Pachuca and Monterrey will kick off their 2024-25 Liga MX campaigns on Monday, when they square off at the Estadio Hidalgo in the first game of the Apertura stage.
The hosts finished seventh in the 2023-24 aggregate table, while their visitors finished 14 points better off in second spot having reached the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the Apertura and Clausura competitions respectively.
Match preview
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Pachuca begin their Liga MX campaign on Monday with the aim of regaining the Apertura title they last won in the 2022-23 season, thrashing Toluca 8-2 on aggregate in the final to secure a seventh piece of Mexican top-flight silverware, having since triumphed on the continent to further bolster their trophy cabinet.
Los Tuzos followed that up with a tricky Clausura bid, failing to get past the re-classification round, before struggling to leave a real mark on the 2023-24 term, initially failing to qualify for any Apertura knockout football having finished 11th in the table, only trailing the play-in spots on goal difference.
That saw them head into another Clausura campaign with the aim of bouncing back and going deep into the competition, and Guillermo Almada's side did show improvement, advancing to the final eight with a seventh-placed league finish and an important play-in victory over Necaxa, setting up a two-legged quarter-final tie with table-toppers Club America, in which they impressed throughout, playing out 1-1 draws in each leg with only the seeding denying them an advancement to the semi-finals.
That did not define Los Tuzos' campaign though, as, after comfortably seeing off Philadelphia Union and Herediano and scraping past Club America in the semi-finals of the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup, they met Columbus Crew in the final at the beginning of June and lifted the trophy for the sixth time with a dominant 3-0 win, as Salomon Rondon netted a brace alongside Emilio Rodriguez's first-half goal.
Now returning to competitive action on a high after another triumphant season, Pachuca will now set out to build on an impressive start to 2024 and put together a strong Apertura campaign to book their place in the final phase, starting with an opening-day win on home turf.
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In their way stand a Monterrey side who have their sights set on a first piece of Liga MX silverware since the 2019 Apertura competition after enjoying relatively pleasing campaigns over the last two seasons.
Across the last four Apertura and Clausura competitions, Monday's visitors have progressed to the quarter-finals on all four occasions and only missed out on the final four once, having suffered an early knockout exit at the hands of Atletico San Luis in the first half of last season after a second-placed finish in the league table.
The Rayados followed that bid up in impressive fashion initially, again booking a guaranteed quarter-final place in the Clausura campaign with a fourth-placed league finish, before scraping past Tigres to book a two-legged tie with Tigres with a spot in the final on the line.
Like their hosts, Monterrey only departed at that stage as a result of the two teams' seedings ahead of the final phase, having earned a 2-2 aggregate draw to no avail thanks to an impressive victory away from home.
With a second-placed finish in the aggregate table certainly providing cause for optimism, Fernando Ortiz's team will now set out to continue their improvement and bring a trophy back to the Estadio BBVA, with their first opportunity presented in the Apertura campaign starting on Monday.
Team News
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After their triumph last month, Pachuca should begin the domestic season with a similar starting XI to the CONCACAF Champions Cup final against Columbus Crew, although they are forced into several changes as key attacker Salomon Rondon, who scored a crucial brace in that game to finish the season on 19 goals, is not available to be called on as he is away on international duty with Venezuela at the Copa America.
Two key defenders will also miss out, with Andres Micolta and Bryan Gonzalez having been away at the same competition with Ecuador and Mexico respectively and unlikely to return in time to feature, while dangerous attacking midfielder Erick Sanchez has departed for Club America since their win in early June, and Jorge Berlanga will likely come in to join 38-year-old Gustavo Cabral at the heart of a back four, while Alonso Aceves will feature on the left-hand side.
Ahead of the midfield pairing of Pedro Pedraza and Nelson Deossa, Alan Bautista, who contributed seven goals last season, could take Sanchez's place in a supporting trio behind a lone striker, with summer signing Borja Baston in line to come in and lead the attack, while fellow arrival Arturo Gonzalez in unable to turn out on the wing against his parent club.
Monterrey have also been without several key players for their preparations for the new campaign due to the Copa America, with defender Gerardo Arteaga, midfielder Luis Romo and winger Jordi Cortizo having all been away with Mexico, and despite their exit from the tournament the trio may not be ready to turn out for the Rayados on Monday.
Club captain Hector Moreno will bid to start the campaign in the middle of the defence alongside mainstay Victor Guzman, while new arrivals Johan Rojas and Oliver Torres will hope to earn debuts in the midfield after joining from La Equidad and Sevilla respectively.
Argentinian German Berterame should continue to lead the line after topping their scoring charts with 13 goals last term, while former Real Madrid, Real Sociedad and Real Betis man Sergio Canales remains a key man in support.
Pachuca possible starting lineup:
Moreno; L Rodriguez, Cabral, Berlanga, Aceves; Pedraza, Deossa; E Rodriguez, Bautista, Idrissi; Baston
Monterrey possible starting lineup:
Andrada; Medina, Moreno, Guzman, Aguirre; Rodriguez, Torres; Corona, Vasquez, Canales; Berterame
We say: Pachuca 2-1 Monterrey
Both sides boast similar levels of quality throughout their squad and are hit by several enforced absences heading into the curtain-raiser, and we anticipate a tight contest with both desperate to kick off with a victory.
Having been in competitive action more recently in a triumphant CONCACAF Champions Cup final, we give a slight edge to Pachuca and back them to scrape all three points with home advantage.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
