Leon vs. Atlas: schedules and TV channels to see live the first leg of the Liga Mx

The ‘Panzas Verdes’ del León, led by Ángel Mena, and the ‘Zorros’ del Atlas, with Aníbal Chalá, two of the clubs with the longest tradition in Mexican football, will meet on Thursday in the first leg of the final of the Apertura-2021 tournament that will close with the return on Sunday.

The two finalist teams were those that finished the regular phase in positions two and three of the classification: Atlas was second and León third, both with 29 points, but with a better goal difference for the ‘Foxes’: 11 against 6 of ‘La Fiera’.

El León, founded in 1943, is the fifth most successful team in Mexican football and is going for its ninth league championship. The Atlas, existing since 1916, has only one championship and has waited for the second for the past 70 years.

Channels that broadcast live

TUDN, Azteca, ESPN, Fox Sports, Afizzionado, Marca Claro (YouTube) and Star + (online)

First leg matches

Thursday December 9

Leon vs. Atlas

• 19:00 Tijuana and Los Angeles
• 21:00 Mexico City and Austin (Texas)
• 22:00 Ecuador, Colombia, Peru and New York
• 00:00 on Friday in Chile, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay
• 01:00 on Friday in Brasilia
• 03:00 on Friday in England and Portugal
• 04:00 on Friday in Spain, Italy and Germany

Sunday December 12

Atlas vs. Lion

• 18:15 Tijuana and Los Angeles
• 20:15 Mexico City and Austin (Texas)
• 21:15 Ecuador, Colombia, Peru and New York
• 23:15 Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brasilia (Brazil)
• 02:15 on Monday in England and Portugal
• 03:15 on Tuesday in Spain, Italy and Germany

Holan for his second title

Ariel Holan came to the technical direction of León in May 2021 wrapped in skepticism for not having been a soccer player and for the antecedent of having been a field hockey coach in Argentina, before training in first division soccer for the first time. in 2015.

The distrust grew even more on the day of his debut in the Mexican league when he suffered a 4-0 defeat by defeat against Pachuca.

But Holan soon raised ‘La Fiera’ with offensive football and in September made her champion of the Leagues Cup, a tournament played by Liga MX and MLS clubs.

El León went straight to the league and in the first two heats had to come from behind to win the second leg and advance, over Puebla in the quarterfinals and against Tigres in the semifinals.

“The semester has been very difficult, even so we got the first international title in the club’s history and we have reached this final, which is a very big prize, but we still haven’t won anything,” said Holan.

Cocca against the curse

With 13 years of experience as technical director, Diego Cocca assumed command of Atlas in the 2020 Apertura tournament to resume the relationship he had with the red-black club when he was its player between 1999 and 2001.

Unlike other times in which the ‘Foxes’ have displayed a showy attacking football, with Cocca the priority has been the tactical order and thus they reached the final converted into the sensation team of the regular phase.

In the league, Atlas rushed through their two qualifying rounds thanks to the criterion of best position in the table after obtaining global scores of 1-1 against Monterrey in the quarterfinals and against Pumas in the semifinals.

Thus, the ‘Zorros’ returned to the final after having played -and lost the previous one- in the Summer-1999 tournament with a golden generation led by Argentine Ricardo Lavolpe and in which the famous defender Rafael Márquez played.

For Atlas, this is a great new opportunity to win the league title that has eluded them since the 1950-51 season.

“I feel very happy, proud, now comes a final that is very motivating,” said Cocca “Opportunities like in football, in life, you have to take advantage of them.” (D)