How often have Chivas come back from first-leg loss to win Liga MX playoff tie?

Chivas Guadalajara are in a battle to stay alive in the Clausura 2023 playoffs, after going down 1-0 to city rivals Atlas in the opening leg of the teams’ quarter-final on Thursday. And the history books won’t offer Veljko Paunovic’s men cause for optimism that they can progress to the semi-finals.

Since the beginning of the Liga MX’s short-tournament era in 1996, Chivas have lost the first leg of a postseason playoff clash 19 times - and have come back to win the tie on just six occasions.

Only one second-leg turnaround since 2006

What’s more, the Guadalajarans have only managed to pull off one second-leg comeback in the last 17 years. That came in the quarter-finals of the Clausura 2017 tournament, and was against their current last-eight opponents. After losing 1-0 to Atlas, Matías Almeyda’s Chivas won by the same scoreline in the return, and advanced to the semi-finals by virtue of their higher regular-season finish. Having seen off Los Rojinegros in the last eight, Chivas then went on to lift the Mexican title - their 12th and most recent domestic championship.

Before the Clausura 2017, you have to go all the way back to the Clausura 2006 to find a successful Chivas turnaround in the second leg of a playoff tie. In the quarter-finals, Chivas were beaten 3-2 at home by Chiapas, before recovering on the road with a 4-2 victory that gave them a 6-5 aggregate win.

Clausura 2004 witnesses two Chivas comebacks

Two years earlier, in the Clausura 2004, Guadalajara came from behind to win two ties. In the quarter-finals against Atlante, a 3-1 second-leg triumph took Chivas through despite a 2-0 opening defeat, their higher league-phase position winning them the tie. In the semi-finals, El Rebaño Sagrado lost 1-0 to Toluca, before hitting back with a 2-0 return-leg win.

Chivas’ other two second-leg fightbacks came in the Clausura 2003 and Verano 1997 tournaments. In the former, Los Rojiblancos were thumped 4-1 by Cruz Azul in the first leg of the playoffs’ preliminary round, but came roaring back to level the tie at 5-5 in the second leg. Having performed better in the regular season, Chivas progressed to the quarter-finals. The tiebreaker also worked in their favour against Morelia in the semi-finals six years earlier, when a 1-0 triumph in the return left the aggregate score at 1-1.

Every time Chivas have lost playoff first leg: