Tigres regain offensive firepower with Correa and Gignac and threaten Toluca in Mexican Apertura

(AFP) With Ángel Correa making his debut and André-Pierre Gignac back in form, the Tigres are regaining their offensive strength. This weekend, they’re set to challenge a Toluca team riding high on recent success in the third round of the Mexican Apertura 2025 tournament.

Tigres kicked off the tournament last week with a 1-0 win over Juárez, but without their new Argentine signing Ángel Correa and their all-time top scorer, Frenchman André-Pierre Gignac, on the field.

"Angelito" Correa, the most high-profile signing of this Apertura, played 81 minutes in his debut against Juárez before being substituted during a wave of changes that brought Gignac onto the field.

For Gignac, those brief 9 minutes marked his return to league play with Tigres, having not played since February 25 due to surgery on the plantar tendon of his right foot.

Despite the narrow victory, the team coached by Argentine manager Guido Pizarro had frequent runs down the flanks and several goal opportunities.

"I want the team to have fluidity, good ball possession and find ways to generate goals," said Guido Pizarro.

For Pizarro, the task is clear: "Hopefully we can concrete all the situations we have, but the team plays well and generates situations."

On Saturday, Tigres will visit Toluca at Nemesio Diez stadium. "We will try to be protagonists and take control of the match," said Pizarro.

Toluca, the big winners

Toluca, meanwhile, will be aiming for their third consecutive win in this Apertura tournament. They came from behind to win their first two games, demonstrating both resilience and offensive firepower, with a 3-1 victory over Necaxa and a 4-2 win against Santos.

Additionally, the Diablos Rojos secured a 3-2 comeback victory over América in the match for the Champion of Champions title.

In his first year as head coach, Argentine Antonio Mohamed led Toluca to win the Clausura 2025 league title and the 2024-2025 Champion of Champions trophy.

On Saturday, Toluca will take on Tigres before turning their attention to their third goal of the year: the Leagues Cup, a tournament featuring teams from both Mexico and MLS.

“We want to do what we did last tournament—we were very strong at home. We got off to a good start against Necaxa, and now we’ll try to do the same against Tigres," said Franco Romero, Toluca's Argentine midfielder.

Regarding the visit of Correa and Gignac’s Tigres, Romero said, “They have a strong team with high-profile additions, so I think they’ll be a tough challenge. But we’ll prepare well to try to get ahead and take all three points.”

The third round of the Apertura will take place Friday and Saturday, with no matches scheduled for Sunday as all 18 Liga MX teams travel to the United States for the first phase of the Leagues Cup.

The third date is as follows:

Querétaro-Pumas.

Puebla-Santos

Tijuana-Juárez

Pachuca-Mazatlán

Guadalajara-Atlético San Luis

Cruz Azul-León

Toluca-Tigres

Monterrey-Atlas

Necaxa-América