Pachuca (Regular season: 4th place, 9W-5D-3L)
Pachuca were one of the more consistent squads in the Apertura that remained in the top four of the league table for 12 of the 17 weeks in the regular season. After a shortened preseason due to reaching the previous championship series in the 2022 Clausura — where they lost to Atlas — manager Guillermo Almada and Los Tuzos eventually hit their stride by the mid-point of this campaign, losing just once in their last nine regular season games.
In the playoffs, they sneaked past Tigres in the quarterfinals thanks to a higher seed tiebreaker in a 2-2 aggregate result, before dominating Monterrey 6-2 on aggregate in the semifinals.
Strengths/weaknesses
Like Toluca, the manager is owed a huge amount of credit here. Almada is adept at not only utilizing an attack-minded style that has produced a league-leading average of 14.7 shots per 90 minutes, but is also able to have his team sit in a compact 4-2-3-1 formation that can shut down opponents.
A crucial part of this is striker Nicolas Ibañez, who finished as the Golden Boot winner for the Apertura season thanks to his 11 goals. More than just a goalscorer, what makes the 28-year-old Argentine striker so dangerous is his ability to drag defenders away from the final third that allows his teammates to then run into open spaces. As for whether he’ll aim to be more of a goalscorer or someone who is trying to be creative with positioning, Ibañez was coy with how he saw himself
“Hopefully in the upcoming games I can do both,” Ibañez said smiling at news conference. “That’s what the manager sometimes asks of us, to try to create space and pull a marker that leaves a teammate alone.”
It’s entertaining to watch Pachuca when they typically throw numbers forward in these situations that involve overlapping runs, but it has also led to opponents taking advantage of counters that can catch them off-guard. A defensive approach is the solution here, particularly in the first away leg, but there seems to be no indication they’ll be cautious on Thursday in Toluca.
“We lost the first leg with Atlas [in the 2022 Clausura] and in the second leg we were one goal behind. The first game is going to be very, very important. We have to give our all,” Ibañez said.
Who is their MVP?
Choosing Liga MX’s Golden Boot winner is the easy answer here. Ibañez is the focal point of the attack and a crucial target man with his aerial abilities. With his strength and aggression, he is also a defensive asset when providing clearances off set-pieces or corners.
Midfielders Erick Sanchez and Luis Chavez deserve some of the spotlight as well. Both are part of Mexico‘s preliminary World Cup roster, and their central midfield partnership is arguably the best in Liga MX. Both are incredibly well-rounded, but while Chavez has been a game-changer with his shots and progressive passes, Sanchez is more of a playmaker that provides crucial interceptions.
Once the season is over and once Qatar 2022 is wrapped up, it wouldn’t be a shock to see either midfielder in Europe.
What a title would mean for the club
A title would support the club and manager’s philosophy of finding success through a balance of academy products and experienced foreign additions. Unlike more wealthy teams like Monterrey or Tigres that attempt to throw money at their roster problems, Pachuca have thrived under a system that boasts some of the most exciting up-and-coming names in Mexican soccer.
Pachuca had already wrapped up the series by the final stages of the second semifinal leg against Monterrey, but notably during the last minutes of that match, it was impressive to see Almada close out the series on a high note with four U23 academy players on the field.
Coupled with an attractive style of attack-minded soccer, Pachuca would be rightful winners in the Apertura, especially after Almada and his squad narrowly lost 3-2 on aggregate to Atlas in last season’s Liga MX final.
The odds — 72% for a Pachuca championship, 28% for Toluca, via FiveThirtyEight — support the back-to-back finalists who finished five points above Toluca, but does this mean they will be the easy favorites this week?
“Favorites? I don’t think so,” said Ibañez this week. “Toluca eliminated the team [Club America] that was supposedly already champion or was on the path to becoming a champion…It’s going to be a close final.”
