How many Apertura 2022 playoff teams did América beat in regular season?

Club América will start the playoffs as heavy favourites to win the Liga MX Apertura 2022 tournament - not only on account of their results throughout the 17 matchdays of the regular season, but above all on account of their results against the 11 other clubs involved in the postseason. In league-phase match-ups with these teams, Las Águilas won eight, drew one and lost just two.

Such figures will excite América’s fans, as the cold, hard data shows they picked up 25 of their 38 regular-season points against teams that made it past the cut-off point. Put another way, Fernando Ortiz’s men did not just beat also-rans; they saw off Toluca, Juárez, Pachuca, Cruz Azul, Tigres, Necaxa, Chivas and Puebla, displaying their ability to come away from challenging encounters with the points.

Monterrey, Pachuca the next best against playoff sides

Along with these eight victories, they also drew with Santos Laguna, leading to a points haul against playoff teams that surpasses the 21 earned by second-placed Monterrey. However, it’s also worth noting that one of their two defeats was against their closest challengers in the table, with the other against León. The losses show that Los Azul-Cremas are far from invincible and anything can happen in the postseason.

For their part, Monterrey’s 21 points against fellow playoff sides came courtesy of victories over América, Puebla, León, Necaxa, Cruz Azul and Juárez, and draws with Toluca, Tigres and Pachuca. Rayados were beaten by Santos and Chivas, which shows that they don’t come with an indestructible tag, either. Pachuca follow Monterrey with 18 points against postseason teams, thanks to their wins over Cruz Azul, Tigres, León, Toluca and Santos, and their draws with Chivas, Puebla and Monterrey. Los Tuzos picked up defeats against three sides through to the liguilla: Necaxa, Juárez and América.

Santos managed 17 points, with five wins and two draws, beating Monterrey, Cruz Azul, León, Necaxa and Juárez, and sharing the spoils with Chivas and America. They were beaten by Puebla, Toluca, Tigres and Pachuca. The fifth-best record against postseason opposition belongs to Toluca, with 16 points. Los Diablos Rojos earned victories over Necaxa, Santos, León and Cruz Azul, drew with Juárez, Monterrey, Chivas and Puebla, and went down to América, Pachuca and Tigres.

In sixth are a side that have never been crowned champions in the history of short tournaments: Tigres. Miguel Herrera’s team took 14 points from clubs that finished in the top 12, claiming victories over Juárez, Santos, Chivas and Toluca, and drawing with Monterrey and Necaxa. They lost to Cruz Azul, Pachuca, América, León and Puebla.

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Cruz Azul, Chivas, Puebla...

Cruz Azul also managed 14 points, defeating Tigres, Necaxa, León and Chivas, and drawing with Puebla and Juárez. La Máquina suffered defeats to Pachuca, Santos, Toluca, América and Monterrey. Chivas accrued the same number of points, too, beating Necaxa, Puebla and Monterrey, and finishing with honours even against Juárez, Santos, León, Pachuca and Toluca. The Guadalajarans lost to Tigres, América and Cruz Azul.

Meanwhile, Puebla were only able to pick up 12 points from wins over Santos and Tigres, and draws with León, Cruz Azul, Necaxa, Juárez, Pachuca and Toluca. La Franja went down to defeats against Monterrey, Chivas and America. Then come León, one of the three least successful teams against playoff qualifiers. They mustered just 11 points, with wins over América, Juárez and Tigres, draws with Puebla and Chivas, and defeats to Toluca, Monterrey, Santos, Pachuca, Necaxa and Cruz Azul.

Juárez the worst performers against postseason qualifiers

Another team who go into the playoffs as apparent outsiders are Necaxa, having accrued 11 points from wins over Juárez, Pachuca and León, and draws with Puebla and Tigres. Los Electricistas lost to Toluca, Cruz Azul, Monterrey, Chivas, Santos and América. Finally, Juárez got just seven points against postseason teams. They beat Pachuca, drew with Chivas, Toluca, Puebla and Cruz Azul, and were defeated by Necaxa, Tigres, América, León, Monterrey and Santos.