The 2021–22 Liga de Expansión MX season was the 3rd and 4th edition of the second level professional division of Mexican football. The season was divided into two short tournaments, which was called Apertura 2021 and Clausura 2022, each tournament with an identical format and contested by the same 17 participating clubs. It was started on 27 July 2021 and ended on 14 May 2022.
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. 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.
At first it was reported that the Irapuato were promoted from the Liga Premier de México in 2021. However, on 3 June 2021, the Mexican Football Federation announced the opening of a selection process to choose the club that would occupy the Liga Premier 3 place, because Irapuato must still meet some requirements to compete in the Liga de Expansión MX, three Liga Premier clubs (Durango, Irapuato and Matamoros), were chosen for an audit process that would determine the winner of the promotion. On 5 July 2021, it was confirmed that no team undergoing the certification audit approved the procedure, so there will be no club promoted from the Liga Premier, finally, the Liga de Expansión will be play with 17 teams.
As of this season, C.F. Monterrey will have its own team participating in the Liga de Expansión MX, which will be called Raya2.
As of 2021 Tepatitlán F.C. will be considered as a full member team of the Liga de Expansión MX, leaving the status of guest club with which it participated in the previous season.
The league format will be modified, with the top four ranked teams from the tournament general table advancing directly to the quarter–finals, while clubs ranked between fifth and twelfth place will play the reclassification round.
Stadiums and locations +TeamCityStadiumCapacityAtlanteMexico CityCiudad de los Deportes33,000Atlético MoreliaMorelia, MichoacánMorelos35,000CancúnCancún, Quintana RooAndrés Quintana Roo18,844CelayaCelaya, GuanajuatoMiguel Alemán Valdés23,182OaxacaOaxaca City, OaxacaTecnológico de Oaxaca14,598Pumas TabascoVillahermosa, TabascoOlímpico de Villahermosa12,000Raya2Monterrey, Nuevo LeónBBVA53,500SinaloaCuliacán, SinaloaDorados20,108SonoraHermosillo, SonoraHéroe de Nacozari18,747Tampico MaderoTampico/Ciudad Madero, TamaulipasTamaulipas19,667TapatíoZapopan, JaliscoAkron49,850TepatitlánTepatitlán de Morelos, JaliscoGregorio "Tepa" Gómez 8,085TlaxcalaTlaxcala City, TlaxcalaTlahuicole11,135UATCiudad Victoria, TamaulipasMarte R. Gómez10,520UdeGGuadalajara, JaliscoJalisco55,020VenadosMérida, YucatánCarlos Iturralde15,087ZacatecasZacatecas City, ZacatecasCarlos Vega Villalba20,068
Personnel and kits Team Chairman Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor(s)Atlante Jorge Santillana Mario García Covalles Humberto Hernández UIN Sports BetcrisAtlético Morelia José Luis Higuera Ricardo Valiño Arturo Ledesma Keuka Akron, Axen CapitalCancún José Luis Orantes Costanzo Federico Vilar Armando Zamorano Nike Cancún, Riviera MayaCelaya Carlos Benavides Escardó Israel Hernández Leobardo López Keuka BachocoOaxaca Juan Carlos Jones Jorge Manrique Juan Portales Silver Sport Patsa, Romasa, BunkerPumas TabascoRamón Neme Raúl Alpizar (Interim) Édgar Alaffita Nike DHLRaya2Duilio Davino Héctor Becerra (Interim) William Mejía Puma Sinaloa José Antonio Núñez Rafael García Hiram Muñoz Charly Coppel, Caliente, SukarneSonora Juan Pablo Rojo Gabriel Pereyra José Saavedra Keuka CalienteTampico Madero Carlos Gutiérrez Riera Gerardo Espinoza Óscar Manzanarez Charly Nexum, TSH SystemsTapatío Amaury Vergara Joaquín Moreno (Interim) José González Puma CalienteTepatitlán Víctor Flores Cosío Bruno Marioni Luis Robles Sporelli PacíficaTlaxcala Rafael Torre Mendoza Jonathan Estrada (Interim) Efrén Mendoza Keuka Providencia, TlaxcalaUAT Felipe del Ángel Malibrán Héctor Altamirano Rodolfo Salinas Silver Sport RVG CombustiblesUdeG Alfonso Sosa José Hernández Sporelli ElectrolitVenados Rodolfo Rosas Cantillo Carlos Gutiérrez Alfonso Luna Spiro YucatánZacatecas Eduardo López Muñoz Omar Alexis Moreno Sergio Ceballos Spiro Fresnillo plc
Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table Ref.Pre-Apertura changesUAT Hibert RuízSacked16 April 2021 Daniel Alcántar21 May 2021PreseasonCancún Christian GiménezMutual agreement6 May 2021 Federico Vilar1 June 2021Tlaxcala Irving RubirosaMutual agreement28 May 2021 Silvio Rudman4 June 2021Apertura changesUAT Daniel AlcántarResigned19 August 2021 Francisco Rotllán19 August 2021 7thTlaxcala Silvio RudmanMutual agreement27 August 2021 Juan Antonio Torres28 August 202114thUdeG Jorge DávalosSacked6 September 2021 Alfonso Sosa7 September 202117thTapatío Alberto CoyoteSacked17 September 2021 Ricardo Cadena20 September 202117thOaxaca Oscar Fernando TorresResigned1 October 2021 Jorge Manrique1 October 202117thUAT Francisco RotllánSacked13 October 2021 Jorge Urbina13 October 2021 14thClausura changesTepatitlán Paco RamírezMutual agreement3 February 2022 Bruno Marioni4 February 202216thUAT Jorge UrbinaSacked8 February 2022 Héctor Altamirano9 February 202211thRaya2 Aldo de NigrisSigned as assistant in Monterrey3 March 2022 Héctor Becerra (Interim)4 March 202211thPumas Tabasco Alejandro Pérez MacíasSacked18 March 2022 Raúl Alpizar (Interim)18 March 202216thTlaxcala Juan Antonio TorresSacked20 March 2022 Jonathan Estrada (Interim)22 March 202215thTapatío Ricardo CadenaSigned as Guadalajara interim manager14 April 2022 Joaquín Moreno (Interim)15 April 20229th
Torneo Apertura The Apertura 2021 was the second tournament of the season and the 3rd edition of the competition. The tournament was renamed Torneo Apertura Grita México 2021 with the intention of encouraging fans in the stands not to scream an offensive chant after a goal kick. The tournament started on 27 July and ended on 18 December 2021.
Regular season
Standings
Positions by round
Results Each team plays once all other teams in 16 rounds regardless of it being a home or away match.
Regular season statistics
Top goalscorers Players sorted first by goals scored, then by last name. Rank Player Club Goals1 Raúl ZúñigaSinaloa122 Martín Barragán Atlético Morelia83 Omar IslasPumas Tabasco6 Víctor MañónTepatitlán Eduardo PérezTampico Madero Diego Pineda UAT Paolo YrizarSinaloa8 Diego Abella Atlético Morelia5 Armando Escobar Atlante Marco Granados UdeG Diego JiménezCelaya Ignacio LagoTlaxcala
Source:Liga de Expansión MX
Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Round Reference (H) – Home; (A) – Away
Attendance Per team Home match played behind closed doorsAway matchRest weekHighest attended matchLowest attended matchPPDMatch postponed
Team Week 1234567891011121314151617Atlante3,465 2,345 2,377 2,904 2,152 2,106 2,298 3,123 20,770 2,596 8Atlético Morelia 3,248 6,329 5,451 3,675 18,703 4,676 4Cancún 2,558 2,257 2,448 1,993 1,997 2,122 1,937 1,988 17,300 2,162 8Celaya 1,627 1,319 1,464 1,157 1,386 2,472 9,425 1,570 6Oaxaca 2,123 2,113 1,234 5,470 1,823 3Pumas Tabasco 891 421 1,312 656 2Raya2 1,195 541 1,025 10,577 1,496 2,742 1,102 2,026 1,571 22,275 2,475 9Sinaloa 2,833 2,923 2,982 3,233 11,971 2,992 4Sonora 918 1,389 1,318 1,032 1,518 1,317 7,492 1,248 6Tampico Madero 0 0 0Tapatío 226 189 267 210 241 274 275 1,682 240 7Tepatitlán 487 458 669 563 614 651 2,499 5,941 742 8Tlaxcala 2,400 2,047 1,776 947 1,266 2,806 1,785 2,578 15,605 1,950 8UAT 574 870 537 790 1,563 4,334 866 5UdeG 255 1,567 1,794 1,402 1,084 1,206 4,854 12,162 1,737 7Venados 3,433 3,012 3,257 2,686 2,037 2,778 3,756 4,375 3,070 28,404 3,156 9Zacatecas 354 475 507 520 1,134 520 980 2,150 6,640 830 8Total 12,302 8,138 5,888 8,487 6,625 7,828 14,950 8,041 8,213 8,520 16,080 12,729 13,001 14,334 15,708 14,484 14,158 184,920 1,849 100
Source: Liga de Expansión MX
Highest and lowest Highest attended Lowest attendedWeek Home Score Away Attendance Home Score Away Attendance1 Atlante 3–0 UAT 3,465 Pumas Tabasco 0–0 Oaxaca 8912 Venados 1–0 Tlaxcala 3,012 Tapatío 1–2 Pumas Tabasco 2263 Cancún 0–1 UAT 2,558 U. de G. 0–0 Sinaloa 2554 Venados 1–1 Raya2 3,257 Tapatío 1–2 Atlético Morelia 1895 Cancún 3–1 Zacatecas 2,257 Raya2 1–0 Celaya 1,0256 Atlante 2–0 U. de G. 2,904 Tapatío 1–0 Tepatitlán 2677 Raya2 0–0 Tampico Madero 10,577 Tepatitlán 0–1 Celaya 4588 Atlante 1–1 Celaya 2,152 Sonora 1–2 Raya2 1,3899 Atlético Morelia 1–0 Oaxaca 3,248 Tapatío 1–4 Atlante 21010 Atlante 2–1 Venados 2,106 Tepatitlán 1–1 Raya2 56311 Atlético Morelia 1–0 Atlante 6,329 Tapatío 1–1 Cancún 24112 Sinaloa 1–1 Raya2 2,923 Zacatecas 0–1 Tapatío 52013 Atlético Morelia 2–2 Tepatitlán 5,451 Tapatío 1–3 Sinaloa 27414 Atlético Morelia 0–1 Pumas Tabasco 3,675 Tepatitlán 1–1 Tampico Madero 65115 Venados 0–1 U. de G. 4,375 Oaxaca 2–1 UAT 1,23416 U. de G. 3–2 Sonora 4,854 Tapatío 1–1 Celaya 27517 Atlante 0–1 Sinaloa 3,123 Sonora 0–1 UAT 1,317
Source: Liga de Expansión MX
Final phase
Reclassification
Matches
Bracket
Quarter-finals The first legs were played on 1–2 December, and the second legs were played on 4–5 December.
First leg
Second leg
Tampico Madero won 4–2 on aggregate.
Sinaloa won 2–0 on aggregate.
Atlante won 2–0 on aggregate.
Celaya won 3–1 on aggregate.
Semi-finals The first legs were played on 8–9 December, and the second legs were played on 11–12 December.
First leg
Second leg
Tampico Madero won 2–0 on aggregate.
Atlante won 3–2 on aggregate.
Final The first leg was played on 15 December, and the second leg will be played on 18 December.
First leg
Second leg
Atlante won 3–0 on aggregate.
Torneo Clausura The Clausura 2022 was the second tournament of the season and the 4th edition of the competition. The tournament started on 5 January and ended on 14 May 2022.
Regular season
Standings
Positions by round
Results Each team plays once all other teams in 16 rounds regardless of it being a home or away match.
Regular season statistics
Top goalscorers Players sorted first by goals scored, then by last name. Rank Player Club Goals1 Juan Angulo Tepatitlán 8 Juan José Machado Raya2 Óscar Villa Sonora4 Jesús Ramírez Atlético Morelia75 Ricardo Marín Celaya66 Daniel Delgadillo Cancún 5 Rafael Durán Celaya Diego Jiménez Celaya José Ángel López Zacatecas Jorge Sánchez Oaxaca
Source:Liga de Expansión MX
Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Héctor MascorroZacatecas Pumas Tanasco5–0 (A)2 March 2022 (H) – Home; (A) – Away
Attendance Per team
Highest and lowest