GUADALAJARA, Mexico -- Chivas striker Alan Pulido admitted before Tuesday's game against Tigres that he would have "mixed emotions" during the encounter because of his "profound affection" for his former team.
It probably wasn't the kind of rhetoric the Chivas faithful wanted to hear, but they couldn't complain about the No. 9's effort in the team's 1-0 home loss to the Liga MX leaders in round 10 of matches in the Apertura 2016.
The 25-year-old striker, signed three weeks ago from Greek side Olympiakos for a reportedly huge outlay, ran himself into the ground, almost trying too hard. Pulido dropped deep and pulled out wide to try to spark some creativity to break through a Tigres defense which has only conceded four goals in 10 games this Apertura.
"The important thing was the defensive solidarity that the group showed, because with the players we have upfront we know we'll always have a chance," stressed Tigres and Mexico winger Javier Aquino after the match.
Tigres are the most balanced side in the Liga MX and the individual quality Aquino mentioned took them over the line against Chivas, with big summer transfer Ismael Sosa overshadowing Pulido. Sosa cut in from the right and fired in a low shot past Rodolfo Cota in the 57th minute to seal the points.
"Expensive signings from Europe don't guarantee that you win the league and defeat each opponent 5-0," added former Rayo Vallecano winger Aquino. "Mexican football is very competitive and nobody gifts you anything."
Aquino was actually talking about his Tigres team -- made up of French striker Andre-Pierre Gignac (signed from Marseille), himself (signed from Villarreal) and Andy Delort (from Caen) -- but it could just as easily have served as a reminder to Pulido that things won't be all that easy in the Liga MX.
To be fair, Pulido has played very little football of late (758 minutes in 2016 before moving to Chivas) and will need weeks to get back into rhythm, after a couple of years overshadowed by contractual disputes with Tigres and inactivity, which is the reason Almeyda actually turned down the opportunity to buy him back in Mexico last December.
Perhaps by the time the Copa Libertadores comes around in early January 2017 we will be able to judge Pulido's impact at Chivas, although in the frenzied world of social media, the forward is unlikely to be given such leeway.
But even if the buildup to Tuesday's match centered around Pulido's return to face his first club, the game -- pitting the two sides with most average possession per game to date -- was one that immediately jumped out of the Apertura 2016 regular season calendar.
The two similar systems employed by each manager canceled each other out at times, but it was Tigres who extended their title claim, remaining undefeated with 22 points from 10 matches, while Guadalajara slipped to eighth in the table.
Almeyda's team can consider itself unlucky to come away from the game empty handed and made things extremely difficult for the opposition, pressing high and stopping Tigres controlling the game in the manner they usually do -- via passes between Hugo Ayala, Juninho and Guido Pizarro at the back and Pizarro, Jose "Gringo" Torres and Lucas Zelarayan further forward.
Chivas man-marked every single Tigres player from opposition goal kicks in a clear display of Marcelo Bielsa's influence on fellow-Argentine Almeyda.
Chivas stopping Tigres playing out from a goal kick by marking every single player. pic.twitter.com/1pt1ueprjr
- Tom Marshall (@mexicoworldcup) September 21, 2016
It worked especially well in the first half, as Tigres went into the dressing room scratching their heads having struggled to match Chivas' intensity.
"In the first half we set up very well, knowing that [Tigres] are a team that works best in possession," Almeyda, who also complained that Sosa's goal should've been ruled out for offside, said. "We had control, [we weren't] leaving spaces. No defeat makes you happy, but even taking into account the quality of the opposition, it was even."
But Chivas failed to take advantage of the supremacy in possession and the energy level steadily decreased. Tigres aren't a side that tends to panic after six years of schooling by Ricardo "Tuca" Ferretti and they stayed in the game, biding their time and not giving up clear-cut chances.
After Sosa opened the scoring, Almeyda put on Nestor Calderon and Eduardo "Chofis" Lopez in attacking changes, but Tigres is a well-oiled defensive machine and stayed compact while Chivas threw all they had at them.
Although there wasn't much difference between the sides on the night, the 90 minutes was a reminder that, even with Pulido in tow, Almeyda's Chivas are still a work in progress, while Ferretti's Tigres are the closest thing the Liga MX has to a finished article.