penalties. That would suck.
Veracruz: Welp. [1 League, 1 Cup]
* - current champions
Look, I'm contributing to the forum.
I decided to do something different and do a forum post (and let's be honest here, SG has more credibility than NBC these days) on why you should pay attention to Liga MX. Truthfully I was going to do a post on the entire Mexican league but I decided to cut it down to Liga MX, this is because I'm lazy. All of this information is probably wrong.
Overview:
Liga MX is the biggest, richest league in all of North America, slightly ahead of the Columbia (SC) Adult Summer League, Men's 30+ division. It is the SEC of North American soccer. The league runs two 17-game single table tournaments per season (Apertura: July-Dec; Clausura: Jan-May), the top 8 teams at the end of each season qualify for the playoffs ("la liguilla") with the winner of la liguilla where the champion is determined. At the end of the overall season one team is relegated to Ascenso MX, relegation is determined by averaging the points-per-game ratio over the last three seasons.
Clubs:
América: Club América is probably the biggest team in Mexico (and in North America) though Chivas would probably take umbrage with that statement. América plays at Estadio Azteca, the largest (105,000) stadium in the country. Along with being one of the most popular teams Las Águilas are also the most hated, a fact that they revel in with their fans having adopted "Ódiame Más" ("hate me more") as their motto. [11 Leagues, 6 Cups, 5 Champions Leagues, 1 Giants Cup]
Atlas: Atlas is one of the older clubs in Mexico but it hasn't always been very successful, despite this the club is actually pretty popular and enjoys pockets of fans all over North America. Los Zorros at Estadio Jalisco (60,000) in Guadalajara and are known for their successful youth academy. [1 League, 4 Cups]
Chiapas (Jaguares): Honestly, pretty nondescript. They're based at Estadio Víctor Manuel Reyna (31,500) in Tuxtla Gutiérrez. Carlos*son Martínez had a cup of coffee there.
Cruz Azul: A big ass club owned by a big ass cement company. Most teams would be thankful to own one nice stadium...Cruz Azul owns two (Estadio Azul, Mexico City -- 35,000 & Estadio 10 de Diciembre, Hidalgo -- 17,000). They play all of their home games in Mexico City with their reserve teams playing slightly to the north in Hidalgo. Often referred to as La Máquina (the machine). [8 Leagues, 3 Cups, 6 Champions League*]
Guadalajara (Chivas): The other club that could claim to be Mexico's biggest. They're traditionally very successful (13 titles in the amateur era), though they've fallen on hard times in a bad way. Chivas built a new stadium recently (Estadio Omnilife, 50,000) but could actually go down this season if they don't sort things out quickly. [11 Leagues, 2 Cups, 1 Champions League]
León: Pretty successful club, especially lately. Last season Leon won both titles and they've got deep pockets too. They play at Estadio Leon (30,000) in Guanajuato. Pilar Perez is a La Fiera fan. [7 Leagues*, 5 Cups]
Monterrey: One of the two big teams from Nuevo Leon, Monterrey basically owned CONCACAF between 2010 and 2013, winning all three editions of the Champions League during that period. They plan on moving to a world class stadium in 2015. Traditional rivals with Tigres. [4 Leagues, 1 Cup, 3 Champions Leagues]
Morelia: A traditional club from Michoacán, they usually do pretty well but haven't won a bunch of trophies. They have a pretty big fan base and play at Estadio Morelos (35,000). [1 League, 1 Cup, 1 Super Cup*]
Pachuca: The oldest team in Mexico. Refer to themselves as Mexico's team. They had a really good period between 2000 and 2010. They've got money, fanatical support, and a very nice stadium (Estadio Hidalgo, 30,000). [5 Leagues, 4 Champions Leagues]
Puebla: Puebla is nicknamed La Franja (the stripe) because they have a big stripe on their shirts. Estadio Cuauhtémoc (42,500) is big. I'm trying to think of things to say. Their theme song is kind of catchy? Puebla will probably get relegated this season. Cuauhtémoc plays there now, he'll turn 42 this season. They were actually pretty good at one time. [2 Leagues, 4 Cups, 1 Champions League]
Querétaro: If you watch Queretaro play you'll hear a rooster call. They play at Estadio Corregidora (45,000) and they're a soccer team. They got "relegated" once but bought and relocated Jaguares (who in turn bought and relocated San Luis) so they stuck around.
Santos Laguna: A strong team from Torreón, Coahuila in northern Mexico. They usually compete for the championship and are generally a really well put together organization. They play at the 30,000 seat Estadio Corona and usually pull in good crowds. [4 Leagues, 2 Champions Leagues]
Tijuana: Officially called "Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente", usually simply referred to as "Xolos". The youngest team (2007) in Liga MX and a team that enjoys growing popularity (and hate) on either side of the border. Big ambitions. Owned by this man. [1 League]
Toluca: Another big team. Toluca is one of Mexico's older teams and they play at a charming little stadium (Estadio Nemesio Díez, 27,000) which they call "La Bombonera". If you live in North America you probably know a Toluca fan. [10 Leagues, 2 Cups, 3 Champions Leagues]
UANL (Tigres): Affiliated with Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, a huge public university in the Monterrey area, but currently licensed to Cemex. They're Monterrey's rivals, the two contest the Clásico Regiomontano against one another. Tigres is a very popular club and it's very rare to see Estadio Universitario (45,500) not sold out for a game. [3 Leagues, 3 Cups*]
UNAM (Pumas): The official team of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in Mexico City, the largest university in Latin America. Lots of fans. They play at Estadio Olímpico Universitario (63,000), the main venue for the '68 Olympics. They hate Club América, even more than the other teams do. [7 Leagues, 1 Cup]
U. de G. (Leones Negros): Freshly promoted. They're pretty popular given their affiliation with Universidad de Guadalajara. I have a thread on here about an FM save with them, you should read it. They were rivals with Tecos until Tecos got moved. Tecos' last game was actually a loss to Leones Negros on penalties. That would suck.
Veracruz: Welp. [1 League, 1 Cup]
* - current champions
Look, I'm contributing to the forum.