Liga MX players: the soccer stars who played in Mexico like Ronaldinho and Pep Guardiola

Liga MX has been growing a lot during the last years and had the possibility to sign some top-talented players. Some world stars arrived to play to Mexican soccer, seduced by a country in which soccer attracts great passion and where they can obtain an economic benefit when comparing to many other places in the world.

Liga MX players who are football legends

One of the most remembered Liga MX players to ever play in the Mexican league is Brazilian legend Ronaldinho, who arrived to Querétaro FC on September 2014. He signed as a free agent after leaving Atlético Mineiro, and helped the team to qualify to their first final of Liga MX during 2015. On July of that year, he left and returned to play to Brazil, where he signed for Fluminense.

Ronaldinho's move to Queretaro was a very surprising one since he had never played in Mexico before and never hinted at making a move there. The fans in Mexico were very excited about these signings, and fans from other Mexican clubs attended Queretaro games to watch the Brazilian icon.

Ronaldinho played a total of 30 matches for Los Gallos Blancos across all competitions. He scored eight goals and provided eight assists for the played. He played a total of 2,030 minutes with the Mexican club and was adored by not just Queretaro fans but the whole Mexican fanbase. Even the Liga MX players loved playing against him as they were honored to play on the same pitch as the Brazilian icon, who is a legend of world football. He arrived in 2014 and left in the summer of 2015.

Roandlinho also made the Liga MX Clausura 2015 final with Queretaro. They eventually lost to Santos Laguna 5-3 on aggregate after losing 5-0 in the first leg. The second leg was played at home, where Queretaro defeated Santos 3-0, getting close to an incredible comeback it was meant to be. Queretaro was Ronadlinho's second to last club he played for in his career, as he played for Fluminense that same year. He officially retired from football in 2018.

Ronaldinho got to play against some of the biggest Mexican clubs, who their fans were very excited to receive in their stadiums. Against Club America, Ronaldinho and Queretaro defeated them at the Estadio Azteca. The fans in the historic stadium clapped Ronaldinho, who scored a brace against them. Ronaldinho was very emotional about scoring two goals in the stadium where Pele won a World Cup for Brazil. Ronaldinho even thanked the fans in the Estadio Azteca who cheered for him even though most of the fans were Club America fans and not a lot of Queretaro fans.

Another Mexican giant that Ronaldinho faced was Chivas de Guadalajara. Ronaldinho and Queretaro also defeated them, but he couldn't score a goal or an assist in the match. The other Mexican giant club he faced against was Cruz Azul. Unfortunately for the Brazilian legend, he and Queretaro suffered a loss against Cruz Azul. Cruz Azul is often regarded as one of the best teams of all time in Mexico, and they got the best out of Ronaldinho's Queretaro team, who was on fire in the Clausura 2015.

Another remembered case was the one of Pep Guardiola, who landed in Mexico many years before being one of the best head coaches in the world. He was a player then and decided to return to play and traveled to Mexico to join Dorados de Sinaloa on January 2006. He could just play ten matches, in which he scored one goal and his team lost the category that year.

Guardiola's time at Dorados de Sinaloa did not last long, and the relegation was bad for the club, but he was still loved by the Mexican fans who watched him play those ten games in Liga MX. Dorados de Sinaloa was the last club he played as a professional football player. He was one of the most valuable players in the Mexican league, but since his time was short, he was not remembered as a great player in the league. The move to Dorades led to him becoming a coach, and it led to Guardiola being fully convinced that becoming a manager for a football club was the next route for his career.

Guardiola was a legend for FC Barcelona as a player, and then eventually, he became a bigger legend as a manager. He became the manager of FC Barcelona's first team in the summer of 2008, and he left the club in the summer of 2012. He coached a total of 247 matches for FC Barcelona and averaged 2.36 points per game. His FC Barcelona team is labeled as one of the greatest football teams of all time due to their special tiki-taka style football. As Barca's manager, he won two Champions League trophies, two FIFA Club World Cups, three La Liga titles, two UEFA Super Cups, two Copa Del Reys, and three Spanish Super Cups. His total record as the FC Barcelona manager is 179 wins, 47 draws, and 21 losses.

There are some other top players who passed through Liga MX, such as Bebeto (Toros Neza), René Higuita (Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz), Roque Santa Cruz (Cruz Azul), José Mari Bakero (Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz), Eusébio (Monterrey), Emilio Butrageño (Atlético Celaya), Claudio López (Club America) and Iván Zamorano (Club America).