Tijuana held Chivas to a scoreless tie that meant that Chivas lost out the first place in the standings in the final regular season match of the Clausura 2026. Chivas was the leader for most of the season but lost out to Pumas after they failed to get victories against Necaxa and Tijuana while Pumas beat FC Juarez and Pachuca. Tijuana got a point that had them in temporarily in the liguilla but Atlas’ victory over America meant that they were eliminated from the Liguilla as they ended in 9th place.
Chivas, who ended in second place, will face off against Tigres in the Liguilla.
The 1st half started with Chivas coming out with Mickey Tapias from the start because Luis Romo was suspended because of Yellow Card accumulation. Gilberto Mora got off a great right footed shot that forced Chivas’ goalkeeper, Oscar Whalley, to make a good save. After finding the ball in the area, Roberto Alvarado got off a close range shot that was blocked by Tijuana’s defense. The ball would fall to Bryan Alonso Gonzalez, whose left footed shot went wide. A thru pass found Efrain Alvarez but his left footed shot was blocked by Tijuana’s goalkeeper, Jose Rodriguez. Daniel Aguirre got off a right footed shot inside the area that forced Rodriguez to make a good save. A low cross would be a great chance but Armando Gonzalez couldn’t reach it. A cross into the area was headed wide by Gonzalez. A good pass in the areas would be acrobatically volleyed by Diego Abreu but it went right to Whalley. From way outside the area, Richard Ledezma got off a right footed shot that went well wide. The halftime whistle blew and Chivas needed 45 minutes to try to get back to first place.
The 2nd half started with neither team making a change during the break. Off a corner kick, Diego Campillo had a wide open header that he sent well wide. Off a quick start, Gonzalez got into the area but his right footed shot went straight to Rodriguez. Tijuana subbed out Ramiro Arciga and Diego Abreu for Domingo Blanco and Mourad El Ghezouani. Kevin Castañeda got off a right footed shot from outside the area that went just wide. A low cross into the area would get to a wide open Ledezma, who from close range sent his shot wide in a terrible miss. Ignacio Rivera was left wide open to get a right footed shot that went right to Whalley. Chivas subbed out Brian Gutierrez and Efrain Alvarez for Ricardo Marin and Santiago Sandoval. A cross into the area fell to a wide open Aguirre, who sent his right footed shot wide. Off a counter, Sandoval got off a left footed shot in the area that forced a save from Rodriguez. Tijuana subbed out Gilberto Mora for Aldair Perez. Off a free kick, a cross into the area was headed wide by Aguirre. A cross into the area was left there for Marin, whose left footed shot was blocked by a defender and cleared. Chivas subbed out Bryan Alonso Gonzalez and Richard Ledezma for Hugo Camberos and Yael Padilla. Tijuana subbed out Ignacio Rivero for Angel Zapata. Off a counter, Sandoval got off a left footed shot that went well wide. After a throw in, the ball was judged to be handled by Adonis Preciado and the referee gave a Penalty Kick. After going to VAR, the referee judged it to not be intentional and called it off. Chivas subbed out an injured Daniel Aguirre for Miguel Gomez. A longball was won by El Ghezouani, who got past Whalley but Campillo cleared the ball. It was the final play and the match ended
Chivas’ had a great Clausura 2026 regular season but it ended in a sour note. After failing to score against struggling Necaxa, they were once again held scoreless in a match that ended their run as leaders. Chivas not only lost the regular season spot but Armando Gonzalez lost out on the scoring title (Joao Pedro was the sole leading scorer) and they might also lose a key player in Daniel Aguirre, who left the game with an injury. Chivas was already going to lose some key players who should be leaving for the Mexican National team training camp. On Monday they will announce which players will be gone as players called up for the training camp will not be able to play in the Liguilla. Chivas’ problem also increased after the results ended up with them ending up playing against Tigres, a team that gave them the worst loss in the Clausura 2026. In Monterrey, Tigres defeated them by a 4-1 score, in by far the worse result for the team in the regular season. While Chivas’ had a great season, their match against Tijuana turned out disastrous for them. On the other hand it went worse for Tijuana, who had gone into the Liguilla with the point. Yet after Atlas defeated America, not only did that meant that Chivas had to now play against Tigres but that Tijuana was eliminated. So in the end not only did the match turned out to be lackluster for fans but the result ended up being costly for both sides.
