The only thing missing after Chivas' 1-0 defeat to Pumas? Club owner Jorge Vergara appearing to great fanfare once again to say: "we (Chivas) won even though we lost." Again.
Pumas 1-0 Chivas. Two of Chivas' stars were the villains on the day: Jair Pereira and Carlos "Gullit" Pena. Pereira's miraculous shot -- an exquisite jump, sharp turn, and Cristiano Ronaldo-esque header -- put Pumas up 1-0. The only problem: Pereira had a Chivas shirt on. And as is seemingly always the case,misfortune rang twice.
Referee Cesar Ramos spotted a handball in the Pumas area and pointed to the spot. It was a generous decision to put it lightly, and Chivas had a chance to equalize.
This time, it was Pena's turn. The Chivas attacker was fearful when he stepped up to the line and he squandered his opportunity, allowing Alejandro "Pikolin" Palacios to be the hero, ruining Chivas' hopes and dreams.
Pumas didn't do much on Sunday, but they did more than their opponents. They played just as ugly but did so better; they deserved to win simply because they made fewer mistakes. At the very least, Pumas fought to survive. Clearly, though, this was not a performance worthy of los Goyas or los Cachunes (Pumas' famous chant).
Chivas, for their part, suffered from silence, passivity and monotony. It was a helpless performance.
Both teams made a promiscuous promise on Sunday. The first 15 minutes of the match raised our hopes and expectations; Pumas looked a side with a duty to win, while Chivas appeared urgent for three points of its own. But there were 70 minutes left to play.
Pumas organized in a strict manner. They soon understood that challenging the opponent by turning the pitch into a freeway would be their own downfall. The team pressed and put together a gutsy performance in an effort to defend its nickname (Pumas) and history. It waited.
There were more demands surrounding Guadalajara heading into this match and the 2016 Apertura more generally. "The best squad in the history of Chivas," Jorge Vergara told ESPN. But with more time to work, a more genuine base and coach Matias Almeyda's doctrine taking root, El Rebano should have started the season in better form than Pumas.
This version of Chivas bore little resemblance to the one that closed out the 2016 Clausura as Liguilla quarterfinalists. The new signings started on the bench while the starting XI dozed on the pitch.
The substitutions had little effect. Javier Eduardo Lopez appears ready to shoulder the list of tasks that await him, but the No. 10 did not stop or save himself from the chaos on Sunday. He was caught up in it.
Testing Pena once again? Wasting him again? Almeyda is right: Pena has the skills required to play the role that he and Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio believe is specially designed for him. His club and country coaches believe they're right, but Pena thinks they've got it all wrong. "Gullit" has no interest in being a guinea pig for eccentric coaches; you can't teach an old dog new tricks.
So, the indecisive midfielder made Pumas' task easier. Its two lines remained intact because no one was required to go searching for Pena or chase him amid confusing movements. After almost 98 minutes, will Almeyda understand?
Suddenly, the pond is full of piranhas. "They missed (Omar) Bravo," some said. But how many games did the captain, who made the move to Carolina RailHawks of the NASL last week, play when Chivas was at its best in the 2016 Clausura?
"The heat, altitude, pollution," explained others. Laughable. A team with the youth and pace of Guadalajara should not be affected by those factors. And besides, didn't Chivas finish games at full throttle, stifling its opponents last tournament? Did the side not beat UNAM 4-0 when playing at night, a time that supposedly favors Pumas? And perhaps you forgot Almeyda's claim that "our preseason fitness work was perfect?"
The main victim here is ChivasTV, where Chivas home games will be shown live over the internet and through the team's mobile app. Will people in Mexico really be bothered to watch a defeated, rag-tag Chivas take on Monterrey this Saturday? Not to mention the fact that Club America plays at the same time.
With all of this and ChivasTV, Chivas has yet to turn up.