Liga MX Final Preview: Toluca, Tigres fighting for grande status despite absences, aging stars
Toluca is two wins away from a title defense and a bicampeonato, while Tigres will look to return to the top step of the podium for the seventh time since their 2010s resurgence.
Here are three thoughts ahead of the final:
One of Mexico’s most frequent soccer debates – in comment sections, in bars, in the press – is whether or not a team is a ‘grande’. There really is not even a debate: The four traditional grandes, big teams with the longest history, are the three Mexico City teams (América, Cruz Azul, Pumas) and Chivas in Guadalajara.
Yet, it’s worth noting that Toluca is gunning for its 12th title, which would tie it with Chivas all-time, trailing only América. Tigres is chasing its ninth title, which would put it level with Cruz Azul and behind only the three teams already mentioned.
The cover of Mexico sports daily Récord on Thursday.
Silverware is far more relevant than any outside labels.
Shockingly, this is a matchup between the second- and third-longest tenured managers in the league. Only Club América’s Andre Jardine has been with his team longer than Turco Mohamed has been with Toluca – and he was named Diablos Rojos boss a year ago today.
You may recall Guido Pizarro going from midfielder to manager in the span of a few days during the spring, instituted as coach on March 2, days before the club’s 75th anniversary celebrations.
Pizarro said he has “admiration” for what Mohamed has been able to accomplish, winning league titles with four different teams. “His work speaks for itself. I appreciate him personally, we’ve shared moments off-camera if you can call it that.
“I think he’s recognized in the entire country for what he’s done in all the teams that he’s been at, but sincerely I’m worried about my team, making sure my players go into tomorrow feeling good and we can push toward the goal we all want.”
The motivation from the manager, the tactical tweaks and how each team is able to carry out its style of play will have much more to do with who lifts the trophy Sunday than any sort of history about who has been better traditionally.
Alexis Vega is Toluca’s biggest star. Beyond being the chance-creation engine and a great goalscorer in his own right, Vega is the heart and soul of the club. After all, his romantic return was one that worked. After an ascendent start to life as a pro with Toluca, a move to Chivas wasn’t right for either party. Back in the Estado de México, Vega found a new ceiling, becoming a Mexico regular and leading the Diablos Rojos to the Clausura title earlier this year.
He will not be able to influence this final.
A hamstring injury suffered in the final week of the regular season has kept Vega out of the postseason, and the best-case scenario reportedly is he could be fit for an emergency situation in the second leg.
Vega in (cool) street clothes ahead of Toluca’s second leg semifinal against Monterrey.
Tigres are well-aware, though, that the Diablos Rojos have many more weapons than the 28-year-old.
“We all know the skill Alexis has. He’s a player Toluca leverages well, a player who obviously gives Toluca a plus, but Toluca isn’t just Alexis,” said Tigres winger Diego Lainez, who won Olympic bronze with Vega in Tokyo. “They have great players, a manager who works well, a team with success. It’ll be an even game – with or without Alexis. Even though he’s a player who can make a difference, we’ve got to be alert and focused on all Toluca’s players.”
Without Vega, Portuguese forward Paulinho has taken on an added importance, though Brazilian import Helinho has been the attacker who took the biggest step forward in the Liguilla.
Paulinho helped Toluca hold off Rayados in the semifinal. (Photo by Julio Cesar Aguilar/AFP via Getty Images)
Without Vega, it’s less clear how Toluca will get forward, but Mohamed’s Toluca will pose an attacking threat. Tigres know that.
Andre-Pierre Gignac is still starting for Tigres. Well, perhaps we should say that the 40-year-old forward is starting again. After missing most of the first half of 2025 with various injuries, it seemed that Gignac would end his career with a whimper.
Instead, Mr. Liguilla once again has roared into the final having started the second leg of both playoff series.
But while the end result is classic Gignac, the play itself is not. Instead, the French veteran is connecting expertly with the younger players around him, be it in-prime Juan Brunetta, who he set up with a glorious backheel after drawing in two defenders in the second leg of the semifinal against Cruz Azul or Tigres’ perpetual prospects Diego Lainez or Ozziel Herrera.
Brunetta after a goal in the semifinal. (Photo by Hugo Rivera/JAM Media/Getty Images)
“They always put me in charge of the complicated ones, so we’ll try to put in a good showing, do as well as possible to neutralize every opponent – not just Gignac,” Toluca defender Federico Pereira said when asked about shutting down Gignac. “They’ve got other great players, too. We’ll try to deal with it as a team, manage everyone.
“They ended the tournament well and have played the Liguilla well too. The best way to defend them is for them to not have the ball, and we’re good in attack, so we need to find that balance in both matches.
At the back, Nahuel Guzman remains the goalkeeper. While shot-stoppers age differently than forwards, Guzman also is getting up there, having spent more than a decade with Tigres.
As the goalkeeper, he clearly isn’t splitting time with younger players, but the Tigres back line has gotten a boost from better center-back play from Joaquim, Jesus Angulo and JJ Purata, plus the consistency of summer signing right back Marco Farfan.
That Pizarro was a teammate of both the veterans and remains their friends surely will change how the club manages their continued journey toward – and in Gignac’s case into – their fifth decade on the planet. For now, though, both old hands are playing well enough to easily earn their places on the field – doing so while complementing the younger players around them.
The matches will be at two of the stadiums that traditionally have the best atmospheres in the league, meaning anything on the road is valuable. Tigres, particularly, seem to have a huge obligation to win tonight in El Volcan.
First leg – Dec. 11, 9 p.m. ET – Telemundo/Universo/Fox Deportes
Second leg – Dec. 14, 8 p.m. ET – Univision/CBS Sports Network
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