Bravos de FC Juarez will kick off their 2021 Clausura season of Liga BBVA tonight when they face Pachuca in the state of Hidalgo. The Bravos will begin their season on the road with one simple season long goal on their mind…make the playoffs. This was the main objective they failed to reach last season that ended a little less than two months ago.
Over that course of that time the Bravos hired a new head coach, acquired two notable players and released one of their best franchise players, a fan favorite.

Without a doubt the biggest news over the offseason for the Bravos was the departure of former head coach Gabriel Caballero. With that came the official announcement of the arrival of Luis Fernando Tena as Caballero’s replacement. Tena, one of Mexico’s most respected soccer minds and the head coach responsible for leading Mexico to win the gold medal in soccer in the 2012 Olympic Games in London, was received with much approval from FC Juarez fans.
Tonight’s opening match against Pachuca will be the first time fans will get the see how his personal touch as head coach have change the nuances in how the team functions. It is also important to remember that the full effect of him being head coach will not be felt for several weeks.

Approximately one month later from Tena’s arrival, FC Juarez announce quite a bombshell acquisition. The Bravos named Andres Iniestra as their new player. The former captain of Pumas has arrived to the Borderland as one of the most promising players in all of Mexican soccer after making his way to Mexico’s premiere soccer division after a relatively short stint in second division. He was after all the captain of Pumas, one of the 4 biggest and most historic soccer teams in Mexican soccer, not an easy feat to accomplish in the short time he was with Pumas.

As for the Bravos latest acquisition, 4 days ago it was announced that Chilean defensive fullback Luis Pavez arrived to the Juarez franchise. Pavez plays on the left flank and rumor has it that he has a tireless ability to run up and down that flank and attacks as much as he defends. It is anticipated that Pavez will be at the disposal of Tena by the second match of the regular season which will be the home season opener for the Bravos this coming Friday against Xolos de Tijuana.

The biggest surprise of the offseason would have to be the departure of Mauro Fernandez from FC Juarez. A founding pillar of the franchise, Fernandez arrived in the summer of 2016 and has always been an unquestionable starter for FC Juarez, causing constant havoc and threat in the right midfield sector. He was on loan from Tigres but that contract ended at the end of last season. It remains unclear is Tigres did not want to extend the contract to keep him in Juarez or if he was not to the liking of Luis Fernando Tena.

Tonight’s match will be against a Pachuca side that finished in 9th place in the standings last season, good enough to make the playoffs, accumulating 6 more points that the Bravos did over the course of the regular season (25points). Undoubtedly the team known as the “Tuzos” will look to improve on those accomplishments this season.
The match will be televised nationally on TUDN (DirecTV ch. 464/ Spectrum ch. 444). A one-hour pregame show will begin at 7pm MST, kickoff is scheduled for 8pm MST.

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