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,...

Matchweek 8 of the 2018-19 Liga MX Apertura is upon us. Here are the games and storylines our Liga MX correspondents Tom Marshall, Cesar Hernandez and Eric Gomez are looking forward to this weekend in Mexico.

'Post-Guti' Pachuca aims to extend run vs. confident Chivas 

Pachuca's sale of captain Erick Gutierrez to PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday was widely applauded, but for Tuzos coach Pako Ayestaran it represented a significant weakening of his midfield.

The first game in the post-Gutierrez...

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...

MEXICO CITY -- Last week's flutter of activity in Mexican first-division soccer ended with very different results for two of the league's title candidates. Cruz Azul retained its undefeated status through a slate of tough games, while Club America was unable to pull off a single win from their three matches.

Chivas, however, benefitted greatly from the condensed schedule. A week ago, they were mired near the bottom of the league table with just one point. Today, goal difference is the only thing...

GUADALALARA, Mexico -- Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds" rang out inside Estadio Jalisco less than 10 minutes after Chivas had defeated Atlas 1-0 in Friday's Clasico Tapatio.

"Don't worry about a thing, 'cause every little thing gonna be alright..."

It was a perplexing choice of song given that home side Atlas had just completed the first seven games of the Apertura without scoring a single goal and broken Queretaro's modern-day record of going 548 consecutive minutes without netting in Liga...