Weekend Preview: Mexican Primera Division

Pachuca's leading scorer, Juan Carlos Cacho, has four goals in five league matches.
(photo courtesy Orange.es)

As a soccer fan in San Diego, the divide between those who do and do not follow the Mexican Primera División is a bit jaw-dropping. Without taking anything away from our Major League Soccer, the Mexican league is the best league north of Brazil, and there is plenty of space in our sporting landscape to be a fan of both Major League Soccer and the Mexican league.

But the divide exists, and in my experience, it persists for two reasons. First, the two sets of fans rarely interact with each other. Second, there is almost no legitimate English-language coverage of the Mexican league, a shame considering the IFFHS ranks the Mexican league as the eighth-strongest national competition in the world.  With the Mexican league continuing to draw stars from South America, there is enough talent to justify such lofty evaluations.

A bigger shame: it does not take much coverage. Soccer fans tend to be very intelligent, more likely to use the internet for their information than other sports fans, and have gotten used to absorbing coverage and analysis from non-mainstream sources. One or two good pieces of coverage could be enough.

With that in mind, here is a brief preview of this weekend in the Mexican Primera División.

Morelia was one of the surprise teams out of the gate in the Apertura, but as recent Mexican national team star attacker Miguel Sabah (who had five goals in his first three matches) has cooled off, so have the Monarchs. Sabah has not scored in league since notching two goals on August 22.

Since then (and before last night), a previously perfect Morelia lost two consecutive games and their league lead. Sabah did not score.

Last week, Morelia got back on track with a stoppage time goal from Luís Rey (his second of the match), vaulting them to a 2-1 win at home against Tigres. On Friday, the Monarchs started a bonafide streak, winning 2-0 at Estudiantes without Sabah.

The win temporarily vaults Morelia to the top of a Group 2 which also includes the hottest team in the Primera, Club América, the league's most talented them, Pachuca, and a Monterrey side that's given up only six goals in eight matches (a defensive record that can only be beaten by San Luis's four goals allowed). An undefeated Puebla (three wins, five draws) sits fifth in the group, and sixth place Chiapas's eight points would put them in a tie for third in Group 1.

Monterrey is at Pachuca on Saturday in the group's (and league's) marque match-up. Pachuca is coming off a convincing CONCACAF Champions League victory in midweek, a 2-0 win over Major League Soccer's Houston Dynamo. Though Pachuca is one of the favorites in that tournament, the additional fixtures Champions League group play imposes could be the difference between keeping up in this group and merely making the playoffs.

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