La era de Santiago Solari al mando del Club América comenzó con un triunfo. Dura, apretada y difícil, pero una victoria al fin y al cabo. Fue un 2-1 sobre el Atlético de San Luis, conseguido gracias a una genialidad de Sebastián Córdova y una espléndida actuación de Guillermo Ochoa cuidando el arco de Las Águilas.

Con la visita de Chivas a Puebla, este 8 de enero comienza el Clausura 2021 de la Liga MX. A la hora de los refuerzos no hay muchos nombres que hagan explotar la cabeza de los fanáticos, pero sí hay movimientos interesantes en las bancas de varios equipos.

Sin mucho rodeo, aquí hay 11 historias que debes seguir en el inicio del torneo mexicano.

27 days later… it’s time to do it all again. The Apertura season was one of the highlights of quarantine life — Pumas’ four-goal comeback on Cruz Azul might eventually represent my only lasting memory of 2020 — and the Clausura (again renamed “Torneo Guardianes” to honor healthcare workers) promises more of the same beginning on Friday, January 8.

Hay nuevo sheriff en Coapa. Santiago Solari será el entrenador del América de México durante el Torneo Guardianes 2021. El argentino reemplaza a Miguel Herrera, quien fue despedido recientemente tras las lamentables escaramuzas que protagonizó en las semifinales de la CONCACAF Champions League ante el LAFC, el pasado 19 de diciembre.

El rosarino de 44 años se impuso a la opción del uruguayo Robert Siboldi y trae en su currículum una serie de elementos destacados, entre ellos la etiqueta de “galáctico”, un Mundial de Clubes y hasta el título de “futbolista más sexy” del año 2002.

Major League Soccer's Los Angeles FC and Mexican side Tigres will meet in the final of the CONCACAF Champions League on Tuesday in Orlando, Fla., after both sides were victorious in their semifinal matches on Saturday night.

Carlos Vela scored goals in the 46th and 47th minutes to rally his LAFC to a 3-1 win over Mexican side Club América. 

Chivas advanced to the semifinals of the Guardianes playoffs after defeating América 2-1 on Sunday night (3-1 on aggregate). América believed they could overturn the one-goal deficit from the first leg at the Azteca, but Cristian “Chicote” Calderón scored two great goals to turn Henry Martín’s strike into nothing more than consolation.   

The 23-year-old Calderón — who’s been capped four times by Mexico — opened the scoring in the 31st minute with an unstoppable left-footed drive from distance that flew by Guillermo Ochoa and into the corner.   

The 2020 Liga MX Apertura regular season (renamed Guardianes to honor healthcare workers) came to a close on Sunday to finalize positions for the reformatted liguilla.

The number of teams that qualify for the playoffs has been raised from eight to 12 due to the shortened season, although the top four teams still qualify directly to the quarterfinals whereas seeds five through 12 must now navigate a single-leg play-in round to make up the last eight.

Sebastián Córdova had two goals and an assist in América’s 3-1 victory over Tigres at Estadio Azteca on Sunday night. With one match remaining in the Guardianes regular season, América has secured a spot in the quarterfinals while Tigres needs to take care of business against Atlas next Saturday to have any chance of avoiding the play-in round.    

If soccer never comes back, then at least we saw an enticing match south of the border at Estadio Azteca on Sunday night.

Major sports league across the world have suspended their seasons in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. A few leagues held out longer than others, including Liga MX, the Brasileiro and Australian A-League, albeit without fans present in stadiums. By Sunday, however, both Mexico and Brazil announced they would suspend their national leagues.