Leon and Tigres are two big clubs in Mexico that have plenty of history. This time, they’ll face off in the CONCACAF Champions League semi-final for the chance to represent Liga MX in the final come May.
Tigres is by far the most successful side to come out of these match-ups, with 12 wins in their previous 30 matches.
Leon has also had their fair share of victories, winning nine times. As they head into the next edition of the rivalry, the long history between these two sides will be at the forefront as they vie for a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League final.
Ahead of the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions League tie, Tigres and Leon battled it out in the Liga MX regular season that saw Leon convincingly beat Tigres 3-0.
Goals scored by forward Jose Alvarado, striker Brian Rubio, and left-back Hector Guevara powered Los Panzas Verdes to all three points, which saw them extend their lead over Tigres on the league table with 30 points.
One of the more recent and important games between the two sides came just a week ago in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League semi-final, where Tigres got the best of Leon with a 2-1 victory at home.
Francisco Cordova and Luis Quinones scored on the night for Los Tigres, and Victor Davila scored the lone goal for Leon.
Tigres carries a 2-1 aggregate as they head into the second leg, hosted by Leon at the Estadio Leon in Leon de Los Aldamas, Mexico.
The two teams faced off in the Liga MX Apertura playoffs, where Leon advanced to the final thanks to a 3-3 aggregate.
In the second leg, Leon hosted Tigres in a match that saw a combined total of nine yellow cards given out and two reds.
For Leon, right winger Angel Mena scored a brace to lift them over their opponents. The lone Tigres goal came from center-back Diego Reyes.
In the first leg of the 2021 playoff tie, Tigres got the victory with a 2-1 win at home.
Goals scored by Florian Thauvin and Carlos Gonzalez gave Tigres the win, while Leon scrapped by with a single goal netted by Jean Meneses.
As previously stated, though Tigres won the first game of the tie, Leon would go on to win on aggregate 3-3 to advance to the Liga MX Apertura Final.
Perhaps the most lopsided result between the two sides came in March 2018 when Tigres handed Leon a 4-1 loss in the Liga MX Clasura season.
The four goals from Tigres were scored by Enner Valencia, Rafael Carioca, Javier Aquino, and Victor Sosa.
Leon netted a consolation goal in the 90th minute through forward Mauro Boselli.
Tigres would go on to finish that season fifth in the league, with 28 points through seventeen matches played.
