The reason why Tigres vs Atlas should no longer be played

It seems that it will only be a matter of time before Atlas is confirmed as the first finalist of the Clausura 2022 Tournament. In order for the current champion not to reach that aim, they need to lose by three goals -or more- in the second leg of the semifinal against Tigres UANL, something that has not happened with Diego Cocca as a coach on the bench, and also a difference that they have not conceded since 2019. 

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The Guadalajara team won a golden victory at the Jalisco Stadium in the first leg of the semifinal on Wednesday night, and now any win or draw at the University Stadium on Saturday 21 will give them a ticket to the Final, even if they lose by up to two goals. 

How many goals does Tigres need to advance to the Final?

It looks more than complicated for Tigres because Cocca's Atlas has never lost by three goals in the 75 matches in which the Argentine has been on the Rojinegros bench, that's how big the challenge is for Piojo Herrera's team. 

"There's always a first time, if it's been a long time since (Atlas) went down by many goals, there's always a first time," said Miguel Herrera, as soon as he was reminded of the record he has to overcome.

Atlas has conceded three goals under Cocca, but also scored, for example, in the first leg of the 2021 Apertura Final against León, at the Nou Camp Stadium the score was 3-2 in favor of La Fiera, since then there have not been three goals in the Rojinegros’ goal.

The defensive strength of the Jalisco team is already a reality. Atlas has not lost by three goals or more since 2019, when on October 29 Pumas beat the team led by Leandro Damián Cufré 5-1.

In the Cocca era, the other matches in which Atlas conceded three goals were in 2021. Cruz Azul and León were the opponents. Against the first, it was 3-1, and against the second 3-2. If any of those scores are repeated, Atlas will go through to the final.

Atlas' defensive solidity is such that they have conceded 32 goals in 43 games this year, less than one goal per game. 

In this Clausura 2022, Atlas' heaviest loss was the 2-0 defeat in Week 7 against Xolos de Tijuana, which was the first loss of the tournament for Cocca's team. 

Piojo Herrera’s Nemesis

Comebacks with such a large goal difference are not the Tigres coach's specialty, as on the three occasions he has had such a large adverse score in the playoffs, he has been knocked out. 

Now it was Atlas with a 3-0 win in the first leg of the Semifinal of the Clausura 2022 Tournament, previously it was León and Santos Laguna. In the 2016 Apertura, when he was in charge of Xolos, León won the first leg of the quarterfinals 3-0, in the second leg the Tijuana team won 3-2 and were eliminated.  

América was beaten 4-1 by Santos Laguna in the 2018 Clausura semifinal, the second leg was a 2-2 draw and they were also out. Will the third time be the charm for Piojo? 

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