The Liga MX Clausura 2025 season is down to its last four teams, with Tigres and Toluca kicking off the semifinals on Wednesday, May 14.
Both teams boast two of the strongest squads in all of Liga MX; however, both teams barely made it past the quarterfinals, drawing their ties on aggregate score and only qualifying to the semifinals because of their higher finishing position during the regular season—Liga MX's tiebreaker if a playoff series ends in a draw.
Tigres drew 2–2 vs. Necaxa with an agonizing 97th minute match-winning own goal in the second leg of the quarterfinals. The goal was initially waved off for a foul, but after a lengthy VAR check the goal was given in one of the most controversial decisions in recent seasons.
After falling 3–2 to Monterrey in the first leg and going a man down early in the second leg, Toluca showed their might and defeated Rayados 2–1 in the second leg thanks to an inspired performance from Mexico international Alexis Vega. Now, the regular season league-leaders are on the verge of ending a 15-year title drought.
Tigres manager Guido Pizarro played the full 90 minutes the last time these two teams met in February. Now retired and turned coach, he'll hope to lead his former teammates to a sixth league title since 2015. Antonio Mohamed's Toluca, though, will want to make amends for previous playoff capitulations and advance to the final for the first time since 2022.
