Pumas struggled at home in a 0-0 tie against Queretaro. After an improving start to the Apertura 2026, their terrible Leagues Cup participation seemed to have influenced their Liga MX campaign as they had trouble in a match they were favored to win. Queretaro has been one of the surprising teams in Liga MX and they had a good plan to counter Pumas, which paid off. Pumas will stay at home before taking on Necaxa on Sunday while Queretaro will also host but will have a tougher match when they face off against Toluca.
The 1st half started with Pumas taking the surprising decision of starting with Uriel Antuna to take the place of Alvaro Angulo, a strange move especially with Cristian Calderon on the bench. From outside the area, Adalberto Carrasquilla was given time and space to get off a great left footed shot that forced a wonderful save from Queretaro’s goalkeeper, Guillermo Allison. In the ensuing corner kick, the ball would eventually fall to Robert Morales but his right footed volley went well wide. A cross into the area was headed wide from close range by Juninho. A cross into the area was just missed by Daniel Parra but he would not get to it, had he gotten to it, he would have had a close range empty net chance. Antuna got the ball in the area but his shot went wide. A cross into the area was headed wide by Juninho. The 1st half ended with neither team making much out of their play in a very even match.
The 2nd half started with neither team making a substitution. Santiago Homenchenko got off a left footed shot that would go just wide. From outside the area, Carrasquilla got off a left footed shot that Allison easily saved. A left footed cross from Antuna turned into a shot that was just wide. Queretaro subbed out Paolo Victor and Alejandro Alcala for Erik Dueñas and Waldo Madrid. After getting into the area, Dueñas got off a right footed shot that went wide. After making a good move in the area, Madrid got off a low right footed shot that forced a good save from Pumas’ goalkeeper, Keylor Navas. A great cross into the area found Antuna, whose left footed shot went wide. Pumas subbed out Juninho and Pedro Vite for Alan Medina and Luciano Herrera. A run into the area ended with the ball being deflected into the path of Herrera, whose left footed shot went wide. Victor Arteaga got off a right footed shot from outside the area that went terribly wide. Queretaro subbed out Carlos Adriano and Bayron Duarte for Bernardo Parra and Jean Unjanque. Pumas subbed out Uriel Antuna and Antonion Leone for Guillermo Martinez and Cristian Calderon. A longball into the area found Ali Avila but his low shot was saved by Navas. A dangerous cross was saved by Allison before the ball could get to Herrera for a close range chance. Pumas subbed out Adalberto Carrasquilla for Santiago Trigos. Off a corner kick, Martinez got off a header that was saved by Allison. Queretaro subbed out Ali Avila for Eduardo Perez. The whistle blew as Queretaro got off an important point while Pumas disappointed yet again.
After a terrible opener at home against Pachuca, Pumas had bounced back with two victories, including a crushing win against FC Juarez by a 5-1 score. But then Pumas went to the Leagues Cup were they had a disastrous run. Not only did they lost two matches and only tied once (in which they then lost the Penalty Kick shootout) but they had two key injuries to Sebastian Cordova and Alvaro Angulo. Cordova’s was the worse one as he is set to miss 9 months. It was a terrible spell for a terrible competition. Pumas’ lack of luck continued with a poor result in a 0-0 tie against Queretaro in which they were slightly better but not enough to say it wasn’t a deserved result. Pumas will need to improve and quickly especially against Necaxa as they look for their first victory at home. Meanwhile it was a great result for Queretaro, who had low expectations but have gotten 7 points so far and sit at 7th place, to the surprise of many. They will have a chance to make a statement at home when they face off against Toluca on Saturday.