Santos Laguna and Atlas will meet Sunday at Estadio Corona in Torreón in what Liga MX is billing as the last Clásico Orlegi, a jornada 15 game that begins at 17:00 hours and arrives with very different stakes for the two clubs.
Jesús Rafael López Valle will referee the match, with Enedina Caudillo Gómez and Erik Durón Martínez on the lines and Orlando Delgadillo Franco as fourth official. Santos comes in after a 4-2 loss at Pachuca, though it had recently beaten Puebla 2-1 at home and rescued a 1-1 draw against América while down a player. Atlas, meanwhile, arrives after a 0-0 draw with Monterrey at the Jalisco and sits eighth with 19 points, the last qualifying place for the liguilla.
For Santos, the table is still unforgiving. The club had nine points and remained at the bottom of the standings after the defeat in Pachuca, so even a strong showing against Atlas would only partly soften a season that has left little margin. Atlas is living the opposite pressure. It enters the antepenultimate round in a crowded chase for a playoff spot, with León and Tijuana close behind and even América and Tigres within reach if results break its way.
The history in Torreón points one way. In 40 home matches against Atlas in the Comarca Lagunera, Santos has 21 wins, 11 draws and eight losses, with 65 goals scored and 37 conceded. Atlas has not won there since Apertura 2017, when Brayan Garnica scored in a 1-0 victory. Santos has also had the first word and the landmark moments in the rivalry: Miguel Herrera scored the first club goal against Atlas in the 1988-89 long season, Jared Borgetti made it the 50th in Clausura 2003, Carlos Darwin Quintero reached 100 in Clausura 2013 and Alberto Ocejo added the 130th in Apertura 2025.
The tension around the fixture is bigger than the standings. Several players have worn both shirts over the years, and Alejandro Irarragorri Gutiérrez has led the same company that managed both clubs in recent years, which is part of why this meeting is framed as the last Clásico Orlegi in Liga MX. That gives Sunday’s match a finality it would not otherwise have, even if the points race is what will decide the immediate aftermath in Torreón.
For Santos, the task is simple and severe: keep Atlas from leaving with a result that could cement a playoff position and protect a home record that has long made Torreón a difficult stop. For Atlas, the assignment is to survive one of its toughest away grounds and keep its place inside the top eight. The next 90 minutes may not settle the season, but they will say a great deal about who can still control it.
