This Sunday, July 23, 2017 (4:30 PM Pacific) Veracruz will host Necaxa at the Estadio Luis “Pirata” for a matchup in week 1 of the Liga MX Clausura 2017. Not much is expected from either side in this Apertura 2017 campaign but this game should be an entertaining and hard-fought match.
Veracruz had a very solid Clausura 2017 tournament, evading relegation and almost sneaking into the playoffs, finishing in 13th place. Los Tiburones made several changes to their squad in the offseason and even had a couple of players on the Clausura 2017 roster go to Europe in Antonio Briseno and Eduardo Herrera.
Some of the more notable players added to the squad were Cristian Menendez from Atletico Tucuman, Osmar Mares from Club America, Richard Ruiz from Cruz Azul and Jose Rivas from Tigres UANL. Keeping Daniel Villalva on the squad after several transfer speculations surrounding him can also prove to be a vital piece going into this new tournament.
The manager, Juan Antonio Luna really transformed Veracruz into an exciting team to watch, playing an attractive style of futbol. Veracruz will be one of the more intriguing teams in this new tournament and should have an interesting performance in this inaugural game.
Necaxa had a very interesting offseason, losing star player, Edson Puch but using the money from that transaction wisely in acquiring several players that can strengthen the squad. Some of the more noteworthy signings for Los Rayos include Daniel Alvarez and Martin Barragan from Atlas, Dieter Villalpando from Pachuca, Roberto Alvarado from Pachuca, Miguel Ponce from Chivas, Facundo Pereyra and Pablo Velazquez.
Necaxa also has a new man at the helm along with the fresh signings in former Club America head coach, Ignacio Ambriz. It is unclear if these signings will help Necaxa or break the team in this new season but the team from Aguascalientes will surely be a very interesting team. This game should be an exciting duel between two teams that can slip under the radar and reach the playoffs this season.
