Liga MX Femenil viewing guide: 2023 Apertura Final

Back in July, 18 teams started the season fresh and full of hope. New coaches, new players, new systems all gave these clubs the promise of a new day. And while the past four months have shown that truly anything is possible in Liga MX Femenil, it all culminates in two matches starting tonight.

Tigres and América meet for the third time to play for the championship. Way back in the 2018 Apertura América beat Tigres in penalties to win their first title, and a little over a year ago Tigres got revenge, downing América 3-0 on aggregate to get their fifth.

For América, a title would further cement themselves as true grandes of the women’s game. A third title would push them over Rayadas and their archrivals Chivas, justifying the spending of the past few seasons to bring in players like Katty Martínez, Alison González, Itzel González, Aurélie Kaci, Kiana Palacios, Andrea Pereira, and of course more recently Kheira Hamraoui.

While these galácticas may get the name recognition, it’s the smart signings of Mexican-American players from the NCAA system in the United States that has formed a solid nucleus, especially defensively. Jocelyn Orejel, Kim Rodríguez, Karina Rodríguez, Nicki Hernández, and Miah Zuazua are critical pieces of América’s run. Without these players, it’s almost certain América concedes more than the league-best 11 goals against.

Tigres meanwhile are proving that they can be as dominant while undergoing a changing of the guard. The past offseason saw head coach Carmelina Moscato depart the club, and Mia Fishel sold to Chelsea. Noxolo Cesane, Natalia Gaitán, and Riley Mattingly weren’t brought back, and the club lost Deiry Ramírez early in the season to an ACL injury. It would have been understandable if the team needed a season to re-tool.

Instead, Tigres brought in Mila Martínez after her stellar run with Juárez. While Fishel is irreplaceable, a resurgence from Stephany Mayor and a great season from Maricarmen Reyes helped fill the void on the scoresheet. The club also brought in Alexia Villanueva from Santos and signed Sweden U23 forward Evelyn Ijeh.

Ijeh isn’t the only player with international experience Tigres brought in, signing Jamaica defender Konya Plummer and bringing Australia midfielder Alex Chidiac in on loan. They also signed Joseline Montoya from Chivas and Alexia Delgado from Santos to bolster the midfield. The results have been a resounding success, with Reyes winning the golden boot and Tigres winning superlíder.

Both of these teams are among the best on the continent, and it should be a real heavyweight battle over the course of the series. The teams are largely mirror images of one another, liking to hold possession and create chances by finding mismatches. Tigres likes to play more from the outside in, using Jacquie Ovalle and Belén Cruz to work the ball in from the wings, while América tends to play more centrally, leaving wingers Sarah Luebbert and Nicki Hernández out wide while the midfield of Kaci and Angelique Saldívar work to get the ball up to the trident of Palacios, Alison González, and Katty Martínez.

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Liga MX Femenil Final (all times as listed):

Friday, November 24:

#2 América vs. #1 Tigres - 8:00 PM - TUDN (Mexico), ViX (United States), América Femenil’s YouTube

Monday, November 27:

#1 Tigres vs. #2 América - 8:00 PM - TUDN (Mexico), ViX (United States), Tigres Femenil Facebook