Tigres UANL

Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UANL) is a soccer team that participates in Liga MX, playing continuously in that category since Winter 1997.

It was founded on March 7, 1960 and currently plays at the Estadio Universitario in San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, with a capacity for 42 thousand people.

The feline team's successful track record includes seven league championships (1977-78, 1981-82, Apertura 2011, Apertura 2015, Apertura 2016, Apertura 2017 and Clausura 2019); three MX Cups (1975-76, 1995-96 and Clausura 2014) and three Champion of Champions (2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18).

The beginning of the roar

In 1957 , Club Deportivo Nuevo León was founded, which was formed by the disappeared Deportivo Anáhuac; however, three years later, the so-called "Jabatos" had financial problems and ceded their franchise to UANL, which changed the team's face, giving it the nickname "Tigres", dressed in yellow and blue on March 7, 1960.

The first directors were Ernesto Romero Jasso and Luis Lauro Treviño, but two years later they encountered another economic problem and ceded the team to Club Deportivo Nuevo León, headed by Alejandro Belden, Lorenzo Milmo, Sergio Salinas, Sergio Belden, Luis Lauro González and Francisco Barrenechea.

The felines were close to relegation to the third division on several occasions, but in the 1960s they found their only reward with Guillermo Arciniegas, who became the first scoring champion in the 1968-69 campaign with 24 goals.

Another change of presidency occurred in the 1969-70 season, under Roberto Méndez Cáceres, who gradually began to form a competitive squad.

In the 1971-72 season, they had their first opportunity to go up to the First Division, but they ran into a powerful Atlas team in the final, who beat them 4-0 at the Azteca Stadium to snatch their dream away.

However, three years later they found their fortune when they reached the qualifying round and after eliminating Unión Curtidores, they defeated Universidad de Guadalajara in the final with a 3-2 aggregate score, despite losing in the last match 2-0, which was known as the "last match of the season".The final match was known as the "game of terror", due to the aggressiveness of the Melenudos fans, and the Tigres were finally promoted.

First classic, first championship and first league title

July 13, 1974 was the historic date for soccer in Monterrey with the first classic that ended in a 3-3 draw, with UANL suffering in their first tournament, but managing to save the category.

A year later, the Tigres lifted the Cup in 1975-76 after defeating the favored América, while they had their first goal-scoring champion in the Maximum Circuit thanks to the nine goals scored by Alfredo "Alacrán" Jiménez.

In 1976-77 they were close to relegation, but in the non-relegation phase they beat Zacatepec 1-0 with a goal by Iauca, so the Cañeros went to the Second Division.

The 1977-78 campaign will go down in history in the memory of the feline fans, as their club managed to advance to the big party of Mexican soccer and were installed in the second division.They reached the final for the first time in their history, with well-remembered names such as Tomás Boy, the Peruvian Gerónimo Barbadillo "Patrulla " and coached by the legendary Carlos Miloc.

Their opponents for the championship were Pumas of UNAM, who were without the stars of Hugo Sánchez and Leonardo Cuellar, as the players had left for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.

During the first 90 minutes at the "Volcán", Uruguayan Walter Mantegazza scored a brace to give his team a two-goal lead, while the second leg at the Estadio Olímpico Universitario ended in a 1-1 draw, thus proclaiming the Monterrey club the champion for the first time in its history.

Once again in the Mexican capital

During the 1980s, Tigres were not among the top teams, however, in the 1981-82 campaign they won their second league title at the expense of Atlante's Potros de Hierro.

In that year they were in second place in Group 1 behind América with 44 points, so in the group stage they eliminated Leones Negros in the quarterfinals with a 3-2 aggregate score, beat América 2-1 in the semifinals and Atlante in the final.

In the first leg, they won 2-1 against the Azulgrana team. On that occasion, Eduardo Moses gave the "Prietitos" the lead, but Tomás Boy and, in stoppage time, Brazilian Geraldo Goncalves turned the game around.

Once again in the capital, but this time at the Azteca Stadium, the felines were crowned champions. Atlante won in the last 90 minutes with a goal from Cabinho, but in the penalty shootout they were more effective and won 3-1, leaving the mythical Azteca in silence.

The painful relegation and the quick return

The 1990s were marked by the felines' relegation, in what was an atypical season, as they won the cup tournament with a 1-0 away victory over Rojinegros del Atlas, but in the league they failed to win.

The key match was the one they played against their fierce rivals in the 1995-96 season, Rayados de Monterrey, which they lost 2-1 and, together with Morelia's victory, sent them to the Second Division.

Despite this, the universitarios made it to the playoffs, but were quickly eliminated by the Rayos de Necaxa; this situation led the Federation to change its regulations and stipulated that the relegated club could not qualify for the big party.

UANL made an agreement with FEMSA and CEMEX (the latter took over years later) to return to the Monterrey team as soon as possible.

The agony lasted only a year, as in the first short tournament they beat Atlético Hidalgo 3-1 on aggregate, while in the following semester they repeated the dose against Correcaminos de la UAT with a categorical 4-1 win.

However, it took Tigres several years to become a protagonist in the First Division once again.

The third title did not come, but the relegation zone did.

The felines hired Alejandro Rodríguez as their president and brought in Ricardo Ferretti as their coach, and in the Winter of 2001 they reached the final, where it seemed they had the table set for the title.However, Walter Silvani , with a goal from halfway through the field, sealed the match 3-1 in favor of the Pachuca Tuzos and they were crowned at the "Volcán".

Tigres' internationalization came in consecutive years in 2005 and 2006 when they participated in the Copa Libertadores and advanced past the group stage; however, they were unable to advance to the semifinals as they lost to Sao Paulo in the quarterfinals in their first appearance, and the following year to Libertad in 2006.

Poor management and sports management led to a crisis in the university team, which caused them to get into the fight for relegation in the 2009 Clausura. On that occasion, Necaxa, Morelia and the felines themselves were once again the protagonists, as in their first relegation, but a draw against the Purepechas and the Rayos' defeat at the Azteca Stadium against América meant that the felines were able to save the category.

A golden era

On May 17, 2010, Miguel Ángel Garza was hired and an old acquaintance, "Tuca", was once again trusted, so good results soon followed and in the 2011 Apertura they reached the playoffs as the third best team.

In that instance, they defeated Pachuca in the quarterfinals, beat Querétaro by the minimum score and defeated Santos in the final by an aggregate score of 4-1, to obtain their third star.

For the 2014 Clausura, they continued to win trophies, but this time in the Copa MX, beating Alebrijes de Oaxaca of the Ascenso MX in the decisive match, 3-0.

In the Apertura 2014 they reached the final, but succumbed to the Águilas del América with a 3-1 aggregate score.

However, the bombshell signing came in mid-2015, when the universitarios acquired the services of Frenchman André-Pierre Gignac.

The Frenchman's first tournament was formidable, as the felines entered the playoffs as the fifth best team with 28 points, eliminating Chiapas in the quarterfinals and Toluca in the "semis"; in the big match against Pumas UNAM they won the first leg 3-0 and it seemed to be all set, but in a dramatic game, the team was eliminated from the playoffs with 28 points.However, in a dramatic second leg, they lost by the same score in regular time and in extra time they went to penalties, where the regios won 4-2 to win the championship.

The following year, Tigres only lost on four occasions and became the third best club; in a group stage full of revenge, they eliminated Pumas in the quarterfinals, including a 5-0 win in the second leg, beat León in the run-up to the final and had a rematch against the Azulcrema team for the championship.

The first leg was 1-1 and the second leg 0-0 (played in the middle of Christmas), so in extra time Edson Álvarez gave the capital team a chance to dream, but Jesús Dueñas in the 118th minute sent the match to penalties and, in the shootout, Gignac, Juninho and Pizarro sealed the fourth star for the yellow and blues.

In the 2017 Clausura, "Tuca's" team was once again a protagonist in the competition, where they returned to the final, however, in the second leg played at the Akron stadium against Chivas, they lost 2-1 with a controversial penalty not scored against the Frenchman André-Pierre in stoppage time.

Final to remember

The 2017 Apertura will go down in the history of the institution, as they reached their third consecutive final after finishing as runners-up in the tournament.

In the quarterfinals and semifinals they faced two old acquaintances, as they advanced against León in the first instance due to their better position in the table and, afterwards, they had no major problem in beating América.

Their opponents were Rayados de Monterrey, their fierce rivals. In the first leg, they drew 1-1 with goals from Nicolás Sánchez and Enner Valencia. The second leg, played at the "Steel Giant", made the team dream with an early goal by Dorlan Pabón, but Eduardo Vargas and Francisco Meza silenced the stadium in less than five minutes to win the championship at the rival's home.

It took three seasons for the felines to reach the Liga MX final once again. In the Clausura 2019, the opponent was León, in a series that was not very well remembered for not being very lucid.

In the first leg, Gignac scored the only goal of the tie for Tigres to seal their seventh championship and culminate their golden era.

International cups did not happen

Tigres went international in the 2010s, however, they were unable to lift any major title.

The felines returned to the Libertadores Cup in 2015 , where they surprised all and sundry with their good performance.

They had no problems advancing in the group stage against Juan Aurich and San José, as well as drawing twice with River Plate.

In the direct elimination games they defeated Universitario de Sucre, then Emelec and then the favored Internacional of Brazil in the semifinals, where they won in the second leg 3-1 to advance to their first final.

Los Millonarios were their opponents and after drawing 0-0 in the first leg, they were beaten 3-0 in the Monumental.

A year later, they got their revenge in the Concachampions and another final against América, however, luck was not on their side as they lost both matches and were beaten 3-1 on aggregate.

Their revenge did not take long to arrive in this same tournament and after leaving Pumas and Vancouver on the road in 2017, in the final they lost 2-1 to Pachuca (1-0 in the second leg), falling at the edge of their first Club World Cup.

Likewise, Monterrey and Tigres met again in a final, but in the 2019 edition of the Concachampions. The felines reached this stage after eliminating Houston Dynamo in the quarterfinals and Santos in the semis.

They lost the first leg of the final 1-0 at the "Volcán", while during the last 90 minutes they were unable to turn it around and ended up tying 1-1, which caused them to lose yet another final.

This biography was prepared by Adrián Hernández Ruiz.