Preview: Pumas vs Pachuca - prediction, team news, lineups

Heartbreak in the Clausura final has given Pumas UNAM added motivation heading into a new campaign, and Esteban Solari begins his tenure as head coach in the most intriguing of circumstances when Pachuca, his former club, visit the Estadio Olimpico Universitario in Mexico City in both sides’ opening match of the Apertura 2026-27 season on Sunday morning.

Pachuca arrive under their own new manager in Benjamin Mora, who inherits a squad still smarting from a Liguilla semi-final exit at the hands of Sunday’s hosts, making this opener a fixture with more than just three points at stake.

Match preview

Pumas head into the Apertura with unfinished business after a Clausura campaign that promised so much before ultimately ending in defeat.

Having finished 10th in the Apertura, they bounced back to top the Clausura regular season table - finishing level on 36 points with Guadalajara but edging top spot on goal difference, with Pumas registering a tally of plus 17 compared to Guadalajara’s 16.

That platform gave them genuine belief heading into the playoffs, but their liguilla run ended in the final, where Cruz Azul defeated them 2-1 on aggregate - Rodolfo Rotondi scoring a dramatic stoppage-time winner in the second leg to claim the Clausura 2026 title and deny Pumas the silverware their regular season form deserved.

That final defeat was followed by the departure of head coach Efrain Juarez at the end of the season, and the club have turned to Esteban Solari to lead the rebuild.

Solari arrives at Pumas having departed Pachuca at the end of the Clausura, meaning Sunday’s opener pits the new Pumas head coach directly against his former club in the very first match of his tenure.

Form heading into the new season has not been encouraging for Pumas - their most recent competitive outing ended in a 2-1 defeat to Cruz Azul, and a pre-season 1-0 loss to America de Cali means the hosts have won just once in their last five fixtures across all competitions, a run that includes one draw and three defeats.

Pachuca, meanwhile, had a mixed campaign across the two tournaments last season. They finished ninth in the Apertura before improving considerably in the Clausura, ending fourth in the regular season table and reaching the semi-finals of the playoffs - where they were eliminated by Pumas, with the Mexico City side winning as the higher-seeded club.

Mora takes charge of a Pachuca squad that has shown they can compete at the top end of the division, and their overall record across their last five outings - three wins and two defeats, four goals scored and three conceded.

Significantly, both of those defeats in that five-match run came against Pumas - once during the regular season and once in the playoff semi-final - meaning Sunday’s match carries an element of revenge for Mora’s side as well as additional motivation for the hosts.

Pachuca have also strengthened their squad ahead of the new campaign, completing the signing of Rodolfo Pizarro from FC Juarez, and Mora will be eager to hit the ground running in a season where the expectation is to push deeper than last season.

The head-to-head record between these two clubs in their last five encounters has been tightly contested, with Pumas claiming two wins to Pachuca’s three.

Team News

Pumas head into the new season with several notable absentees. Jose Juan Macias remains sidelined with the anterior cruciate ligament injury he sustained in November last year and will play no part in the early weeks of the Apertura.

Adalberto Carrasquilla is also unavailable for Sunday’s opener after sustaining a muscle injury during the Clausura final. The Panama international was named in his country’s World Cup squad despite the injury but was unable to feature in the group stage, and he has since returned to isolated training with Pumas - with a return to full fitness targeted for around match day three against Bravos de Juarez.

The departure of Jordan Carrillo leaves a gap on the left flank that Solari is yet to fill, though the club have made two new signings ahead of the Apertura in Sebastian Cordova from Deportivo Toluca and Cristian Calderon from Necaxa.

Alan Medina has recovered from the left ankle fracture he suffered in April, though doubtful for Sunday’s opener.

For Pachuca, Alan Mozo is a doubt for Sunday after sustaining a non-displaced spiral fracture in his left fibula alongside a second-degree ankle sprain, while Andres Micolta is also uncertain, having been recovering from a fractured kneecap sustained in January.

Luis Quinones, Santiago Homenchenko, Pedro Pedraza and Enner Valencia have all departed the club ahead of the new campaign.

Rodolfo Pizarro has completed his move from FC Juarez and could feature for Pachuca, adding creative quality to a midfield that Mora will be looking to stamp his identity on from the opening day.

Pumas possible starting lineup:

Navas; Bennevendo, Azuaje, Leone, Angulo; Lopez, Vite, Trigos, Cordova; Juninho, Morales

Pachuca possible starting lineup:

Moreno; Bautista, Barreto, Bauermann, Sanchez; Rivera, Montiel; Idrissi, Dominguez, Kenedy; Rondon

We say: Pumas 1-1 Pachuca

Solari’s debut as Pumas head coach against his former club carries enormous emotional weight, but neither side arrives in the kind of form that suggests a dominant opening-day performance.

The two clubs know each other well, and with both managers still in the early stages of implementing their ideas, a competitive and tightly contested draw looks the most likely outcome as the Apertura gets underway at the Estadio Olimpico Universitario.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.