Atlas snapped their 70-year league title drought as they claimed a penalty shootout win over Leon to clinch the Liga MX on Sunday.
Beginning the match down 3-2 to Leon after stumbling in the first leg on Thursday, Atlas eventually bounced back with a dramatic 1-0 result in Sunday’s second leg that went to extra time and penalties, ending their league title drought that extended back to 1951.
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Following a tense and scoreless first half that included a strike that hit the woodwork, Atlas’ moment of redemption arrived in the 55th minute when captain Aldo Rocha redirected a shot from Jeremy Marquez and equalized the aggregate scoreline to 3-3.
Leon pushed back in the latter stages of the second half. With veterans Luis Montes and Emanuel Gigliotti coming off the bench in the 64th minute, manager Ariel Holan and his squad took a more proactive approach at the historic Estadio Jalisco. The match opened up with both sides taking more risks going forward, and in tow, the inevitable drama that seems to accompany Liga MX finals also emerged.
Complaints about the lack of a late penalty led to a 91st-minute straight red for Leon’s Jean Meneses, who was on the bench after being taken off earlier in the match. In the 94th minute, a second yellow and subsequent red was then shown to teammate Emanuel Gigliotti, thereby bringing Leon down to 10 players.
Level at 3-3 on aggregate, the championship went to extra time, and after further deadlock, penalties.
In the shootout, it was Atlas goalkeeper Camilo Vargas and striker Julio Furch who stepped up as the heroes of the evening. Vargas made two saves in the penalty round that gifted a golden opportunity for Furch to secure the championship. As Atlas’ fifth taker, the Argentine casually slotted the ball into the back of the net to secure a 4-3 win on penalties.
“I was calm,” Furch said to TUDN after the match about the penalty that won the Apertura title. “I knew it was going to go in.”
Defender Luis Reyes was optimistic about the renewed identity for the team that was kick-started in 2019 when it was bought out by Grupo Orlegi, who also own Santos Laguna.
“This is the new Atlas,” Reyes said. “Here you can see the true transformation that Grupo Orlegi came to form.”
Atlas’ title defense will begin in just a few weeks when Liga MX’s next season kicks off Jan.7