The 2015 Liga MX Apertura Liguilla quarterfinals kick off Wednesday, with one team set to be crowned champion next month.
Club America hosts Leon and Tigres welcome Chiapas in Wednesday's first legs, while Veracruz face Pumas and Puebla do battle with Toluca on Thursday. The second legs are this weekend.
The away goal rule counts in the two-leg series, with the highest-placed regular season finisher advancing if both away goals and the aggregate score are level after the 180 minutes.
What follows are some of the main storylines to keep an eye out for:
Lucky 13 for America?
The league table of first division championships sees Club America on 12 titles and bitter Guadalajara rival stuck Chivas on 11. It was only a couple of years back that Chivas could claim to be "Mexico's most successful" and America was on 10 titles.
Hurting Chivas fans will be watching Las Aguilas in the Liguilla while peeping out from behind the sofa, while America fans will be keen to put more distance between their team and relegation-threatened Chivas.
CONCACAF's Club World Cup representative Club America doesn't come into the playoffs in top form -- just one win in last five matches -- but has the quality to go all the way and pour more misery on long-suffering chivistas.
Tigres, Pumas favorites
Pumas finished first in the regular season and the university club is in form, confident and has Argentine winger Ismael Sosa -- a strong candidate for Liga MX player of the season.
The so-called "maldicion del superlider" (curse of the top seed) hits more often than it rationally should in the Liga MX. Since 1998 only four teams that finished in first place during the regular season have gone on to win the title. But Pumas should have enough to get past Veracruz and at least make the final, especially with a home record of seven wins from eight games this Apertura.
The joint-favorite has to be Tigres, who have lost just two of their last 16 games since falling short in the Copa Libertadores final against River Plate.
Player for player and in terms of squad depth, Tigres are the strongest outfit in the Liguilla and the starting XI rolls off the tongue of any avid follower of Mexican soccer. ESPN's SPI gives the team from Monterrey a 21.4 percent chance of lifting the Apertura title.
Outside of those two, it would be no surprise if America, Toluca and Leon went deep in the playoffs. The real shock would be if smaller clubs Veracruz, Puebla or Chiapas managed to advance to the final.
"Tuca" Ferretti looking to cap perfect year
2015 has been the year of Tigres coach Ricardo "Tuca" Ferretti. Tigres' Brazilian-Mexican coach has guided his team to a Copa Libertadores final, easily qualified for the Liguilla and became a hero when he took over Mexico's national team on an interim basis and steered it to the Confederations Cup by defeating the United States in the CONCACAF Cup.
Certainly, Ferretti has the firepower and talent at his disposal at Tigres, but he has also harnessed it well. French striker Andre-Pierre Gignac has fit in perfectly, despite having a reputation for being slightly troublesome.
It feels as though this is Ferretti's moment.
La Volpe revenge after missing out on Mexico job
Chiapas are the only team in the playoff race without a title, but their coach, former Mexico national team coach Ricardo La Volpe, will be desperate to make a statement. La Volpe made it clear last August that he wanted a return to the El Tri job, but the Argentine was snubbed. A run to the Apertura title would surely give La Vople great satisfaction, especially if they were to knock off Ferretti's Tigres in the quarterfinals.
La Volpe has done very little since leaving the Mexico job in 2006 and it was a surprise when he was hired by Chiapas. However, a fourth-place regular season finish with a team that aren't, on paper, one of the best in the Liga MX represents a fine performance over the regular season.
Star Argentine striker Silvio Romero -- 10 goals in 17 games -- was blunt in an interview earlier this week saying that he is likely to leave at the end of the season, which made La Volpe question the ambition of the club's owners.
There would be no better way for La Volpe to spin a few positive headlines than putting out Ferretti's Tigres in the quarterfinal.
Will Carlos Pena and Mauro Boselli be fit for Leon?
Leon has the best midfield in Liga MX, with Jose Juan Vazquez, Carlos Pena and Luis Montes remaining in place since the club's bicampeonato back in 2013-14. Upfront, lethal striker Mauro Boselli once again won the scoring title during the 2015 Apertura regular season.
Leon would probably be slight favorite against Club America considering its form, but reports of injuries to Pena and Boselli could change all that. The duo netted 21 of Leon's 32 goals in the regular season.
There has been no official word, as yet, from La Fiera on how long Pena and former Wigan striker Boselli will be out, but Leon's playoff chances likely depend on it being a brief absence.
Battle of Liga MX's best strikers
Arguably Liga MX's main strength is its teams' attacking intent, and there will be plenty of strikers on display that can do serious damage in the playoffs.
Dario Benedetto and Oribe Peralta will have crucial roles for Club America; Fernando Uribe and Enrique Triverio have been deadly for Toluca; Eduardo Herrera and Matias Britos provide both a threat and the hustling to allow wingers Fidel Martinez and Sosa to flourish at Pumas; Gignac has lived up to the hype alongside Rafael Sobis at Tigres, while Julio Furch is a considerable threat for Veracruz.
Each team's chance could well depend on which of their star strikers can step up at crucial moments.
Veracruz's direct approach provides contrast
Pep Guardiola's mentor, Juanma Lillo, gave an interesting interview to Argentine outlet Clarin recently in which he described the Liga MX as "the best in the world," at least in terms of the style of play and the way teams go out to attack and impose their game on the opposition.
If there is one team that goes against that in these playoffs, it is Veracruz. Los Tiburones Rojos are not afraid to play the ball long on occasion and mix it up physically. While it would be wrong to call Veracruz a long-ball side, it doesn't seek to dominate possession like most Mexican sides. A case in point was last weekend, with Veracruz defeating Morelia 2-1 to qualify for the playoffs with just 31 percent of possession.
Facing Carlos Reinoso's Veracruz is not easy and the unfashionable side could provide a shock.
National team players out to prove a point
Mexico national team fans will have plenty of players to keep an eye on in the Liguilla.
Tigres' Javier Aquino will be looking for a strong tournament on the left flank, with Jurgen Damm down the Tigres right. In defense, center back Hugo Ayala and left back Jorge Torres Nilo were both called into the last El Tri squad.
At Pumas, left back Luis Fuentes, right back Jose Van Rankin and central midfielder Alejandro Castro will be among those hoping to impress Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio.
There are a number of potential Mexico national team players at Toluca as well, with Carlos Esquivel and Alfredo Talavera regulars in 2015 and young center back Jordan Silva one to keep an eye on for the future.
Over at Leon, Elias Hernandez, Pena, Montes and Fernando Navarro are all on the fringes, while Chiapas' Luis "Chaka" Rodriguez will be hoping to force his way back into the national team reckoning.
Peralta, Moises Munoz, Javier Guemez and Paul Aguilar are in the Mexico mix at Club America.
Aside from Mexico's national team, Argentina goalkeeper Nahuel Guzman will be in goal for Tigres, Uruguayan international Egidio Arevalo in midfield, France international Gignac upfront and possibly American central midfielder Jose "Gringo" Torres.
At Toluca, Paraguay center back Paulo da Silva is captain, with Leon having U.S. internationals William Yarbrough and Miguel Ibarra and Ecuador international winger Jonathan Gonzalez.
For America, Pablo Aguilar, Osvaldo Martinez and Miguel Samudio all play for Paraguay, U.S. defender Ventura Alvarado seems to be a Jurgen Klinsmann favorite, while Michael Arroyo features for Ecuador.
Finally, Pumas winger Martinez is a regular in Ecuador's squad, while Veracruz's Joe Corona will be desperate for minutes to get back into the U.S. squad.