FC Juarez Kicks Off 2020 Clausura Season Against Chivas

Bravos de FC Juarez will kick off their 2020 Clausura season tomorrow evening as they will face Chivas, Mexico’s most popular soccer team in Guadalajara, Mexico. The Bravos will participate in their second season in Mexico’s premier soccer division with little expectation from a national standpoint, but here in the Borderland expectations will be firm from a fan base that wants a team that will be a contender to make the playoffs.

Up until a couple of days ago, when Guillermo Cantu was announced as the team’s new Executive President, the moves that FC Juarez made in the offseason were under the radar compared to the other franchises in Liga BBVA. Still I believe they will undoubtedly help the Bravos be successful this spring.

Their new assistant coach, Jorge Pautasso, has an impressive resume with stints at Barcelona (yes, the best team in the world where Messi plays), Paraguay’s and Argentina’s national teams and most recently was the right hand man of Gerardo Martino in MLS with Atlanta United. Martino is currently the head coach of the Mexican National Soccer Team.

Player acquisitions include an attacking midfielder William Medieta from Paraguay, defender Martin Rabunal from Uruguay and forward Brian Rubio from Costa Rica. It is strongly rumored that Gael Sandoval will make his return to Juarez from Chivas in the next coming days.

While it is uncertain how these new acquisitions will pan out for the Bravos, one thing that is certain is that the schedule for this season for the Bravos will be a tough one.

The Bravos will play 3 of the 4 biggest teams in Mexican soccer (Chivas on the road, Pumas at home and Club America at Azteca stadium) in the first 4 weeks of the season. The team from the Borderland will also play both teams from Monterrey on the road. The Bravos will play Rayados de Monterrey in the 6th week of the season, and Tigres in San Nicolas de los Garza (a municipality/suburb of Monterrey) to start the second half of the season. Both teams have been the gold standard in Mexican soccer in the last decade.

As for tomorrow’s season opener versus Chivas, the Bravos will face a team that invested nearly 50 million dollars in new acquisitions in an effort to be contender for the championship. Something that Guadalajara has not been in several seasons.

Tomorrow match will be televised via the Chivas YouTube channel ChivasTV free of charge. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 pm MST.