In Liga MX, it’s long been said that the regular season and the Liguilla feel like two entirely different tournaments. For 17 matches, consistency matters, but once you make it into the Liguilla, all bets are off. We've seen top seeds fall to the lowest-ranked qualifiers time and time again. That’s how the phrase “The Curse of the Superlíder” came to be. Some teams even try to avoid finishing first just to dodge the supposed jinx.
Others aren’t so superstitious. They aim to dominate from start to finish, hoping to turn regular-season form into postseason success.
A couple of years ago, Liga MX introduced the Play-In to shake things up - borrowing from the NBA format - to give more teams a shot at the playoffs. Where the top eight teams once went straight into the Liguilla, now those ranked seventh to 10th face off in the Play-In. It’s a term still unfamiliar to many fans in Mexico.
But the execution raises eyebrows. Two full weeks of rest for the top seeds while four lower-ranked teams scrap it out? That’s a long pause in a league where momentum can mean everything. In the NBA, teams barely get two days between games. In Liga MX, fans wait 14 just to sort out the final playoff field.
