LIGA MX
What is Pumas’ record at the Volcán?
UNAM head into Sunday’s Apertura 2023 semi-final return leg trailing 0-1 to Tigres. We take a look at Pumas’ recent record at Estadio Universitario.
Tigres drew first blood in Thursday’s Apertura 2023 semi-final first leg. Jesús Angulo’s late strike was all that separated the two teams on the scoreboard at full-time but even a slim advantage could prove decisive when the tie is settled at Estadio Universitario on Sunday.
Looking at the precedents, Pumas’ record at Tigres’ ground doesn’t inspire optimism for Antonio Mohamed - if the results of previous meetings at El Volcán are anything to go on, their chances of turning the tie around on Sunday and advance the grand final of the Apertura 2023 don’t look good. The harsh reality is that in the last 12 matches that have been played at Estadio Universitario, the team from El Pedregal has not won one single game.
In fact, Pumas have not won at El Volcán since the Apertura 2016 tournament. Two years earlier, a Martín Bravo brace ensured a 1-2 win in Week 4 of the Clausura 2014 with Guido Pizarro pulling one back for the locals.
But apart from that, Pumas have struggled to take anything from their confrontations on Monterrey during the last nine years. .
Those sobering statistics will do little to raise the spirit of the capital team as they attempt to turn the tie around this weekend.
Another stat that Pumas will be aware of is that it has been 15 years since they won at El Volcán by a two-goal margin. That was in the Week 8 clash of the Apertura 2008 when Juan Francisco Palencia and Israel Castro found the target for the visitors. It’s yet another example of the complexity that the visitors face if they are to reach the grand final of the Apertura 2023.
And finally, just to make matters worse, in the 29 meetings between these two teams since the 1996 Winter tournament, UNAM has registered just four victories while suffering 18 defeats - figures that suggests that UANL are the favorites to get through this particular tie.
Along with the triumphs of Clausura 2014 and Apertura 2008, the other two matches won occurred on date 16 of the Verano 1999 tournament with a score of 1-2 and in Winter 1997 with a score of 2 -4.