2020–21 Liga de Expansión MX season

The 2020–21 Liga de Expansión MX season is the first professional season of the second-tier football division in Mexico. The season is divided into two championships—the Torneo Apertura and the Torneo Clausura—each in an identical format and each contested by the same sixteen teams. The Apertura tournament started on 18 August 2020 and concluded on 20 December 2020. The Clausura tournament started on 12 January 2021 and will conclude in May 2021.

Liga de Expansión MX

Season	2020-21
Champions	Guardianes 2020: Tampico Madero (1st title) Guardianes 2021: Tepatitlán (1st title)
Matches played	240
Goals scored	573 (2.39 per match)
Top goalscorer	Guardianes 2020: Alberto Alvarado Morín Lizandro Echeverría Guillermo Martínez Gustavo Ramírez (7 goals) Guardianes 2021: Julio César Cruz (10 goals)
Biggest home win	Guardianes 2020: Tepatitlán 4–0 Sinaloa (14 October 2020) Cancún 4–0 Pumas Tabasco (17 October 2020) Zacatecas 5–1 UAT (4 November 2020) Guardianes 2021: Atlante 5–0 Tepatitlán (7 March 2021)
Biggest away win	Guardianes 2020: Pumas Tabasco 0–4 Atlante (30 September 2020) Guardianes 2021: U. de G. 0–3 Atlante (24 February 2021)
Highest scoring	Guardianes 2020: Tapatío 3–3 Atlético Morelia (1 September 2020) Pumas Tabasco 3–3 Zacatecas (2 September 2020) Zacatecas 5–1 UAT (4 November 2020) Oaxaca 2–4 Sonora (17 November 2020) Tapatío 4–2 Pumas Tabasco (18 November 2020) Guardianes 2021: Atlético Morelia 6–3 Oaxaca (20 February 2021)
Longest winning run	Guardianes 2020: 4 matches Atlante Sonora Zacatecas Guardianes 2021: 4 matches Atlético Morelia Zacatecas
Longest unbeaten run	Guardianes 2020: 12 matches Celaya Guardianes 2021: 12 matches Sonora
Longest winless run	Guardianes 2020: 8 matches Sinaloa U. de G. Guardianes 2021: 9 matches UAT
Longest losing run	Guardianes 2020: 5 matches UAT Guardianes 2021: 4 matches Pumas Tabasco
Highest attendance	Guardianes 2021: 2,655 Cancún 2–0 U. de G. (7 April 2021)
Total attendance	Guardianes 2021: 2,798
2021–22 → Stats are from the regular season only

Changes from the previous season

The Liga de Expansión MX is a Mexican football league founded in 2020 as part of the Mexican Football Federation's "Stabilization Project", which has the primary objective of rescuing the financially troubled teams from the Ascenso MX and prevent the disappearance of a second-tier league in Mexico, for which there will be no promotion and relegation during the following six years.^[1] The project also attempts for Liga MX and former Ascenso MX teams to consolidate stable projects with solid basis, sports-wise and administrative-wise, financially wise and in infrastructure.

• Atlante F.C. was relocated from Cancún to Mexico City.^[2]
• Club Atlético Zacatepec was moved to Morelia and was renamed as Atlético Morelia.^[3]
• Cafetaleros de Chiapas was moved to Cancún and renamed as Cancún F.C.^[4]
• Tapatío and Pumas Tabasco, entered to the league as Liga MX affiliate teams.^[5][6]
• Tepatitlán F.C. and Tlaxcala F.C. were accepted as an expansion teams.^[7]

Stadiums and locations

Team	City	Stadium	Capacity
Atlante	Mexico City	Ciudad de los Deportes	33,000
Atlético Morelia	Morelia, Michoacán	Morelos	35,000
Cancún	Cancún, Quintana Roo	Andrés Quintana Roo	18,844
Celaya	Celaya, Guanajuato	Miguel Alemán Valdés	23,182
Pumas Tabasco	Villahermosa, Tabasco	Olímpico de Villahermosa	12,000
Oaxaca	Oaxaca City, Oaxaca	Tecnológico de Oaxaca	14,598
Sinaloa	Culiacán, Sinaloa	Dorados	20,108
Sonora	Hermosillo, Sonora	Héroe de Nacozari	18,747
Tampico Madero	Tampico/Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas	Tamaulipas	19,667
Tapatío	Zapopan, Jalisco	Akron	49,850
Tepatitlán	Tepatitlán de Morelos, Jalisco	Gregorio "Tepa" Gómez	8,085
Tlaxcala	Tlaxcala City, Tlaxcala	Tlahuicole	9,462
UAT	Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas	Marte R. Gómez	10,520
U. de G.	Guadalajara, Jalisco	Jalisco	55,020
Venados	Mérida, Yucatán	Carlos Iturralde	15,087
Zacatecas	Zacatecas City, Zacatecas	Carlos Vega Villalba	20,068

Atlante

Atl. Morelia

Cancún

Celaya

Oaxaca

Pumas Tabasco

Sinaloa

Sonora

Tampico Madero

Tapatío
UdeG

Tepatitlán

Tlaxcala

UAT

Venados

Zacatecas

Location of teams in the 2020–21 Liga de Expansión MX

Personnel and kits

Team	Chairman	Head Coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor(s)
Atlante	Jorge Santillana	Mario García Covalles	Lizandro Echeverría	UIN Sports	Betcris
Atlético Morelia	Víctor Manuel Arana	Ricardo Valiño	Arturo Ledesma	Keuka	Akron, Avocados from Mexico
Cancún	José Luis Orantes Costanzo	Christian Giménez	Juan Basulto	Keuka	Cancún, Riviera Maya
Celaya	Alan Achar	Israel Hernández	Leobardo López	Keuka	Bachoco
Oaxaca	Juan Carlos Jones	Oscar Fernando Torres	Óscar Torres	Silver Sport	Patsa, Ópticas América, ADO
Pumas Tabasco	Ramón Neme	Alejandro Pérez	Julio Barragán	Nike	DHL
Sinaloa	José Antonio Núñez	Rafael García	José Lugo	Charly	Coppel, Caliente, Sukarne
Sonora	Juan Pablo Rojo	Gabriel Pereyra	Miguel Vallejo	Keuka	Yiuppi, El Imparcial
Tampico Madero	Carlos Gutiérrez Riera	Gerardo Espinoza	José Ávila	Charly	Nexum
Tapatío	Amaury Vergara	Alberto Coyote	Sergio Flores	Puma	Caliente
Tepatitlán	Víctor Flores Cosío	Paco Ramírez	Luis Robles	Carrara	Pacífica
Tlaxcala	Rafael Torre Mendoza	Irving Rubirosa	Francisco Uscanga	Keuka	Providencia, Tlaxcala
UAT	Miguel Mansur Pedraza	Hibert Ruíz	Abraham Riestra	Silver Sport
U. de G.	José Alberto Castellanos Gutiérrez	Jorge Dávalos	José Hernández	Umbro	Electrolit
Venados	Rodolfo Rosas Cantillo	Carlos Gutiérrez	Armando Navarrete	U-Sports	Yucatán
Zacatecas	Eduardo López Muñoz	Omar Alexis Moreno	Manuel Madrid	Spiro	Fresnillo plc, Mobil

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table	Ref.
Pre-Apertura changes
Celaya	Héctor Altamirano	Sacked	23 April 2020	Israel Hernández	1 July 2020	Preseason	[8][9]
Zacatecas	Oscar Torres	Sacked	11 June 2020	Omar Alexis Moreno	1 July 2020		[10][11]
Sonora	Isaac Morales	Sacked	12 May 2020	Gabriel Pereyra	3 July 2020		[12][13]
Atlante	Alex Diego	Signed by Querétaro	12 June 2020	Mario García Covalles	20 July 2020		[14][15]
Oaxaca	Alejandro Pérez	Mutual agreement	4 July 2020	Oscar Fernando Torres	10 July 2020		[16][17]
Pre-Clausura changes
Sinaloa	David Patiño	Sacked	30 November 2020	Rafael García	21 December 2020	Preseason	[18][19]
Pumas Tabasco	Carlos Humberto González	Moved to UNAM U–20	21 December 2020	Alejandro Pérez	21 December 2020		[20]
Clausura changes
UAT	Roberto Hernández	Sacked	11 March 2021	Hibert Ruíz	11 March 2021	14th	[21][22]

Torneo Guardianes 2020

The Guardianes 2020 season was the 1st season of Liga de Expansión MX. The regular season began on 18 August 2020 and ended on 20 December 2020. The tournament was renamed Torneo Guardianes 2020 (stylized as Guard1anes) in honour of the job healthcare workers have done during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico

Regular season

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	Ext	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Celaya	15	9	5	1	3	21	10	+11	35	Qualification to the semi-finals[a]
2	Atlante	15	9	1	5	4	25	14	+11	32	Qualification to the quarter-finals[b]
3	Sonora	15	9	1	5	2	25	16	+9	30	Qualification to the Reclassification[c]
4	Atlético Morelia	15	7	5	3	3	24	18	+6	29
5	Cancún	15	7	3	5	3	19	14	+5	27
6	Tampico Madero (C)	15	6	5	4	3	14	12	+2	26
7	Zacatecas	15	6	5	4	2	24	19	+5	25
8	Tepatitlán	15	6	5	4	1	20	15	+5	24
9	Tapatío	15	5	6	4	1	20	14	+6	22
10	Tlaxcala	15	5	3	7	2	13	22	−9	20
11	Venados	15	4	4	7	1	14	21	−7	17
12	Pumas Tabasco[d]	15	3	5	7	3	20	30	−10	17
13	Sinaloa	15	3	5	7	2	18	27	−9	16
14	U. de G.	15	3	4	8	2	17	21	−4	15
15	Oaxaca	15	4	1	10	2	15	25	−10	15
16	UAT	15	3	4	8	0	17	28	−11	13

Source: Liga de Expansión MX
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of goals scored away; 5) Head-to-head results between tied teams; 6) Highest relegation coefficient; 7) Fair Play points
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. The 1st ranked team qualifies for the Liguilla semi-finals.
2. The 2nd ranked team qualifies for the Liguilla quarter-finals.
3. The Teams ranked from 3rd to 12th place qualify to the Repechage.
4. Team is last in the relegation table

Positions by round

	Leader and qualification to semi-finals
	Qualification to quarter-finals
	Qualification to repechaje.
	Last place in table

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Celaya	3	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Atlante	1	4	8	13	8	4	2	2	3	4	6	4	3	2	2
Sonora	2	1	1	1	2	2	3	3	4	2	2	2	5	3	3
Atlético Morelia	7	14	13	14	14	7	8	8	5	7	7	7	6	5	4
Cancún	6	7	3	3	3	3	5	6	7	6	5	5	2	4	5
Tampico Madero	13	13	12	9	13	12	9	10	10	8	9	9	8	7	6
Zacatecas	12	10	11	7	7	8	4	4	2	3	3	3	4	6	7
Tepatitlán	8	9	5	8	4	9	6	5	6	5	4	6	7	8	8
Tapatío	15	15	14	15	10	13	13	14	14	11	11	8	9	10	9
Tlaxcala	4	6	6	6	11	14	15	15	15	14	13	12	14	9	10
Venados	16	16	15	16	16	16	12	11	12	10	10	11	12	15	11
Pumas Tabasco	9	3	4	5	9	12	14	13	13	15	14	15	11	11	12
Sinaloa	11	5	9	4	6	6	7	7	8	12	12	13	10	12	13
U. de G.	14	12	7	10	5	5	10	9	9	13	15	14	15	13	14
Oaxaca	5	8	10	12	15	15	16	16	15	16	16	16	16	14	15
UAT	10	11	16	11	12	10	11	12	11	9	8	10	13	16	16

Source: Liga de Expansión MX

Results

Each team plays once all other teams in 15 rounds regardless of it being a home or away match.

Home \ Away	ATL	ATM	CAN	CEL	OAX	PUM	SIN	SON	TAM	TAP	TEP	TLA	UAT	UDG	VEN	ZAS
Atlante	—	—	2–1	—	—	—	4–1	1–0	0–1	0–0	—	—	—	0–1	3–0	2–1
Atlético Morelia	2–1	—	2–3	—	—	0–2	1–1	2–0	—	—	—	3–0	—	—	—	2–1
Cancún	—	—	—	0–2	0–2	4–0	—	—	1–0	—	—	2–0	2–0	—	1–2	1–1
Celaya	3–0	1–0	—	—	—	—	—	1–1	0–0	—	—	—	2–1	1–0	2–1	—
Oaxaca	1–2	0–1	—	1–2	—	—	1–3	2–4	—	—	—	2–2	—	1–0	1–0	—
Pumas Tabasco	0–4	—	—	1–2	0–2	—	2–2	—	—	—	2–2	0–1	—	—	—	3–3
Sinaloa	—	—	1–1	1–2	—	—	—	0–2	0–1	1–1	—	—	2–2	3–2	—	0–1
Sonora	—	—	2–1	—	—	2–1	—	—	3–1	—	2–0	—	—	1–0	1–0	2–3
Tampico Madero	—	1–2	—	—	2–0	1–2	—	—	—	2–1	0–0	—	0–0	—	1–1	—
Tapatío	—	3–3	0–0	1–0	3–0	4–2	—	0–2	—	—	0–1	2–0	—	—	—	—
Tepatitlán	2–1	2–2	0–1	1–1	2–0	—	4–0	—	—	—	—	—	—	3–2	2–0	—
Tlaxcala	0–3	—	—	1–1	—	—	2–1	2–1	0–1	—	1–1	—	1–0	1–3	—	—
UAT	1–2	2–3	—	—	3–2	0–0	—	2–1	—	0–3	2–0	—	—	—	—	—
U. de G.	—	1–1	0–1	—	—	2–2	—	—	1–2	1–1	—	—	3–1	—	—	1–1
Venados	—	1–1	—	—	—	1–3	1–2	—	—	0–0	—	1–0	2–2	2–1	—	—
Zacatecas	—	—	—	1–1	1–0	—	—	—	1–1	2–1	1–0	1–2	5–1	—	1–2	—

Source: Liga de Expansión MX
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Regular season statistics

Top goalscorers Players sorted first by goals scored, then by last name. Rank Player Club Goals 1 Alberto Alvarado Morín UAT 7 Lizandro Echeverría Atlante Guillermo Martínez Celaya Gustavo Ramírez Atlético Morelia 5 Juan José Calero Zacatecas 6 Eduardo Pérez Atlético Morelia Raúl Zúñiga Sinaloa 8 Juan David Angulo Tepatitlán 5 Franco Arizala Oaxaca Luis García Atlante Luis Hernández Zacatecas Ángel Adán López Sonora Óscar Macías Tapatío Miguel Ángel Vallejo Sonora Óscar Villa Sonora Source:Liga de Expansión MX

Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Round Reference David Angulo Tepatitlán U. de G. 3–2 (H) 17 November 2020 15 (H) – Home; (A) – Away

Final phase

Reclassification

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Sonora	2–3	Pumas Tabasco
Atlético Morelia	1–0	Venados
Cancún	1–2	Tlaxcala
Tampico Madero	0–0 (5–3 p)	Tapatío
Zacatecas	1–0	Tepatitlán

• All rounds are played in a single game hosted by the higher seed
• If a game ends in a draw, it will proceed directly to a penalty shoot-out.

Zacatecas v Tepatitlán

24 November 2020 (2020-11-24)	Zacatecas	1–0	Tepatitlán	Zacatecas City, Zacatecas
17:00 CST (UTC−6)	Mascorro 62'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Carlos Vega Villalba Referee: Edgar Allan Morales

Tampico Madero v Tapatío

24 November 2020 (2020-11-24)	Tampico Madero	0–0 (5–3 p)	Tapatío	Ciudad Madero / Tampico, Tamaulipas
19:10 CST (UTC−6)		Report		Stadium: Estadio Tamaulipas Referee: Luis Daniel Chávez
	Penalties
	De Buen Simental López Eguade Robles		Torres Hernández Muñoz Aguayo

Sonora v Pumas Tabasco

24 November 2020 (2020-11-24)	Sonora	2–3	Pumas Tabasco	Hermosillo, Sonora
20:10 MST (UTC−7)	Machado 3' López 90' (pen.)	Report	Montejano 28' Mejía 56' Figueroa 60' (pen.)	Stadium: Estadio Héroe de Nacozari Referee: Abraham de Jesús Quirarte

Atlético Morelia v Venados

25 November 2020 (2020-11-25)	Atlético Morelia	1–0	Venados	Morelia, Michoacán
17:00 CST (UTC−6)	Tamay 54'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Morelos Referee: Guillermo Pacheco Larios

Cancún v Tlaxcala

26 November 2020 (2020-11-26)	Cancún	1–2	Tlaxcala	Cancún, Quintana Roo
18:00 EST (UTC−5)	Mora 89' (o.g.)	Report	Uscanga 27' (pen.) Tehuitzil 35'	Stadium: Estadio Andrés Quintana Roo Referee: Daniel Quintero Huitrón

Bracket

	Quarter-finals							Semi-finals							Final
								1	Celaya	0	2	2
								6	Tampico Madero	1	2	3
	6	Tampico Madero	1	3	4
	7	Zacatecas	2	0	2
															6	Tampico Madero (a.e.t.)	1	3	4
															2	Atlante	1	2	3
	2	Atlante (s)	1	0	1
	12	Pumas Tabasco	1	0	1
								2	Atlante (s)	1	0	1
								4	Atlético Morelia	1	0	1
	4	Atlético Morelia	2	3	5
	10	Tlaxcala	0	0	0

• The first place team qualifies directly to the semi-finals.
• The second place team qualifies directly to the quarter-finals.
• Teams are re-seeded each round.
• The winners of the Repechage matches will be seeded based on their ranking in the classification table.
• Team with more goals on aggregate after two matches advances.
• In the quarterfinals and semifinals, if the two teams are tied on aggregate, the higher seeded team advances.
• In the final, if the two teams are tied after both legs, the match goes to extra time and, if necessary, a shoot-out.
• The champion qualifies to the Campeón de Campeones match against the Clausura 2021 champion.

^[23]

Quarter-finals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Pumas Tabasco	1–1(s)	Atlante	1–1	0–0
Tlaxcala	0–5	Atlético Morelia	0–2	0–3
Zacatecas	2–4	Tampico Madero	2–1	0–3

First leg

Tlaxcala v Atlético Morelia

2 December 2020 (2020-12-02)	Tlaxcala	0–2	Atlético Morelia	Tlaxcala City, Tlaxcala
17:00 CST (UTC−6)			Acosta 11' Ramírez 29'	Stadium: Estadio Tlahuicole Referee: Jesús Ruiz González

Zacatecas v Tampico Madero

2 December 2020 (2020-12-02)	Zacatecas	2–1	Tampico Madero	Zacatecas City, Zacatecas
19:00 CST (UTC−6)	Pedraza 31' Madrid 90'	Report	López 11'	Stadium: Estadio Carlos Vega Villalba Referee: Áxel Meza Méndez

Pumas Tabasco v Atlante

3 December 2020 (2020-12-03)	Pumas Tabasco	1–1	Atlante	Villahermosa, Tabasco
19:00 CST (UTC−6)	Mejía 78'	Report	Hernández 16' (pen.)	Stadium: Estadio Olímpico de Villahermosa Referee: Gustavo Padilla Aguirre

Second leg

Atlético Morelia v Tlaxcala

5 December 2020 (2020-12-05)	Atlético Morelia	3–0 (5–0 agg.)	Tlaxcala	Morelia, Michoacán
17:00 CST (UTC−6)	Milke 3' Ramírez 18', 26'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Morelos Referee: Edgar Allan Morales

Tampico Madero v Zacatecas

5 December 2020 (2020-12-05)	Tampico Madero	3–0 (4–2 agg.)	Zacatecas	Ciudad Madero / Tampico, Tamaulipas
19:00 CST (UTC−6)	Lozano 2' Ávila 3', 42'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Tamaulipas Referee: Guillermo Pacheco Larios

Atlante v Pumas Tabasco

6 December 2020 (2020-12-06)	Atlante	0–0 (1–1 agg.)	Pumas Tabasco	Mexico City
21:00 CST (UTC−6)				Stadium: Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes Referee: Ismael Lopez Peñuelas

Semi-finals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Celaya	2–3	Tampico Madero	0–1	2–2
Atlante	(s)1–1	Atlético Morelia	1–1	0–0

First leg

Tampico Madero v Celaya

9 December 2020 (2020-12-09)	Tampico Madero	1–0	Celaya	Ciudad Madero / Tampico, Tamaulipas
19:00 CST (UTC−6)	De Buen 10'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Tamaulipas Referee: Jesús Roberto Ruiz

Atlético Morelia v Atlante

9 December 2020 (2020-12-09)	Atlético Morelia	1–1	Atlante	Morelia, Michoacán
21:00 CST (UTC−6)	Tamay 22'	Report	Rol. González 66'	Stadium: Estadio Morelos Referee: Áxel Meza Méndez

Second leg

Celaya v Tampico Madero

12 December 2020 (2020-12-12)	Celaya	2–2 (2–3 agg.)	Tampico Madero	Celaya, Guanajuato
19:00 CST (UTC−6)	Martínez 25' Vergara 67'	Report	Medina 23' de Buen 89' (pen.)	Stadium: Estadio Miguel Alemán Valdés Referee: Abraham de Jesús Quirarte Contreras

Atlante v Atlético Morelia

12 December 2020 (2020-12-12)	Atlante	0–0 (1–1 agg.)	Atlético Morelia	Mexico City
21:05 CST (UTC−6)		Report		Stadium: Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes Referee: Luis Daniel Chávez León

Final

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Atlante	3–4	Tampico Madero	1–1	2–3

First leg

Tampico Madero v Atlante

17 December 2020 (2020-12-17)	Tampico Madero	1–1	Atlante	Ciudad Madero / Tampico, Tamaulipas
21:00 CST (UTC−6)	Pérez 7'	Report	García 59'	Stadium: Estadio Tamaulipas Referee: Guillermo Pacheco Larios

Second leg

Atlante v Tampico Madero

20 December 2020 (2020-12-20)	Atlante	2–3 (a.e.t.) (3–4 agg.)	Tampico Madero	Mexico City
20:00 CST (UTC−6)	Sánchez 66' Vega 106'	Report	Salas 74', 112' de Buen 118' (pen.)	Stadium: Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes Referee: Edgar Allan Morales Olvera

Guardianes 2020 winners
Tampico Madero 1st title

Torneo Guardianes 2021

The Clausura tournament will be named Guardianes 2021, in honor of the doctors and health professionals in the country who fight against COVID-19.^[24]

The Clausura 2021 began on 12 January 2021.^[25] Tampico Madero are the defending champions.

Regular season

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	Ext	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Atlético Morelia	15	9	2	4	4	26	19	+7	33	Qualification to the semi-finals[a]
2	Celaya	15	6	7	2	3	19	11	+8	28	Qualification to the quarter-finals[b]
3	Sonora	15	6	8	1	1	20	11	+9	27	Qualification to the Reclassification[c]
4	Zacatecas	15	7	3	5	3	21	21	0	27
5	Tapatío	15	6	4	5	2	14	14	0	24
6	Tepatitlán (C)	15	6	4	5	2	13	19	−6	24
7	Atlante	15	6	4	5	1	18	12	+6	23
8	Cancún	15	6	3	6	0	15	17	−2	21
9	Sinaloa	15	3	9	3	2	15	16	−1	20
10	Tlaxcala	15	5	4	6	1	15	17	−2	20
11	Oaxaca	15	4	7	4	0	24	24	0	19
12	Venados	15	3	8	4	1	15	16	−1	18
13	Pumas Tabasco	15	4	3	8	3	14	19	−5	18	Team is last in the relegation table.
14	Tampico Madero	15	3	7	5	0	11	12	−1	16
15	UAT	15	3	4	8	1	16	20	−4	14
16	U. de G.	15	2	5	8	1	11	19	−8	12

Source: Liga de Expansión MX
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of goals scored away; 5) Head-to-head results between tied teams; 6) Highest relegation coefficient; 7) Fair Play points
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. The 1st ranked team qualifies for the Liguilla semi-finals.
2. The 2nd ranked team qualifies for the Liguilla quarter-finals.
3. The Teams ranked from 3rd to 12th place qualify to the Repechage.

Positions by round

	Leader and qualification to semi-finals
	Qualification to quarter-finals
	Qualification to repechaje.
	Last place in table

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Atlético Morelia	11	8	3	1	2	1	2	2	1	3	3	1	1	1	1
Celaya	9	4	5	3	3	2	1	1	3	2	1	2	4	2	2
Sonora	8	9	11	11	8	6	5	4	5	6	4	3	3	4	3
Zacatecas	7	2	7	10	12	5	9	7	9	7	5	5	2	3	4
Tapatío	1	6	10	7	5	3	6	5	2	1	2	4	5	5	5
Tepatitlán	4	1	1	2	1	4	7	9	7	4	7	9	6	6	6
Atlante	3	5	2	6	4	8	3	3	4	5	8	10	9	7	7
Cancún	16	13	15	16	14	16	15	15	11	14	14	11	14	11	8
Sinaloa	5	11	6	9	11	9	14	13	14	13	10	6	7	8	9
Tlaxcala	6	3	8	4	9	7	8	8	12	8	9	14	11	13	10
Oaxaca	12	15	12	12	7	14	13	14	10	12	13	13	13	9	11
Venados	14	14	16	15	15	12	12	12	13	11	12	8	10	10	12
Pumas Tabasco	15	16	9	5	10	10	4	6	6	9	6	7	8	12	13
Tampico Madero	13	12	14	13	13	15	10	10	8	10	11	12	12	14	14
UAT	2	7	4	8	6	11	11	11	15	15	15	15	15	15	15
U. de G.	10	10	13	14	16	13	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16

Source: Liga de Expansión MX

Results

Each team plays once all other teams in 15 rounds regardless of it being a home or away match.

Home \ Away	ATL	ATM	CAN	CEL	OAX	PUM	SIN	SON	TAM	TAP	TEP	TLA	UAT	UDG	VEN	ZAS
Atlante	—	0–2	—	0–0	1–1	1–0	—	—	—	—	5–0	2–1	1–0	—	—	—
Atlético Morelia	—	—	—	0–2	6–3	—	—	—	1–0	2–0	2–2	—	2–1	2–1	1–1	—
Cancún	1–0	1–2	—	—	—	—	1–0	0–0	—	1–0	5–1	—	—	2–0	—	—
Celaya	—	—	4–0	—	0–0	2–1	2–2	—	—	0–0	1–1	0–0	—	—	—	2–0
Oaxaca	—	—	0–0	—	—	3–1	—	—	4–1	2–1	0–1	—	2–2	—	—	4–3
Pumas Tabasco	—	0–1	1–2	—	—	—	—	0–0	0–0	0–1	—	—	1–2	2–0	0–2	—
Sinaloa	3–2	2–3	—	—	1–1	1–1	—	—	—	—	0–0	1–1	—	—	0–0	—
Sonora	1–1	2–1	—	2–2	2–0	—	2–0	—	—	1–1	—	2–0	2–0	—	—	—
Tampico Madero	0–0	—	1–1	1–0	—	—	0–0	0–1	—	—	—	1–0	—	0–0	—	4–0
Tapatío	2–1	—	—	—	—	—	1–2	—	1–0	—	—	—	2–1	2–1	1–1	0–1
Tepatitlán	—	—	—	—	—	1–2	—	1–0	1–0	0–0	—	2–1	1–0	—	—	1–2
Tlaxcala	—	2–1	1–0	—	2–1	2–3	—	—	—	1–2	—	—	—	—	0–0	2–1
UAT	—	—	3–0	1–2	—	—	1–1	—	2–2	—	—	0–1	—	0–2	2–0	1–1
U. de G.	0–3	—	—	3–1	1–1	—	0–1	1–1	—	—	0–1	1–1	—	—	1–1	—
Venados	0–1	—	2–1	0–1	2–2	—	—	2–2	1–1	—	1–0	—	—	—	—	2–3
Zacatecas	1–0	2–0	2–0	—	—	1–2	1–1	2–2	—	—	—	—	—	1–0	—	—

Source: Liga de Expansión MX
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Regular season statistics

Top goalscorers Players sorted first by goals scored, then by last name. Rank Player Club Goals 1 Julio César Cruz Oaxaca 10 2 Diego Jiménez Atlético Morelia 8 3 Sergio Vergara Celaya 7 4 Vladimir Moragrega Atlante 6 Raúl Zúñiga Sinaloa 6 Juan José Calero Zacatecas 5 Ronaldo Cisneros Tapatío Héctor Mascorro Zacatecas Eduardo Pérez Atlético Morelia 10 Jonathan Betancourt Sonora 4 Eleuterio Jiménez Celaya Daniel Lajud Tampico Madero Ricardo Saúl Monreal Oaxaca Source: Liga de Expansión MX

Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Julio César Cruz Oaxaca Pumas Tabasco 3–1 9 February 2021

Attendance

Highest and lowest

Highest attended					Lowest attended[a]
Week	Home	Score	Away	Attendance	Home	Score	Away	Attendance
1	No matches with fans in attendance
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12	Tapatío	1–2	Sinaloa	58	N/A
13	No matches with fans in attendance
14	Cancún	2–0	U de G	2,656	Tapatío	1–1	Venados	85
15	No matches with fans in attendance

Source: Liga Expansión MX

1. ^
   Does not include matches played behind closed doors.

Final phase

Reclassification

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Sonora	2–2 (4–3 p)	Venados
Zacatecas	6–0	Oaxaca
Tapatío	1–0	Tlaxcala
Tepatitlán	1–1 (4–2 p)	Sinaloa
Atlante	2–1	Cancún

• All rounds are played in a single game hosted by the higher seed
• If a game ends in a draw, it will proceed directly to a penalty shoot-out.

Zacatecas v Oaxaca

20 April 2021 (2021-04-20)	Zacatecas	6–0	Oaxaca	Zacatecas City, Zacatecas
19:00 CDT (UTC−5)	Rivera 14', 29' Mascorro 53' Aguilar 60' Torres 79' Hipólito 89'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Carlos Vega Villalba Attendance: 2,639 Referee: Guillermo Pacheco Larios

Sonora v Venados

20 April 2021 (2021-04-20)	Sonora	2–2 (4–3 p)	Venados	Hermosillo, Sonora
19:15 MST (UTC−7)	Peralta 20' Mengual 33'	Report	Durán 12' Torres 30'	Stadium: Estadio Héroe de Nacozari Referee: Louis Adrián Vielmas
	Penalties
	Saavedra Reyes García López Betancourt		Madrigal Durán Torres Fernández Enríquez

Tepatitlán v Sinaloa

21 April 2021 (2021-04-21)	Tepatitlán	1–1 (4–2 p)	Sinaloa	Tepatitlán, Jalisco
17:00 CDT (UTC−5)	Mañón 73'	Report	Domínguez 38'	Stadium: Estadio Gregorio "Tepa" Gómez Attendance: 1,560 Referee: Daniel Quintero Huittrón
	Penalties
	Márquez Hernández Mañón Robles Pérez		Marín Zamora Torres Zúñiga

Atlante v Cancún

21 April 2021 (2021-04-21)	Atlante	2–1	Cancún	Mexico City
19:15 CDT (UTC−5)	Costa 33' L. García 75'	Report	Castillo 15' (pen.)	Stadium: Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes Referee: Abraham de Jesús Quirarte

Tapatío v Tlaxcala

22 April 2021 (2021-04-22)	Tapatío	1–0	Tlaxcala	Zapopan, Jalisco
21:00 CDT (UTC−5)	Ramírez 29'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Akron Attendance: 157 Referee: Jesús Rafael López

Bracket

	Quarter-finals							Semi-finals							Final
								1	Atlético Morelia	1	1	2
								7	Atlante	0	1	1
	2	Celaya	0	3	3
	7	Atlante	2	3	5
															1	Atlético Morelia	0	2	2
															6	Tepatitlán	1	2	3
	4	Zacatecas	1	2	3
	5	Tapatío	0	1	1
								4	Zacatecas	0	1	1
								6	Tepatitlán	3	1	4
	3	Sonora	0	1	1
	6	Tepatitlán	2	4	6

• The first place team qualifies directly to the semi-finals.
• The second place team qualifies directly to the quarter-finals.
• Teams are re-seeded each round.
• The winners of the Repechage matches will be seeded based on their ranking in the classification table.
• Team with more goals on aggregate after two matches advances.
• In the quarterfinals and semifinals, if the two teams are tied on aggregate, the higher seeded team advances.
• In the final, if the two teams are tied after both legs, the match goes to extra time and, if necessary, a shoot-out.
• The champion qualifies to the Campeón de Campeones match against the Apertura 2020 champion.^[23]

Quarter-finals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Atlante	5–3	Celaya	2–0	3–3
Tepatitlán	6–1	Sonora	2–0	4–1
Tapatío	1–3	Zacatecas	0–1	1–2

First leg

Atlante v Celaya

27 April 2021 (2021-04-27)	Atlante	2–0	Celaya	Mexico City
12:00 CDT (UTC−5)	Costa 76', 82'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes Attendance: 0 Referee: Martín Molina Astorga

Tepatitlán v Sonora

28 April 2021 (2021-04-28)	Tepatitlán	2–0	Sonora	Tepatitlán, Jalisco
17:00 CDT (UTC−5)	Pérez 56' Morales 58'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Gregorio "Tepa" Gómez Attendance: 1,597 Referee: Jorge Camacho Peregrina

Tapatío v Zacatecas

29 April 2021 (2021-04-29)	Tapatío	0–1	Zacatecas	Zapopan, Jalisco
17:00 CDT (UTC−5)		Report	Hernández 55'	Stadium: Estadio Akron Attendance: 167 Referee: Ismael Lopez Peñuelas

Second leg

Celaya v Atlante

30 April 2021 (2021-04-30)	Celaya	3–3 (3–5 agg.)	Atlante	Celaya, Guanajuato
17:00 CDT (UTC−5)	Illescas 11', 90' Hernández 77'	Report	Costa 4', 25' Moragrega 81'	Stadium: Estadio Miguel Alemán Valdés Attendance: 2,333 Referee: Guillermo Pacheco Larios

Sonora v Tepatitlán

1 May 2021 (2021-05-01)	Sonora	1–4 (1–6 agg.)	Tepatitlán	Hermosillo, Sonora
20:00 MST (UTC−7)	Á. López 9'	Report	C. González 18' Tecpanécatl 58' Juárez 75' Rivera 90+1' (pen.)	Stadium: Estadio Héroe de Nacozari Attendance: 2,333 Referee: Jesús Rafael López

Zacatecas v Tapatío

2 May 2021 (2021-05-02)	Zacatecas	2–1 (3–1 agg.)	Tapatío	Zacatecas City, Zacatecas
17:00 CDT (UTC−5)	Hernández 48' Mascorro 67'	Report	Benítez 25'	Stadium: Estadio Carlos Vega Villalba Attendance: 3,469 Referee: Daniel Quintero Huitrón

Semi-finals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Atlante	1–2	Atlético Morelia	0–1	1–1
Tepatitlán	4–1	Zacatecas	3–0	1–1

First leg

Atlante v Atlético Morelia

4 May 2021 (2021-05-04)	Atlante	0–1	Atlético Morelia	Mexico City
16:00 CDT (UTC−5)		Report	Moragrega 39' (o.g.)	Stadium: Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes Referee: Jorge Camacho Peregrina

Tepatitlán v Zacatecas

5 May 2021 (2021-05-05)	Tepatitlán	3–0	Zacatecas	Tepatitlán, Jalisco
17:00 CDT (UTC−5)	Mañón 72', 74' Angulo 90+1'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Gregorio "Tepa" Gómez Attendance: 2,154 Referee: Martín Molina Astorga

Second leg

Atlético Morelia v Atlante

7 May 2021 (2021-05-07)	Atlético Morelia	1–1 (2–1 agg.)	Atlante	Morelia, Michoacán
21:00 CDT (UTC−5)	Acosta 33'	Report	Partida 19'	Stadium: Estadio Morelos Attendance: 10,343 Referee: Daniel Quintero Huitrón

Zacatecas v Tepatitlán

8 May 2021 (2021-05-08)	Zacatecas	1–1 (1–4 agg.)	Tepatitlán	Zacatecas City, Zacatecas
17:00 CDT (UTC−5)	Calero 18'	Report	Pérez 72'	Stadium: Estadio Carlos Vega Villalba Attendance: 2,100 Referee: Jesus Rafael Lopez

Final

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Tepatitlán	3–2	Atlético Morelia	1–0	2–2

First leg

Tepatitlán v Atlético Morelia

12 May 2021 (2021-05-12)	Tepatitlán	1–0	Atlético Morelia	Tepatitlán, Jalisco
17:00 CDT (UTC−5)	Ceballos 62'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Gregorio "Tepa" Gómez Attendance: 3,272 Referee: Jorge Abraham Camacho

Second leg

Atlético Morelia v Tepatitlán

15 May 2021 (2021-05-15)	Atlético Morelia	2–2 (2–3 agg.)	Tepatitlán	Morelia, Michoacán
16:00 CDT (UTC−5)	Acosta 29' Jiménez 44'		Mañón 27' Márquez 86' (pen.)	Stadium: Estadio Morelos Attendance: 13,433 Referee: Daniel Quintero Huitrón

Guardianes 2021 winners
Tepatitlán 1st title

Campeón de Campeones 2021

The Campeón de Campeones Final is a two-legged playoff between the winners of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments and the Liga de Expansión MX Super cup. The final would not be played if the same team wins both the Apertura and Clausura tournaments. The higher ranked team on the aggregate table for the 2020–21 season will play the second leg at home. The winner of the final will receive a prize of $MXN 5 million.

First leg

19 May 2021

18:30 UTC−5

Tampico Madero	2–0	Tepatitlán
Lajud 59', 60'	Report

Estadio Tamaulipas, Ciudad Madero / Tampico, Tamaulipas

Attendance: 2,788

Referee: Abraham de Jesús Quirarte Contreras

Tampico Madero[26]

Tepatitlán[26]

GK 33 Kefrén Avilés DF 2 César Bernal DF 3 Óscar Manzanarez DF 8 Marco Ruíz DF 13 Carlos Robles MF 17 José Lozano  83' MF 19 Edson García MF 6 Aldo López  74' MF 7 Daniel Lajud  29'  83' FW 9 Nahum Gómez  74' FW 11 Antonio López (c) Substitutions: GK 25 Estuardo Azahar DF 4 Luis Flores DF 15 Gabriel Vera MF 16 José Hernández  83' MF 5 Germán Eguade MF 14 Joel Pérez  83' MF 23 Jared Simental FW 26 Manuel López FW 10 Giovani Hernández  74' FW 31 Fabián Salas  74' Manager: Gerardo Espinoza

GK 1 Andrés Sánchez DF 5 Sergio Ceballos  55' DF 14 Javier Medina DF 19 Said Castañeda DF 6 Pável Pérez  80' MF 7 Ángel Tecpanécatl  55' MF 8 Luis Morales  62' MF 18 Luis Robles (c)  13' MF 25 Alexis Juárez  5' FW 9 Víctor Mañón  80' FW 27 David Angulo Substitutions: GK 35 Bernardo Aguilar DF 2 Fernando Ponce  80' DF 4 Daniel Aguiñaga  52' MF 16 Cristian González MF 26 Luis Márquez  62' MF 33 Jorge Lumbreras  80' FW 13 Alonso Valadéz FW 20 Javier Hernández FW 23 Diego Medina Manager: Paco Ramírez

Assistant referees: Manuel Alfonso Martinez Sanchez Jaime Daniel González Ramírez Fourth official: Ismael Rosario Lopez Peñuelas

Second leg

22 May 2021

17:00 UTC−5

Tepatitlán	2–0 (a.e.t.)	Tampico Madero
Pérez 38' Castañeda 89'	Report Referee Report
Penalties
Ponce Robles Tecpanécatl Hernández Mañón Rivera Morales	5–4	Eguade Lajud G. Hernández Pérez Robles Manzanarez Flores

Estadio Gregorio "Tepa" Gómez, Tepatitlán, Jalisco

Attendance: 2,545

Referee: Jesus Rafael Lopez Valle

Tepatitlán[27]

Tampico Madero[27]

GK 1 Andrés Sánchez DF 4 Daniel Aguiñaga  61' DF 14 Javier Medina  45+3'  54' DF 19 Said Castañeda  78' MF 6 Pável Pérez MF 7 Ángel Tecpanécatl  63' MF 18 Luis Robles FW 9 Víctor Mañón FW 10 Édson Rivera (c) FW 23 Diego Medina  46' FW 27 David Angulo  54' Substitutions: GK 35 Bernardo Aguilar DF 2 Fernando Ponce  91' DF 8 Luis Morales  54' MF 16 Cristian González  54'  73' MF 25 Alexis Juárez MF 26 Luis Márquez  46'  91' MF 32 Luis Torres MF 33 Jorge Lumbreras  73' FW 13 Alonso Valadéz FW 20 Javier Hernández  61' Manager: Paco Ramírez

GK 33 Kefrén Avilés DF 2 César Bernal  51'  86' DF 3 Óscar Manzanarez  86' DF 8 Marco Ruíz  46' DF 13 Carlos Robles MF 17 José Lozano  82'  106' MF 19 Edson García  80' MF 6 Aldo López  106' MF 7 Daniel Lajud FW 9 Nahum Gómez  88'  46' FW 11 Antonio López (c)  81' Substitutions: GK 25 Estuardo Azahar DF 4 Luis Flores  106' DF 15 Gabriel Vera MF 16 José Hernández  86' MF 5 Germán Eguade  86' MF 14 Joel Pérez  106' MF 23 Jared Simental FW 26 Manuel López FW 10 Giovani Hernández  46' FW 31 Fabián Salas  81' Manager: Gerardo Espinoza  67'

Assistant referees: Leonardo Javier Castillo Rodríguez Jéssica Fernanda Morales Morales Fourth official: Martín Molina Astorga

2–2 on aggregate. Tepatitlán won 5–4 on penalty kicks.

2020–21 Liga de Expansión MX champion
Tepatitlán 1st title

Coefficient table

As of the 2020–21 season, the promotion and relegation between Liga MX and Liga de Expansión MX (formerly known as Ascenso MX) was suspended, however, the coefficient table will be used to establish the payment of fines that will be used for the development of the clubs of the silver circuit.^[28]

Per Article 24 of the competition regulations, the payment of $MXN3 million from Liga de Expansión clubs will be distributed among the last three positioned in the coefficient table as follows: Last place pays 1.5 million, the penultimate place pays 1 million, and the sixteenth place pays 500 thousand. If any affiliate club or new club from the Liga Premier is ranked in the bottom three at the end of the season, they are exempt from paying any fine and it will not be covered by any other club. Any club that does not pay their corresponding fine, for any reason, will be dissafiliated. The team that finishes last on the table will start the following season with a coefficient of zero. If the last ranked team repeats as the last ranked team in the 2021–22 season coefficient table, they will be fined an additional $MXN1 million.^[29]

Pos	Team	'18 A Pts	'19 C Pts	'19 A Pts	'20 C Pts	'20 G Pts	'21 G Pts	Total Pts	Total Pld	Avg	GD	Fine
1	Zacatecas	32	25	14	20	23	24	138	77	1.7662	+41	Safe from paying fine
2	Atlante	30	17	20	11	28	22	128	77	1.6623	+35
3	Sonora	25	22	15	8	28	26	124	77	1.6104	+10
4	Atlético Morelia[b]	13	22	19	13	26	29	122	77	1.5844	+13
5	Tepatitlán	Serie A de México				23	22	45	40	1.5000	–1	Exempt from fine
6	Tapatío	Did not exist				21	22	43	30	1.4333	+6
7	Celaya	8	18	12	13	32	25	108	77	1.4026	+6	Safe from paying fine
8	Tampico Madero	0[a]	0[a]	17	12	23	16	68	49	1.3878	+7
9	Oaxaca	22	19	21	6	13	19	100	77	1.2987	–8
10	Tlaxcala	Serie A de México				18	19	37	30	1.2333	–11	Exempt from fine
11	Sinaloa	22	20	14	5	14	19	93	77	1.2078	–9	Safe from paying fine
12	Cancún[c]	12	15	13	3	24	21	88	77	1.1429	–13
13	U. de G.	18	17	15	13	13	11	87	77	1.1299	–9
14	UAT (F)	15	17	10	16	13	13	84	77	1.0909	–22	$MXN500 thousand
15	Venados (F)	9	20	8	13	16	16	83	77	1.0779	–31	$MXN1 million
16	Pumas Tabasco (Z)[d]	Did not exist				14	15	29	30	0.9667	–15	Exempt from fine

Last update: 15 April 2021
Rules for fine payment: 1) Fine coefficient; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results between tied teams; 5) Number of goals scored away; 6) Fair Play points
F = Fined.
Z = Points reset.
Source: Liga de Expansión

1. ^
   2018–19 accumulated points are not counted towards their relegation coefficient.^[30]
2. ^
   2018–19 and 2019–20 points were accumulated as Atlético Zacatepec.
3. ^
   2018–19 points were accumulated as Cafetaleros de Tapachula and 2019–20 as Cafetaleros de Chiapas.
4. ^
   Pumas Tabasco will begin the 2021–22 season with a coefficient of zero.

Aggregate table

The Aggregate table is the general ranking for the 2020–21 season. This table is a sum of the Guardianes 2020 and Guardianes 2021 tournament standings. The aggregate table is used to determine seeding for the "Campeón de Campeones" Final.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Celaya	30	15	12	3	40	21	+19	63
2	Atlético Morelia	30	16	7	7	50	37	+13	62
3	Sonora	30	15	9	6	45	27	+18	57
4	Atlante	30	15	5	10	43	26	+17	55
5	Zacatecas	30	13	8	9	45	40	+5	52
6	Cancún	30	13	6	11	34	31	+3	48
7	Tepatitlán (C, Q)	30	12	9	9	33	34	−1	48	Campeón de Campeones[a]
8	Tapatío	30	11	10	9	34	28	+6	46
9	Tampico Madero (C, Q)	30	9	12	9	25	24	+1	42	Campeón de Campeones[b]
10	Tlaxcala	30	10	7	13	28	39	−11	40
11	Sinaloa	30	6	14	10	33	43	−10	36
12	Venados	30	7	12	11	29	37	−8	35
13	Pumas Tabasco	30	7	8	15	34	49	−15	35	Team ended last in the relegation table.
14	Oaxaca	30	8	8	14	39	49	−10	34
15	U. de G.	30	5	9	16	28	40	−12	27
16	UAT	30	6	8	16	33	48	−15	27

Source: Liga Expansión MX
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results between tied teams; 5) Number of goals scored away; 6) Highest relegation coefficient; 7) Fair Play points
(C) Champions; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated
Notes:

1. As Guardianes 2021 champions
2. As Guardianes 2020 champions