This Friday, the first Derby Poblano in Liga MX history took place as Puebla played Lobos BUAP at the Estadio Cuauhtémoc. The game represented several things among them, the battle for the city of Puebla and the battle of a very young coach, Rafael Puente Jr. vs a very experienced coach in Enrique Meza.
The 38-year-old Puente Jr. got the better of 69-year-old Meza as Lobos BUAP took the slim 1-0 victory in front of over 45 thousand spectators. While Lobos did the win, Puebla was arguably the better side as La Franja still managed to generate several opportunities, despite being a man down since the 34th minute of the match.
After the match, in his post-game press conference, Enrique Meza gave his analysis of the game but also made a very intriguing statement. Meza said, “With the evolution, the team has had, I am a person that aspires for important things and nobody can get it out of my head that we can spire for the title, but we need to make signings”.
Since the arrival of the veteran manager, La Franja has overachieved expectations with a limited squad. Meza has been able to get the best out of his players with eight points from six games, including some very shocking results. The most notable include a 2-0 victory against league-leaders Monterrey in week 10 of the competition and a 1-1 draw against Club America at the Estadio Azteca in week 16 of the tournament.
There have been some standouts on the team like Bryan Angulo, who has been key in the defense and going forward in the left-back role and Canadian striker Lucas Cavallini, who has four goals in just eight games as a starter. The team clearly needs some reinforcement to be a championship contender in the Clausura 2018 but it is certainly possible with Enrique Meza at the helm.
