Toluca vs. Tigres: A Worthy Liga MX Final | OneFootball

As a Tigres fan, this is a difficult article to write. Finals always are when the result does not go your way; especially when the opponent is as good as Toluca. There is no doubt that these were the two best teams in the league, and the final reflected that quality.

Strong Start for Tigres

Tigres arrived at the second leg with a slim but important 1–0 advantage from the first match. Confidence grew even more when Tigres surprisingly scored first in Toluca, extending their aggregate lead and putting the Diablos under real pressure. At that moment, it felt like Tigres had one hand on the trophy. However, football matches are often decided not just by goals, but by decisions — and this is where the game began to turn.

During the final 30 minutes of the first half and the opening 10 minutes of the second, Tigres gave the ball to Toluca far too easily. Possession shifted dramatically. At one point, the TV commentators mentioned that Toluca had 78% of the ball. For a team with Tigres’ quality, that was a dangerous concession.

Toluca’s dominance finally paid off at the end of the first half, when they scored to tie the match on the night, though Tigres still held the advantage on aggregate. That goal, however, changed the momentum and energized Toluca heading into halftime.

Toluca Turn the Tide

Toluca carried that intensity into the second half and struck again early, this time tying the aggregate score and fully leveling the series. It was only then that Tigres began to regain possession and turn the match into the intense, tightly contested final everyone expected. From that point on, it became a battle in every sense of the word.

Both teams ran their hearts out. Fatigue became visible as the minutes passed, leading to key substitutions. Brunetta for Tigres and Paulinho for Toluca left the field clearly exhausted, having given everything to their teams. The match went into extra time, where chances appeared on both sides. Tigres came painfully close when Ibáñez fired a shot that narrowly missed the post — one of those moments that can define a championship.

Penalty Shootout

With no winner after extra time, the final was decided by penalties. What followed was one of the most intense and dramatic shootouts I have ever seen. The first five penalties ended level, with each team missing once. Then came sudden death, and it simply would not end. All eleven players from each team stepped up to take a penalty — an extraordinary display of nerve under immense pressure.

It was not until Correa of Tigres and Vega of Toluca took their second penalties that the final was decided. Fine margins made the difference. Like in golf, soccer is sometimes a game of inches.

The results from the shootout. Source: Sofascore

As painful as it is to say, Toluca deserve congratulations. They finished the season with the most points and proved themselves worthy champions. As for Tigres, they showed once again that they are built for the biggest stages and ready for any challenge. If you are a soccer fan, this final was impossible not to enjoy.