The Guadalajara Chivas and Atlas will be joined by a third local team in next season’s Liga MX, the top tier of the country’s professional soccer league.
The Leones Negros of the Universidad de Guadalajara (UDG) this week faced hometown rivals, the Tecos of the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara (UAG), in a playoff series to decide the champions of the Liga de Ascenso (Promotion League).
The Leones descended from the top level 20 years ago, while the Tecos have been playing in the second tier for just two years.
The first encounter of the two-game playoff took place Wednesday at the UAG’s Tres de Marzo Stadium in Zapopan. Just over 20,000 fans – mostly decked out in the UDG’s gold, black and red colors – packed the compact stadium to watch the two university-backed teams battle their way to an uninspiring 0-0 tie.
The title – and promotion – will depend on the second game at the Leones’ home ground, the mighty Jalisco Stadium, which promises to be full to capacity (45,000-plus) on Saturday, May 10, 8 p.m. A UDG victory will unleash a major celebration on the streets of the city. Less so a Tecos win – a poll by a local newspaper this week showed that 88 percent of Tapatios want the Leones to ascend to the Liga MX.The two universities have often shared an uncomfortable history, dating back to the 1960s and 70s when gangs of students frequently fought each other on the streets, fueled by the political stances of the institutions (the public UDG was deeply rooted in left-wing principles, while the private UAG began in 1935 as a response to the socialist policies of then President Lazaro Cardenas del Rio).
University funding of professional soccer has a long tradition in Mexico. Two of the country’s most successful teams are the Mexico City-based Pumas of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) and the Monterrey-based Tigres of the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon (UANL).
While UDG Rector Tonatuih Bravo has stated that he wants the Leones to be self financing, it is unclear whether he will authorize money to be taken out of the university’s tight budget to forge a competitive team should they ascend to the top division.
As a private institution, the Tecos face fewer questions on how the team is financed. A major problem for the UAG team is their token fan base – even when playing in the Liga MX, attendance at some games dropped to less than a couple of thousand.