MEXICO CITY -- As Liga MX breaks for the first FIFA international dates of the budding season, we can mark an informal midpoint to the season with eight games down and nine to go in the Apertura 2018 campaign. 

While one team sits head and shoulders above the rest in Cruz Azul, another (Atlas) has still not won a game and just fired its manager after an offensive output of one goal in the first eight matches. Even then, all 18 teams still possess a mathematical chance to make the playoffs --...

The international break brings a temporary halt to proceedings in Liga MX, but it's been an exciting weekend in Mexico's top division. Here are ten talking points from round eight of games in the 2018 Apertura:

1. Cruz Azul, Alvarado continue to impress

The pitch inside the Estadio Azteca may be in an embarrassing state, but Cruz Azul's fortunes continue to soar.

La Maquina overcame Veracruz 4-1 in the famous stadium on Saturday in what turned out to be a comfortable win over spirited opposition.

Again,...

The naming of the new manager will give a clearer pointer to Mexico's direction over coming years, but interim coach Ricardo "Tuca" Ferretti's squad for two upcoming friendlies does very much feel like the first step in what could well be an awkward, painful yet also promising renovation ahead of Qatar 2022.

We're still in that period of fierce debate about El Tri of the first games of the post-Juan Carlos Osorio era (Uruguay on Sept. 7 and the United States on Sept. 11) -- while the failure...

Five takeaways from this past weekend as we approach the halfway stage of the 2018 Apertura regular season in Liga MX.

1. America earns late tie in epic Clasico Capitalino

Club America fans held up banners reading "it is not a Clasico" ahead of Saturday's Clasico Capitalino clash against Pumas. They don't think the Mexico City derby should be considered a "Clasico" in the true sense of the word. But the celebrations after Henry Martin netted a late equaliser highlighted exactly just how much this...