The Liguilla (English: Little League) of the 2012 Mexican Primera División Clausura season is a final knockout tournament involving eight teams of the Mexican Primera División. The tournament began on May 2, 2012 with the first matches of the quarterfinals and ended on May 20, 2012 with the second leg of the final. The winners and runners-up of the competition will qualify for the 2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country |  Mexico |
| Teams | 8 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Santos |
| Runner-up | Monterrey |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 14 |
| Goals scored | 41 (2.93 per match) |
| Top goal scorer(s) | Oribe Peralta (6 goals) |
Teams edit
In a change from previous seasons, the 18 teams in the 2012 Clausura were not divided into three groups of six teams each. Instead, the eight best teams in the general table qualified for the competition.
| S | Team | Manager | Captain | Performance at the 2012 Clausura | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | ||||||
| 1 | Santos Laguna | Benjamín Galindo |
Oswaldo Sánchez |
17 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 33 | 18 | +15 | 36 | ||
| 2 | Monterrey | Víctor Manuel Vucetich |
Luis Ernesto Pérez |
17 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 32 | 15 | +17 | 32 | ||
| 3 | América | Miguel Herrera |
 Daniel Montenegro |
17 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 30 | 26 | +4 | 32 | ||
| 4 | Morelia | Tomás Boy |
Federico Vilar |
17 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 25 | 18 | +7 | 31 | ||
| 5 | UANL |  Ricardo Ferretti |
Lucas Lobos |
17 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 22 | 16 | +6 | 31 | ||
| 6 | Pachuca | Efraín Flores |
Leobardo López |
17 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 24 | 17 | +7 | 28 | ||
| 7 | Tijuana | Antonio Mohamed |
Javier Gandolfi |
17 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 18 | 11 | +7 | 28 | ||
| 8 | Chiapas | José Guadalupe Cruz |
 Jackson Martínez |
17 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 26 | 20 | +6 | 27 | ||
Bracket edit
The eight qualified teams play two games against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner of each match up is determined by aggregate score.
The teams were seeded one to eight in quarterfinals, and will be re-seeded one to four in semifinals, depending on their position in the general table. The higher seeded teams play on their home field during the second leg.
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Santos Laguna | 4 | 2 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Chiapas | 3 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Santos Laguna | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | UANL | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Morelia | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | UANL | 1 | 4 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Santos Laguna | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Monterrey | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Monterrey | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Tijuana | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Monterrey | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | América | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | América | 3 | 0 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Pachuca | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
- If the two teams are tied after both legs, the higher seeded team advances.
- Both finalists qualify to the 2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage. Note that Santos are already qualified to 2012-13 Champions League as the runners-up of the Apertura, and as they win the Clausura final, they earn the spot given to the Clausura Champion and relinquish the spot for the Apertura Runner-up to Guadalajara, the best record of the 2011 Apertura not already qualified.
Quarterfinals edit
The first legs of the quarterfinals were played on May 2 and 3. The second legs were played on May 5 and 6.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chiapas (8) | 4 – 6 | (1) Santos Laguna | 3 – 4 | 1 – 2 |
| Tijuana (7) | 3 – 4 | (2) Monterrey | 1 – 2 | 2 – 2 |
| Pachuca (6) | 2 – 3 | (3) América | 1 – 3 | 1 – 0 |
| UANL (5) | 5 – 1 | (4) Morelia | 1 – 0 | 4 – 1 |
Kickoffs are given in local time (UTC-5 unless stated otherwise).
First leg edit
| May 2, 2012 | Pachuca | 1 – 3 | América | Pachuca, Hidalgo |
| 20:30 | López  77' (pen.) |
Report | Molina 38' Bermúdez 42', 59' |
Stadium: Estadio Hidalgo Referee: Erim Ramírez |
| May 2, 2012 | Tijuana | 1 – 2 | Monterrey | Tijuana, Baja California |
| 20:30 PDT | Enríquez 88' |
Report | Zavala 31' Reyna 49' |
Stadium: Estadio Caliente Referee: Jorge Pérez |
| May 3, 2012 | Chiapas | 3 – 4 | Santos Laguna | Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas |
| 19:00 | Rey 29' Martínez 32', 74' |
Report | Ludueña 25', 60' Peralta 39'Quintero 90+6' |
Stadium: Estadio Víctor Manuel Reyna Referee: José Peñaloza |
| May 3, 2012 | UANL | 1 – 0 | Morelia | San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León |
| 21:00 | Mancilla 23' |
Report | Stadium: Estadio Universitario Referee: Jorge Rojas |
Second leg edit
| May 5, 2012 | América | 0 – 1 | Pachuca | Santa Ursula, Mexico City |
| 18:00 | Report | Herrera 36' |
Stadium: Estadio Azteca Referee: Marco Rodríguez |
| May 5, 2012 | Monterrey | 2 – 2 | Tijuana | Monterrey, Nuevo León |
| 20:00 | Delgado 44' Basanta 65'Reyna  27'  31' |
Report | Arévalo 9', 61' (pen) Almazán  51'Pulido 73' |
Stadium: Estadio Tecnológico Referee: Ricardo Arellano |
| May 6, 2012 | Santos Laguna | 2 – 1 | Chiapas | Torreón, Coahuila |
| 18:00 | Quintero 15' Peralta 37' |
Report | Zamorano 7' |
Stadium: Estadio TSM Corona Referee: Roberto García |
Semi-finals edit
The first legs of the semifinals were played on May 9 and 10. The second legs were played on May 12 and 13.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UANL (5) | 3 – 3 | (1) Santos Laguna | 1 – 1 | 2 – 2 |
| América (3) | 0 – 2 | (2) Monterrey | 0 – 0 | 0 – 2 |
Kickoffs are given in local time (UTC-5 unless stated otherwise).
First leg edit
| May 9, 2012 | América | 0 – 0 | Monterrey | Santa Ursula, Mexico City |
| 21:00 | Aguilar 42' 83' |
Report | Stadium: Estadio Azteca Referee: Mauricio Morales |
| May 10, 2012 | UANL | 1 – 1 | Santos Laguna | San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León |
| 20:00 | Lobos 69' |
Report | Estrada 62' |
Stadium: Estadio Universitario Referee: Francisco Chacón |
Second leg edit
| May 12, 2012 | Monterrey | 2 – 0 | América | Monterrey, Nuevo León |
| 21:00 | Basanta 9' de Nigris 52' |
Report | Stadium: Estadio Tecnológico Referee: Roberto García |
| May 13, 2012 | Santos Laguna | 2 – 2 | UANL | Torreón, Coahuila |
| 20:00 | Peralta 87', 90' |
Report | Mancilla 6', 27' |
Stadium: Estadio TSM Corona Referee: Marco Rodríguez |
Final edit
The first leg of the final was played on May 17. The second leg was played on May 20.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (2) Monterrey | 2 - 3 | (1) Santos Laguna | 1 - 1 | 1 - 2 |
Kickoffs are given in local time (UTC-5 unless stated otherwise).
First leg edit
| May 17, 2012 | Monterrey | 1 – 1 | Santos Laguna | Monterrey, Nuevo León |
| 21:00 | Suazo 90+4' (pen) |
Report | Peralta 70' |
Stadium: Estadio Tecnológico Referee: Mauricio Morales |
Second leg edit
| May 20, 2012 | Santos Laguna | 2 – 1 | Monterrey | Torreón, Coahuila |
| 20:00 | Ludueña 6' Peralta 65' |
Report | de Nigris 79' |
Stadium: Estadio TSM Corona Referee: Roberto García |
| 2012 Clausura winners: |
|---|
| Santos Laguna 4th Title |