Monterrey vs. Club America: Time, TV schedule and how to watch 2014 Liguilla online

Monterrey aren’t quite the superpower that they were a couple of years ago, but the core of their CONCACAF Champions League winning and Liguilla runner-up side from 2012 still remains. And after pulling a minor upset against Atlas in the quarterfinals, they’ve got their sights set on an even bigger shock win over Club America.

Even though America have won the regular season for two campaigns in a row, their 2014 Clausura Liguilla run was derailed by the World Cup, and they needed the seed tiebreaker to sneak by Pumas. Antonio Mohamed has done a solid job replacing Miguel Herrera, who left to coach the Mexican national side, but his playoff performances have been shaky enough that he might not get his contract renewed. There’s a decent chance that he needs to beat Monterrey to save his job.

The good news for Mohamed is that the seed tiebreaker still applies, so once again, he only needs to draw this series on aggregate to get through. Even if his road to the final isn’t flashy, it’ll be tough for Televisa to pull the trigger and get rid of Mohamed if he reaches it.

While the one regular season game between these two teams was at Estadio Azteca, it still wasn’t encouraging for Monterrey. They tried to fit Dorlan Pabon and Humberto Suazo into the same lineup, it didn’t work, and they lost 2-0. On the evidence of that performance, they need a home win in the first leg to feel good about their chances of advancing.

Key player - Dorlan Pabon (Monterrey)

There’s no player in Liga MX, and perhaps even in the Americas, as important to their team as Dorlan Pabon. Without him in the lineup, Monterrey’s attack is completely inept. With him in the lineup, they often look like a championship-caliber team. He might be the best attacker in the league and America will have a heck of a time shutting him down. His pace, skill and movement off the ball make him extremely difficult to mark.

Key matchup - Oribe Peralta vs. Monterrey’s CBs

The matchup on the opposite end of the pitch is huge as well, but it’s more of an actual matchup. Pabon can blow apart a gameplan, and regularly does. Peralta, good as he is, doesn’t have quite the same physical and technical abilities as his Rayados counterpart. He can be marked out of a game, and if he is, America’s going to need some combination of excellent play by Rubens Sambueza and good luck around the box to snag a result.

Injuries

Monterrey have no injury or suspension concerns, and if their second leg performance against Atlas is any indication, that makes them as dangerous as any higher seeded team. The only player America will be missing is Paul Aguilar. That’s a big blow to their defense, but not to viewers, who no longer have to deal with watching a game featuring two defenders on the same team named P. Aguilar.

Match date/time: Thursday, 10 p.m. ET

Venue: Estadio Tecnologico, Monterrey, Mexico

TV: Univision Deportes (U.S.), Canal 5 Televisa (Mexico)