MEXICO CITY -- Morelia drew 1-1 against Tigres at El Volcan, while Puebla got a 3-1 win over Toluca at Estadio Nemesio Diez, a place the team hadn't won in 20 years. To end the week, Chiapas stormed back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Chivas 4-3. With all of these matches headlining a crazy Week 8, we begin with Mexico City's Clasico Joven:
1. Jemez tenure at Cruz Azul hitting roadblocks
After four league defeats, the most recent in this weekend's Clasico Joven, Paco Jemez is running out of ways to explain Cruz Azul's poor start to the season. In Los Cementeros' four losses they were unable to score, which explains one of their main problems at the moment. The team seems incapable of scoring even with a wide-open goal and solutions are hard to come by. When Jemez gets questioned on this issue his desperation is noticeable in the confrontational tone of his voice; right now, nothing is going right for La Maquina.
On Saturday night, Club America didn't have to play a brilliant game to get a 2-0 win, as Cruz Azul self-inflicted the loss by missing every possible scoring chance that came its way.
Christian "Chaco" Gimenez, one of the club's captains, left the stadium stunned, with frustration on his face and avoiding eye-contact with the press in the mixed zone. Cruz Azul's problem -- its lack of wins -- is like a disease that has no cure. A miracle will have to occur in order for Jemez to reverse the situation at Cruz Azul; the Liguilla, at this point, seems out of reach.
2. Chiapas stuns Chivas and the entire Liga MX
When the season started and defending champions Tigres added Eduardo Vargas and Luis Advincula to an already powerful squad, everyone agreed that they were going to be the one to follow. No one had booked Chiapas as a side worth watching; the expectation was to see it suffer throughout the whole campaign while it attempted to avoid relegation.
However, the tables have turned, and Chiapas now has wins over America, Tigres, Chivas and Toluca in the current season. It's a team that has gotten unexpected wins that no one saw coming from a squad that has just 33 players.
The 4-3 victory over Chivas, who were coming to Tuxtla Gutierrez after back-to-back Clasico wins, was a formidable display. After the first 45 minutes, Chiapas was down 2-0 and looked lost for the most part. But something happened at half-time and right away at the start of the second period Chiapas scored three times to take a 3-2 lead.
Chiapas is starting to take a lot of joy in defeating the league's strongest sides, and if this crazy, inexplicable trend continues, Jaguares will be in the Liguilla.
3. Long-term vision has given rise to Queretaro
Since parting ways with Liga MX's most successful manager Victor Manuel Vucetich, Queretaro has one draw and three consecutive wins with Jaime Lozano in charge. Lozano, 38, is the youngest coach in Liga MX. The average age of his staff is 35 and since becoming first-team manager he has already handed debuts to two youngsters brought up in the club's youth academy.
In Los Gallos Blancos' 4-3 win over Pumas, three of their goals were scored by forwards Emanuel "Tito" Villa, Camilo Sanvezzo and Angel Sepulveda. None of Queretaro's forwards had been able to score a goal until last Saturday's game.
Lozano's tenure could not have gotten off to a better start, but the season will get tougher in the weeks to come.
4. Atlas wins second straight, Leon continues fall
Life without Rafael Marquez hasn't been awful for Atlas. The team's prodigal son is scheduled to return next week, and he will do so with a team that is heading into Week 9 with two consecutive wins. After eight weeks, only Xolos and Toluca have more wins than Atlas. The club's four wins have them three points away from the top place in the table; Los Rojinegros have the right to dream as they see their club battling for the league's top places.
Atlas' 2-0 win over Leon left Los Esmeraldas knocked out, unresponsive to the sad situation that the team is enduring. Nothing positive is coming from Leon who, under Javier Torrente, is noticeably regressing rather than progressing. Ever since Alexander Mejia dropped out injured in last season's Liguilla, Leon hasn't had the same dynamic, organized playing style. La Fiera will need to overcome a lot of obstacles in order to reach the postseason.
5. Santos still undefeated in the Clausura
Close to the end of the game at Estadio Corona, Santos led 2-1, but Necaxa is a team that doesn't quit until the final whistle. The game finished 2-2, giving Los Guerreros their sixth Clausura tie.
Last Friday at Tijuana, Monterrey lost 2-0, so now the only unbeaten team left in the current season is Santos. There have already been many times in which Santos has failed to protect its one-goal lead, causing the team to get one point instead of three. Nevertheless, the Torreon side has been one of the league's most consistent this season.