When looking around the Liga MX table, most of the teams are where you'd expect them to be. Club América are atop the league, and Monterrey and Cruz Azul are in the playoff mix. But then you go searching: where are Tigres?
One of Mexico's traditional powerhouses sits much further down the table than one would expect, in 15th place through five matches with only four points this season. Plenty has changed this summer with the club, so let's get caught up on that. Their manager, Guido Pizarro, resigned at the end of July before Leagues Cup play kicked off, but his reasons why are what's worth looking into.
He left for personal reasons, with one being a misalignment with the front office. While they were previously a club that went out and got soccer players who were known worldwide, this year has seen a strange shedding of the best players at the club. Date: Saturday, August 29 | Time: 11:10 p.m.
ETLocation: Estadio Corona -- Torreón, MexicoTV: CBS Sports Network | Live stream: Fubo (Try for free)Odds: Santos Laguna +340; Draw +270; Tigres -140 Club legend André-Pierre Gignac has departed the club, and Ángel Correa, who was expected to be the replacement when Gignac eventually departed, has also left the club for River Plate. Despite the transfer window being open and there also being clear needs in the attack, there were no additions made to replace them either. So with that, it's understandable that any manager would be frustrated, especially at such a historic club in the league.
With Liga MX looking to move to a franchise model similar to Major League Soccer, things like this do make you wonder how much clubs need to push when there is no threat of relegation. Tigres' opponents Saturday, Santos Laguna, are a similarly disappointing team with no wins through five matches, so something will have to give. Another home match without a win will only deepen their spiral.
While it's too early to rule Tigres out of the playoffs yet, not coming away with a win will put them close to that as pressure is mounting on the club.
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