FC Juarez made history when they qualified for their first ever Liguilla (play-offs) in the Liga MX Femenil in Mexico.
They finished sixth on the table to be among the top eight teams that will contest for the league title.
The Bravas confirmed their place with a 2-0 win over Puebla this past weekend (Saturday, 13 May 2023).
This was also the first match for Banyana Banyana’s Jermaine Seoposenwe who has just come back from an injury.
The Cape Town-born star last played for her club in the 3-3 draw against Club America (3 April 2023), before travelling to Serbia on national team duty with the Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana, where they lost 2-3 (10 April 2023) to the Eastern Europeans.
Upon her return to Mexico she was side-lined by injury and missed four matches ( vs Santos Laguna, Toluca, U.N.A.M Pumas and Necaxa) in the process while recovering.
Against Puebla, she came on in the 64th minute to help her club in rewriting the history books.
Of the eight teams in the play-offs, only Juarez is making their debut, while Tigres and Club America have never missed out.
In the final phase of the Clausura 2023 of the Liga MX Femenil, FC Juarez will host Club America in the first leg of the quarterfinals on Thursday (18 May 2023) before facing them in the return match three days later (21 May 2023).
In other matches, Club Tijuan will face CF Monterey, Atlas Guadalajara will tackle Noxolo Cesane’s UANL Tigres, and Chivas will go toe to toe with Pachuca.
News also coming from the league is that there will be use of VAR from the quarterfinal stage in the competition.
| Quarter-finals fixtures: | ||||||||
| 18/05/2023 | Club Tijuana | vs | CF Monterrey | -:- | ||||
| 18/05/2023 | Atlas Guadalajara | vs | UANL Tigres | -:- | ||||
| 18/05/2023 | FC Juárez | vs | CF América | -:- | ||||
| 18/05/2023 | CF Pachuca | vs | Atlas Guadalajara | -:- | ||||
| 21/05/2023 | CF Monterrey | vs | Club Tijuana | -:- | ||||
| 21/05/2023 | UANL Tigres | vs | Atlas Guadalajara | -:- | ||||
| 21/05/2023 | CF América | vs | FC Juárez | -:- | ||||
| 21/05/2023 | Atlas Guadalajara | vs | CF Pachuca |
Playoffs (Liguilla) Phase
- The Liguilla (Spanish for “little league”) is the playoff phase of the tournament
- This phase begins with the quarter-finals, for which the top eight teams at the end of the regular phase qualify
- Each stage of the Liguilla is play as a two-game series (home-and-away basis), in which the team that finished higher in the table in the regular phase always plays the second match at home
- In case of draw in the aggregate score of a series in the quarter-finals or semi-finals stage, the team that finished higher in the table in the regular phase of the tournament will advance to the next stage
- In case of draw in the aggregate score of the final, the teams will go directly to penalties to decide the champion.
Promotion and Relegation
Liga MX Femenil currently does not have a Promotion and relegation system.
CLAUSURA PAST WINNERS
| Year | Winner | Country | ||
| 2022/2023 Apertura | UANL Tigres | Mexico | ||
| 2021/2022 Clausura | Deportivo Guadalajara | Mexico | ||
| 2021/2022 Apertura | CF Monterrey | Mexico | ||
| 2020/2021 Clausura | UANL Tigres | Mexico | ||
| 2020/2021 Apertura | UANL Tigres | Mexico | ||
| 2019/2020 Clausura | No Champion | |||
| 2019/2020 Apertura | CF Monterrey | Mexico | ||
| 2018/2019 Clausura | UANL Tigres | Mexico | ||
| 2018/2019 Apertura | CF América | Mexico | ||
| 2017/2018 Clausura | UANL Tigres | Mexico | ||
| 2017/2018 Apertura | Deportivo Guadalajara | Mexico |
By Matlhomola Morake
