León will walk into the Estadio Cuauhtémoc on Friday needing more than points. It needs momentum, and Salvador Reyes made that clear before the club opens Jornada 14 against Puebla at 19:00 hours in Clausura 2026.
Reyes said a third straight victory under Javier Gandolfi is fundamental for León to stay in the fight. He said the club will go to Puebla looking for the win, while also aiming to keep a clean sheet and trusting that the goals will come at the other end.
The immediate weight is obvious. León has beaten Atlético de San Luis 2-1 and Atlas 2-0, and now has one of four finals left in its push to reach the top eight of the Liga MX general table. Reyes put it bluntly: the team wants to win, wants to keep its shape, and sees three points as essential to remain in the race.
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That urgency is sharpened by history. León had gone four years without winning at the Estadio Cuauhtémoc, and Puebla also struck the last blow in the most recent meeting, beating León at Estadio León on the final matchday of the previous tournament. For León, this is not just another away date; it is a chance to break a pattern that has worked against it in this matchup.
The context around it is just as tight. León is trying to recover ground in the Clausura 2026 table after its recent run, and the opening in the race for direct liguilla qualification has widened as teams such as América, Atlas and Tigres have slipped. That has left León with a real opportunity, but only if it keeps stacking results instead of letting the table close again.
Reyes said the team has the tools and the functioning to get the result, and his message was simple: win however it comes, but win. Friday’s match is the first test in that stretch, and for León the answer will tell whether the climb is still alive or whether the margin has started to disappear.
