LIGA MX
How many times have Chivas eliminated América after losing playoff first leg?
Chivas must beat Club América by a two-goal margin to qualify for the Clausura 2023 final - and history is not on the Guadalajarans’ side.
If they are to reach the Clausura 2023 final at Club América’s expense, Chivas Guadalajara must overcome a first-leg deficit - a feat they have achieved against their arch rivals just once in the last 53 years.
Alejandro Zendejas’ second-half goal gave América a 1-0 win in Thursday’s semi-final opener at the Estadio Akron, with the sides due to meet in the return at the Estadio Azteca on Sunday.
Four decades since last 2nd-leg comeback against América
Since the Liga MX added postseason playoffs to its league format, the only time that Chivas have staged a second-leg comeback against América was in the 1982/83 campaign.
In the semi-finals 40 years ago, Chivas were beaten 2-1 in the first leg in Guadalajara, before turning the tie around with a 3-0 win in a fiery clash at the Azteca. Sammy Rivas scored a brace for Los Rojiblancos, either side of a goal by Demetrio Madero, in a game that witnessed more than one mass brawl.
That victory is one of just five occasions since 1970 that Chivas have beaten América by two or more goals away from home at any stage of the league campaign. The Guadalajarans also managed to do so in the Invierno 2000 regular season, when they won 3-0; in the Apertura 2011 regular season (3-1); in the Apertura 2012 regular season (3-1); and the Apertura 2016 regular season (3-0).
Chivas need two-goal margin to reach final
Chivas must win by at least two goals in this weekend’s return against América, as the Liga MX uses teams’ regular-season position as the tiebreaker if a playoff tie is level after the second leg. Having finished one spot above Chivas in the Clausura 2023 league phase, América would advance to the final in this scenario.
América vs Chivas: key match info
América and Chivas’ Clausura 2023 semi-final second leg is scheduled to kick off at 10pm ET. Viewers in the US will be able to watch the match on TUDN USA and Univisión, while another option is stream the game on the online platform fuboTV, which offers users a free trial.
Watch América vs Chivas live on fuboTV.