Atlas F.C. have done it again.
After defeating C.F. Pachuca 2-0 in the first leg of the 2022 Clausura final, Atlas narrowly hung on in the second leg in a 2-1 victory on Sunday to win the Liga MX title 3-2 on aggregate.
Things got off to a shaky start for Atlas, however, when Romario Ibarra split two defenders on the left wing and finessed a shot into the net from a tough angle. Pachuca led 1-0 after just eight minutes of play to close the aggregate gap within one.
But Pachuca couldn’t capitalize on that early goal. Instead, just seconds away from stoppage time before halftime, Julio Furch converted a penalty to push Atlas up 3-1 on aggregate.
Somehow, though, Pachuca managed to find another goal before going into the break. After a whopping nine minutes of play in stoppage time, Nicolas Ibanez’s header found the back of the net. Los Tuzos still had one more half to find the equalizer.
There were still no goals found for either side after over 30 minutes of play in the second half, but the door swung wide open for Pachuca in the 83rd minute when Atlas left-back Anibal Chalá was sent off with a red card.
In the end, Pachuca, after a first-place finish in the league, could not find the goal needed to tie the game. Third-place Atlas held on to win the title for the second straight season after beating León 4-3 in penalty kicks last year.
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Atlas have now won three league titles in franchise history, but the trophies didn’t stop there. Since Atlas won last year’s final and this year’s final, they were automatically awarded the Campeón de Campeones trophy.
Usually there’s a game between the previous year’s winner and the new winner to decide the winner, but Los Zorros won’t have to play an extra game for that award. It is now the club’s fifth Champion of Champions title. They last won it in 1962.
