The playoffs started in Mexico, with the qualifying round between the teams that finished from 5th to 12th place. The 5th Monterrey will host the 12th Puebla in a knockout match (in case of a tie, penalties follow) with a prize of one ticket for the quarterfinal phase of the Apertura.
The champion of last year's tournament, ended the season badly with the 3-1 defeat by Guadalajara away, a result that ruined a series of 4 wins in the league and 6 undefeated in total. If he had won, he would have entered the 4th group, avoiding the first round, however, he had recently shown a great improvement compared to the beginning, while it is noteworthy that he also won the cup against Tijuana. He scores comfortably with 26 goals in 17 matches, even having room for improvement in terms of efficiency, not following the defense that has finally reduced the errors and contributed to the positive streak.
Puebla reached the limit in Ligia, with two victories with 1-0 over the indifferent Atlas and San Luis got the qualification. Before these games he had a quartet of bad performances, with 3 defeats and 10 passive goals. For her, only the fact that she was in the playoffs can be considered a success, so she will not have the stress of qualifying for the next phase while giving some hope that she has achieved 4 victories away in 9 matches for Apertura.
Qualitatively superior in units but also as a whole Monterrey, which by definition has greater ambitions than its opponent, I estimate that either easily or with difficulty it will manage to get the qualification that is more or less self-evident for it without heart attack with the penalty shootout. He may score more than once, but I will go conservatively with him ace at 1,55 of Stoiximan which I consider a strong support for those who choose a favorite.