América - Pumas: Juárez’s Club Leads 36-25 Quarterfinal Clash

América - Pumas arrives in the Clausura 2026 quarterfinals with the table already split between the two clubs. Pumas finished first with 36 points, while América took eighth with 25, and they meet Sunday, May 3, at Estadio Banorte.

The gap is 11 points, but the matchup still carries the edge of a Clásico Capitalino. André Jardine will coach América against Efraín Juárez, and Jardine brings the larger Liguilla track record into the bench battle.

Estadio Banorte and the first leg

América hosts the first leg at Estadio Banorte on Sunday, May 3. That gives the lower seed the immediate chance to settle the series at home after a regular season in which it won seven matches and four at home.

América reached this point after a 1-0 home loss to Atlas in its last match. That result adds pressure to a side that finished eighth and now has to reset quickly against the team that topped the table.

Juárez and Jardine meet

Juárez’s Pumas also enter off a win. They beat Pachuca 2-0 away in their most recent match and set a points record for Juárez to reach the Fiesta Grande.

The coaches give the series another layer. Jardine and Juárez meet on the bench in a quarterfinal where the América manager is described as having more experience in Liguillas.

Reyes and Martínez called up

Both clubs also lose one player to Javier Aguirre’s Mexico call-up list. Israel Reyes is the América name on that list, and Guillermo Martínez is the Pumas player called up.

That leaves each side managing the quarterfinal with one fewer available player from a national-team pool already trimmed by the same selection. For readers following the series, the first leg now comes down to whether América can turn home field into a result that narrows the 11-point gap before the return leg.