Santos opens Apertura 2026 looking to shake off winless Clausura

Four matchdays, zero wins and the bottom spot in the standings. That was the summary of the Clausura 2026 for Santos Laguna, a tournament the Guerreros want to put behind them as soon as possible with the start of the Apertura 2026. The schedule is already out, and the club from Torreon knows exactly who it needs to face, and when, to make amends.

The start was not the one they dreamed of. Santos fell 3-2 to Monterrey in Matchday 1, a game with special flavor since Rayados are, historically, their most bitter rival given the regional closeness and the northern pride at stake every time they meet. More stumbles followed: a 1-0 loss to Atlas in Matchday 2, a tough blow in Matchday 3 falling 3-0 to America, and to close out that rough stretch, another narrow defeat, 1-0 against Chivas, in Matchday 4. Four games, four losses: the worst possible start for a team coming off a last-place finish in the previous tournament.

The good news is there is still plenty of tournament left to turn things around. Matchday 5 arrives on Friday, August 21 at 7:00 pm (Mexico City time) with Puebla visiting, and from there the schedule offers no letup: Tigres on August 29, Cruz Azul on September 6 and FC Juarez on September 13 round out a demanding stretch in which Santos will need to start piling up wins to climb the table.

September wraps up with Toluca (the 20th) and Pachuca (the 26th), while October brings a loaded slate: Atletico de San Luis, Queretaro, and a particularly attractive midweek clash against Pumas on Wednesday, October 21, before hosting Tijuana on the 25th. For those following Liga MX via streaming, most of these matches, including the games against Tigres, FC Juarez, Pachuca, Queretaro and Pumas, will air on ESPN and Disney+.

Santos closes out its regular season slate with three November commitments: Necaxa on the 1st, Atlante on the 6th and, to wrap up the regular phase, the matchup against Leon on November 21. That is when we will find out whether the Guerreros managed to rediscover the taste of winning and pull away from the bottom of the table.

A crest that carries history

Beyond the results, Santos remains one of the clubs with the strongest identity in Mexican soccer. Its fans have gone by the nickname "Guerreros" since the 1980s, when the team fought tooth and nail to reach the First Division; in 1987 that idea became official with the debut of the mascot Guerrerito. The club, founded in 1982 and based in Torreon since 1983, plays its home games at Estadio TSM, inside the Territorio Santos Modelo complex. With six Liga MX titles in its history, the most recent came in the Clausura 2018, when they beat Toluca in the final. That haul makes it the eighth most successful club in the country, a mark the current squad is looking to honor by leaving last tournament's rough patch behind.