Cruz Azul and Chivas opened the first leg of their Clausura 2026 semifinal on Wednesday night at Estadio Banorte in Mexico City, with both clubs trying to seize control of the tie before the return trip to Guadalajara. The match was scheduled for 20:00 hours CT in Mexico and 22:00 ET in the United States.

Cruz Azul came in after eliminating Atlas 4-2 on aggregate in the quarterfinals, while Chivas advanced past Tigres after a 3-3 aggregate draw and a better position in the table. The semifinal round of the Clausura 2026 Liguilla was set to run from Wednesday, May 13, to Sunday, May 17.

For Cruz Azul, the assignment was clear: use home field to build an advantage before heading to Guadalajara. The club has reason to press early, because Guadalajara carries the historical edge in Liguilla meetings between the sides. This was their eighth elimination series against one another in the postseason, and the record cited by the source favored Chivas, with Guadalajara listed at two wins, one loss and two draws, while Cruz Azul’s record stood at three wins, zero losses and two draws.

The fixture also arrived with the kind of practical details that shape a semifinal night in Mexico City. The forecast called for 24 degrees Celsius, a 60 percent chance of rain, 47 percent humidity and wind at 10 kilometers per hour. Maximiliano Quintero Hernández was listed as the central referee.

Both teams had absences on the list. Jesús Orozco Chiquete, Nicolás Ibáñez and Daniel Aguirre were listed as injured. Raúl Rangel, Luis Romo, Armando González, Roberto Alvarado and Brian Gutiérrez were listed with the Mexico national team. Those names mattered because this stage of the tournament leaves little room for missing pieces, especially in a rivalry where margins are usually thin.

The broadcast plans reflected the scale of the matchup. In Mexico, the game was scheduled to air on Canal 5 and TUDN and be available on ViX. In the United States, it was set for TUDN, tudn.com and the TUDN app. For a semifinal opening leg, the attention is not just on who attacks first, but on who leaves with something usable for the second match. Cruz Azul gets the home leg first. Guadalajara gets the historical edge. That combination made the first 90 minutes the part that would matter most.