The rise and fall of the Chivas Champions League-winning side | OneFootball

It’s two years to the day that Chivas claimed the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League, a victory that would be followed by the contentious break up of that celebrated team.

Of the 11 players that started the second leg against Toronto, only Isaac Brizuela remains in the colours of Los Rojiblancos.

The Flock won the title on home turf after a dramatic encounter with the Canadian outfit.

Having won the first left 2-1 away from home, Chivas then lost by the same margin at Akron Stadium.

The decider went to extra-time and beyond, with the hosts winning 4-2 on penalties.

While it was all smiles on the night, the seeds of destruction had already been sown with players and manager Matías Almeyda on a collision course with the Chivas hierarchy.

A report from TUDN notes that the starting XI for the second leg was: Rodolfo Cota; Oswaldo Alanís, Jair Pereira, Carlos Salcido, Edwin Hernández; Orbelín Pineda, Michael Pérez, Isaac Brizuela, Carlos Cisneros, Rodolfo Pizarro; Alan Pulido.

Some of those players are now with rival Liga MX clubs.

Cota is with León, Pereira and Pérez are now playing with Querétaro, Orbelín lines out for Cruz Azul, and Cisneros plies his trade with Toluca.

Two of the starters have made their way north of the border to MLS, with Pizarro on the books at new franchise Inter Miami and Pulido the record signing for Sporting Kansas City.

Hernández had moved to Salamanca in Spain before the 2020 Clausura, after failing to land a deal with a Mexican side.

However, the 33-year-old defender is not listed on the Segunda División B club’s website as a current player.

The only player from that night to have officially hung up his boots is Salcido.

And the man who led them the players to that success, Almeyda, is currently in charge of MLS side San Jose Earthquakes.

That sweet scent of success was all too soon followed by a bitter taste in the mouth.