2020–21 Liga de Expansión MX season
| Biggest home win | Guardianes 2020: Tepatitlán 4–0 Sinaloa (14 October 2020) Cancún 4–0 Pumas Tabasco (17 October 2020) Zacatecas 5–1 UAT (4 November 2020) Guardianes 2021: Atlante 5–0 Tepatitlán (7 March 2021) |
|---|---|
| Biggest away win | Guardianes 2020: Pumas Tabasco 0–4 Atlante (30 September 2020) Guardianes 2021: U. de G. 0–3 Atlante (24 February 2021) |
| Highest scoring | Guardianes 2020: Tapatío 3–3 Atlético Morelia (1 September 2020) Pumas Tabasco 3–3 Zacatecas (2 September 2020) Zacatecas 5–1 UAT (4 November 2020) Oaxaca 2–4 Sonora (17 November 2020) Tapatío 4–2 Pumas Tabasco (18 November 2020) Guardianes 2021: Atlético Morelia 6–3 Oaxaca (20 February 2021) |
| Longest winning run | Guardianes 2020: 4 matches Atlante Sonora Zacatecas Guardianes 2021: 4 matches Atlético Morelia Zacatecas |
| Longest unbeaten run | Guardianes 2020: 12 matches Celaya Guardianes 2021: 12 matches Sonora |
| Longest winless run | Guardianes 2020: 8 matches Sinaloa U. de G. Guardianes 2021: 9 matches UAT |
| Longest losing run | Guardianes 2020: 5 matches UAT Guardianes 2021: 4 matches Pumas Tabasco |
| Highest attendance | Guardianes 2021: 2,655 Cancún 2–0 U. de G. (7 April 2021) |
| Total attendance | Guardianes 2021: 2,798 |
| → Stats are from the regular season only | |
The 2020–21 Liga de Expansión MX season is the first professional season of the second-tier football division in Mexico. The season is divided into two championships—the Torneo Apertura and the Torneo Clausura—each in an identical format and each contested by the same sixteen teams. The Apertura tournament started on 18 August 2020 and concluded on 20 December 2020. The Clausura tournament started on 12 January 2021 and will conclude in May 2021.
Changes from the previous season
The Liga de Expansión MX is a Mexican football league founded in 2020 as part of the Mexican Football Federation's "Stabilization Project", which has the primary objective of rescuing the financially troubled teams from the Ascenso MX and prevent the disappearance of a second-tier league in Mexico, for which there will be no promotion and relegation during the following six years.[1] The project also attempts for Liga MX and former Ascenso MX teams to consolidate stable projects with solid basis, sports-wise and administrative-wise, financially wise and in infrastructure.
- Atlante F.C. was relocated from Cancún to Mexico City.[2]
- Cafetaleros de Chiapas was moved to Cancún and renamed as Cancún F.C.[4]
- Tapatío and Pumas Tabasco, entered to the league as Liga MX affiliate teams.[5][6]
- Tepatitlán F.C. and Tlaxcala F.C. were accepted as an expansion teams.[7]
Stadiums and Locations
| Team | City | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlante | Mexico City | Ciudad de los Deportes | 33,000 |
| Atlético Morelia | Morelia, Michoacán | Morelos | 35,000 |
| Cancún | Cancún, Quintana Roo | Andrés Quintana Roo | 18,844 |
| Celaya | Celaya, Guanajuato | Miguel Alemán Valdés | 23,182 |
| Pumas Tabasco | Villahermosa, Tabasco | Olímpico de Villahermosa | 12,000 |
| Oaxaca | Oaxaca City, Oaxaca | Tecnológico de Oaxaca | 14,598 |
| Sinaloa | Culiacán, Sinaloa | Dorados | 20,108 |
| Sonora | Hermosillo, Sonora | Héroe de Nacozari | 18,747 |
Tampico Madero
|
Tampico/Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas | Tamaulipas | 19,667 |
| Tapatío | Zapopan, Jalisco | Akron | 49,850 |
| Tepatitlán | Tepatitlán de Morelos, Jalisco
|
Gregorio "Tepa" Gómez | 8,085 |
| Tlaxcala | Tlaxcala City, Tlaxcala
|
Tlahuicole | 9,462 |
| UAT | Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas | Marte R. Gómez | 10,520 |
| U. de G. | Guadalajara, Jalisco
|
Jalisco | 55,020 |
| Venados | Mérida, Yucatán
|
Carlos Iturralde | 15,087 |
| Zacatecas | Zacatecas City, Zacatecas
|
Carlos Vega Villalba | 20,068 |
Location of teams in the 2020–21 Liga de Expansión MX
Personnel and kits
| Team | Chairman | Head Coach | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlante | Jorge Santillana | Mario García Covalles
|
 Lizandro Echeverría
|
UIN Sports | Betcris |
| Atlético Morelia | Víctor Manuel Arana |  Ricardo Valiño
|
Arturo Ledesma
|
Keuka | Akron, Avocados from Mexico
|
| Cancún | José Luis Orantes Costanzo | Christian Giménez
|
Juan Basulto
|
Keuka | Cancún, Riviera Maya |
| Celaya | Alan Achar | Israel Hernández
|
Leobardo López
|
Keuka | Bachoco |
| Oaxaca | Juan Carlos Jones | Oscar Fernando Torres
|
Óscar Torres
|
Silver Sport | Patsa, Ópticas América, ADO |
| Pumas Tabasco | Ramón Neme | Alejandro Pérez
|
Julio Barragán
|
Nike | DHL |
| Sinaloa | José Antonio Núñez | Rafael García
|
José Lugo
|
Charly | Coppel, Caliente, Sukarne |
| Sonora | Juan Pablo Rojo | Gabriel Pereyra
|
Miguel Vallejo
|
Keuka | Yiuppi, El Imparcial |
| Tampico Madero | Carlos Gutiérrez Riera | Gerardo Espinoza
|
José Ávila
|
Charly | Nexum |
| Tapatío | Amaury Vergara | Alberto Coyote
|
Sergio Flores
|
Puma | Caliente |
| Tepatitlán | Víctor Flores Cosío | Paco Ramírez
|
Luis Robles
|
Carrara | Pacífica |
| Tlaxcala | Rafael Torre Mendoza | Irving Rubirosa
|
Francisco Uscanga
|
Keuka | Providencia, Tlaxcala |
| UAT | Miguel Mansur Pedraza | Hibert Ruíz
|
Abraham Riestra
|
Silver Sport | |
| U. de G. | José Alberto Castellanos Gutiérrez | Jorge Dávalos
|
José Hernández
|
Umbro | Electrolit |
| Venados | Rodolfo Rosas Cantillo | Carlos Gutiérrez
|
Armando Navarrete
|
U-Sports | Yucatán |
| Zacatecas | Eduardo López Muñoz | Omar Alexis Moreno
|
Manuel Madrid
|
Spiro | Fresnillo plc, Mobil |
Managerial changes
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure |
Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-Apertura changes | ||||||||
| Celaya | Héctor Altamirano
|
Sacked | 23 April 2020 | Israel Hernández
|
1 July 2020 | Preseason | [8][9] | |
| Zacatecas | Oscar Torres
|
Sacked | 11 June 2020 | Omar Alexis Moreno
|
1 July 2020 | [10][11] | ||
| Sonora | Isaac Morales
|
Sacked | 12 May 2020 | Gabriel Pereyra
|
3 July 2020 | [12][13] | ||
| Atlante | Alex Diego
|
Signed by Querétaro | 12 June 2020 | Mario García Covalles
|
20 July 2020 | [14][15] | ||
| Oaxaca | Alejandro Pérez
|
Mutual agreement | 4 July 2020 | Oscar Fernando Torres
|
10 July 2020 | [16][17] | ||
| Pre-Clausura changes | ||||||||
| Sinaloa | David Patiño
|
Sacked | 30 November 2020 | Rafael García
|
21 December 2020 | Preseason | [18][19] | |
| Pumas Tabasco | Carlos Humberto González
|
Moved to UNAM U–20
|
21 December 2020 | Alejandro Pérez
|
21 December 2020 | [20] | ||
| Clausura changes | ||||||||
| UAT | Roberto Hernández
|
Sacked | 11 March 2021 | Hibert Ruíz
|
11 March 2021 | 14th | [21][22] | |
Guardianes 2020
The Guardianes 2020 season was the 1st season of Liga de Expansión MX. The regular season began on 18 August 2020 and ended on 20 December 2020. The tournament was renamed Torneo Guardianes 2020 (stylized as Guard1anes) in honour of the job healthcare workers have done during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico
Regular season
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | Ext | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Celaya | 15 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 21 | 10 | +11 | 35 | Qualification to the semi-finals[a] |
| 2 | Atlante | 15 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 25 | 14 | +11 | 32 | Qualification to the quarter-finals[b] |
| 3 | Sonora | 15 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 25 | 16 | +9 | 30 | Qualification to the Reclassification[c] |
| 4 | Atlético Morelia | 15 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 24 | 18 | +6 | 29 | |
| 5 | Cancún | 15 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 19 | 14 | +5 | 27 | |
| 6 | Tampico Madero (C)
|
15 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 12 | +2 | 26 | |
| 7 | Zacatecas | 15 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 24 | 19 | +5 | 25 | |
| 8 | Tepatitlán | 15 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 20 | 15 | +5 | 24 | |
| 9 | Tapatío | 15 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 20 | 14 | +6 | 22 | |
| 10 | Tlaxcala | 15 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 13 | 22 | −9 | 20 | |
| 11 | Venados | 15 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 21 | −7 | 17 | |
| 12 | Pumas Tabasco[d] | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 20 | 30 | −10 | 17 | |
| 13 | Sinaloa | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 18 | 27 | −9 | 16 | |
| 14 | U. de G. | 15 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 17 | 21 | −4 | 15 | |
| 15 | Oaxaca | 15 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 15 | 25 | −10 | 15 | |
| 16 | UAT | 15 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 17 | 28 | −11 | 13 |
Source: Liga de Expansión MX
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of goals scored away; 5) Head-to-head results between tied teams; 6) Highest relegation coefficient; 7) Fair Play points
(C) Champions
Notes:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of goals scored away; 5) Head-to-head results between tied teams; 6) Highest relegation coefficient; 7) Fair Play points
(C) Champions
Notes:
- ^ The 1st ranked team qualifies for the Liguilla semi-finals.
- ^ The 2nd ranked team qualifies for the Liguilla quarter-finals.
- ^ The Teams ranked from 3rd to 12th place qualify to the Repechage.
- ^ Team is last in the relegation table
Positions by Round
| Leader and qualification to semi-finals | |
| Qualification to quarter-finals | |
| Qualification to repechaje. | |
| Last place in table |
Source: Liga de Expansión MX
