Guillermo Almada and Pachuca begin the defense of their title in Mexico

Pachuca, the current Mexican soccer champion, will begin the defense of their title by facing Puebla on the opening day of the Clausura-2023 tournament that will start this Friday with the duel between Necaxa and Atlético San Luis.

In the year in which they will celebrate a century of their foundation, the ‘Rayos’ of Necaxa will compete under the command of the Argentine technical director Andrés Lillini who will seek his revenge after leaving the Pumas for not qualifying for the league of the previous tournament.

For this Clausura-2023, Necaxa signed the Argentine winger Damián Batallini who joined from his country’s Independiente although he already knows Mexican soccer since in 2021 he played for Atlético San Luis.

For its part, Atlético San Luis, led by Brazilian André Jardine, will also introduce new faces to its squad such as Argentine midfielder Mateo Klimowicz and striker Leo Bonatini.

After their elimination in the semifinals of the previous tournament, the Águilas del América will perform on Saturday at the Azteca stadium against the ‘Gallos Blancos’ of Querétaro.

América got rid of two foreign defenders, the Spanish Jorge Meré and the Paraguayan Bruno Valdez, and its main signings were in the national market: goalkeeper Luis Malagón and defender Israel Reyes.

“Because of the way we were eliminated last semester, I haven’t stopped thinking about what to correct, what to improve, what I was wrong about,” said Argentine Fernando Ortiz, technical director of the Águilas.

“The aspirations are always the same. Here in an institution as big as America, becoming champion is the main objective for the group”.

While América will start with the objective of going for the title, Querétaro will try to get away from the bottom of the quotient table soon to avoid the fines that the three teams that remain in the bottom will receive at the end of the tournament.

The ‘Gallos Blancos’ signed two Argentine reinforcements: midfielder Manuel Duarte and striker Jonathan Torres.

The day will close on Monday at the Hidalgo stadium where Uruguayan technical director Guillermo Almada’s Pachuca will begin the defense of their crown against Puebla.

The ‘Tuzos’ from Pachuca have not registered reinforcements yet and from the squad that was champion they sold midfielder Víctor Guzmán who will now play for ‘Chivas’ from Guadalajara.

For its part, Puebla had significant casualties such as defender Israel Reyes who went to América and midfielder Jordi Cortizo who will play for Monterrey, as well as Nicolás Larcamón, technical director who gave him a seasoned style and who will now train to the lion His place on the ‘La Franja’ bench was taken by his Mexican assistant Eduardo Arce.

Full time. Friday: Necaxa-Atletico San Luis, Mazatlán-León. Saturday: America-Querétaro, Atlas-Toluca, Monterrey-Guadalajara. Sunday: Pumas-Juárez, Santos-Tigres, Tijuana-Cruz Azul. Monday: Pachuca-Puebla. (D)