Pumas and Club Leon will raise the curtain on their Liga MX campaigns on Sunday, when they square off at the Estadio Olimpico Universitario in the opening round of Apertura fixtures.
Both teams made it to the final phase of the 2023-24 Apertura competition, while the hosts went on to finish eighth in the aggregate table, two places and seven points behind Sunday's visitors.
Match preview
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Pumas head into the 2024 Liga MX campaign ending to end an 13-year drought in Mexico's top flight, having last prevailed in 2011 in the Clausura stage of the campaign.
The 2023-24 campaign was an improved one for the Universidad, as they firstly finished fourth in the Apertura table, booking an automatic place in the final stage and advancing to the semi-finals with a 3-1 aggregate win over Guadalajara.
The Mexico City outfit would then drop out at the hands of Tigres but followed that up with a creditable run in the Clausura stage, again advancing through the league following an eighth-placed finish and a play-in victory.
Gustavo Lema's side would ultimately fall short of making a second straight semi-final, with the season ended by a 4-2 aggregate loss to Cruz Azul in May, extending their wait for a first visit to an Apertura or Clausura final since 2020, when they fell short in the first phase of the campaign at the hands of Club Leon.
Now returning to action following a short off-season, with optimism from last year's improvement after a rut in the previous year, Pumas will be desperate to kick on in the 2024-25 term and will look to make a winning start on Sunday to immediately put themselves amongst the Apertura leaders.
Club Leon, meanwhile, will also set to begin a hunt for an improved Liga MX run on Sunday, having only reached one final of their own since their 2020 triumph over Pumas in the Apertura, taking their tally to eight titles in Mexico's top flight.
Los Panzas Verdes would make the following Apertura final in 2021, only to fall short by the barest of margins in a penalty shootout to Atlas after a 3-3 aggregate draw, and they have since failed to crack the final four of either competition over the last two seasons, firstly falling short in the re-classification games twice in the 2022-23 term.
They did then make a return to the final phase in last year's Apertura competition, finishing eighth in the table and falling short in a 4-2 aggregate defeat to Club America in the quarter-finals, before most recently finishing the Clausura league campaign in the 11th spot and missing out of the final stage completely as a result.
Having turned to new manager Jorge Bava around the turn of the year ahead of that Clausura bid, Club Leon will now head into a first full term under the Uruguayan with the aim of making a marked improvement, beginning with an opening-day win in their trip to Mexico City on Sunday.
Team News
Pumas have been without several key players for the end of their pre-season preparations due to the ongoing Copa America tournament, with midfielder Piero Quispe away with Peru and goalkeeper Julio Gonzalez, winger Cesar Huerta and forward Guillermo Martinez turning out for the Mexico, and while both nations have been knocked out of the competition, we are yet to see whether they will return to the ranks in time to feature from the start on Monday.
If they do not make the starting XI, Gil Alcala will deputise between the sticks in the curtain-raiser, while new Monterrey loanee Michell Rodriguez could start on the wing in the absence of Huerta, who led their scoring charts with 11 goals last season.
Elsewhere, Ali Avila and Rogelio Funes Mori will fight to lead the line if Martinez remains away, while Jose Caicedo and Ulises Rivas should continue their partnership at the base of the midfield heading into the new campaign.
Club Leon are only missing one player to the Copa America, with winger Angel Mena and his Ecuador side only being knocked out of the competition by Argentina on Friday, and he will not return to the squad in time to start on Monday.
They may also be without key forward Federico Vinas, who missed the Copa America with a serious injury issue, after topping his side's scoring charts with 16 goals last season, and new arrival Ettson Ayon may come in and lead the line from the outset on debut in Vinas's absence.
Experienced centre-back William Tesillo did depart during the off-season, meaning Stiven Barreiro and and Paul Bellon should form a centre-back partnership heading into the new term, allowing Adonis Frias to join either Fidel Ambriz or veteran Andres Guardado at the base of the midfield.
Pumas possible starting lineup:
Alcala; J Rivas, Silva, Magallan, Monroy; Caicedo, U Rivas; Suarez, Lopez, Rodriguez; Funes Mori
Club Leon possible starting lineup:
Blanco; Moreno, Barreiro, Bellon, Villa; Frias, Guardado; Guerra, Alvarado, Medina; Ayon
We say: Pumas 2-1 Club Leon
In what should certainly be a hard-fought encounter as both sides bid to make a winning start to the season, we see Pumas having slightly more quality throughout their squad than Club Leon, even with several absentees, and back them to come out on top with home advantage on Monday.
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Sam Varley
