With all the history and tradition that a club like Guadalajara has, one thing they have never done before is start a season with 5 victories in a row. That changed last night as Chivas scored twice in the first few minutes to defeat Atlante 2-0.
Javier Hernandez scored another goal, giving him a league leading 8 for the season. A quick glance at the scorers table shows something that we don’t see very often: more nationals than foreigners in the top 10.
It has to be bitter sweet for Chivas fans to see such a hot start because after match-day 13, the World Cup call ups will head off to training. Chivas will be without at least 3 and as many as 6 players for the home stretch, post season and the Copa Libertadores.
Today is Derby day in Mexico. The first one is the “clásico joven” between América and Cruz Azul (4:30 CST, UNI). Cruz Azul has not beaten their Mexico City rivals since 2003. It should be a decent game, but the better game (and better clásico) is the clásico regio between Tigres and Monterrey (6:30 CST, Telemundo). The defending champs have started the season well while Tigres are struggling to crawl out of the relegation zone.
Monterrey is a city where loyalties are divided right down the middle, which is what makes this game so much fun. The Derby is so important, that Rayados sent a reserve squad to Brazil to face Sao Paolo in their first Libertadores group tie earlier in the week. The Rayados fans I spoke to were perfectly fine with the strategy. The clásico regio takes precedence over everything. The series history could not be more even. Tigres has 25 wins to Rayados 24. And there have been 24 ties. It should be a good one.