It began Tuesday night in Santiago, Chile, where the Eagles fell to Colo Colo, 2-1, in the second leg of their Libertadores Cup series but moved into the quarterfinals with a 4-2 aggregate win.
America returns home for two games in the quarterfinals of Mexico's Torneo Clausura. It plays at Atlas on Thursday night and hosts the Guadalajara club on Sunday.
The favorites are Pachuca and Guadalajara, which finished 1-2 in the overall standings during the regular season.
Pachuca is the winner of last year's Torneo Clausura and Mexico's hottest team. The Tuzos, who have won two regional titles (2006 Copa Sudamericana and 2007 CONCACAF Champions Cup) in the last six months, face Santos, which rallied to beat San Luis, 2-0, in the second leg of their Repechaje series and advance, 2-1, on aggregate. American Edgar Castillo started the second game for Santos.
Guadalajara, which won the Torneo Apertura in December, opens its quarterfinal series against Tigres in Monterrey on Wednesday night. Chivas looks to become the first team to win the "doble corona" ("double crown"). No club has swept both halves of the Mexican championship since the split-season format was introduced in 1996.
Cruz Azul looks to end its streak of falling in the quarterfinals of the last three playoffs when it faces UAG. Tecos' presence in the playoffs gives Jalisco three teams -- Guadalajara, Atlas and UAG -- in the Liguilla for the first time in 14 years.
PLAYOFF SCHEDULE:
Quarterfinals, First Leg
Wednesday
Tigres vs. Guadalajara (TeleFutura, 7:30 pm ET)
UAG vs. Cruz Azul (Azteca America, 9:30 pm ET)
Thursday
Santos vs. Pachuca (Azteca America, 7 pm ET)
Atlas vs. Club America (TeleFutura, 9:30 pm ET)
Quarterfinals, Second Leg
Saturday
Cruz Azul vs. UAG (Azteca America, 6 pm ET)
Guadalajara vs. Tigres (TeleFutura, 9 pm ET)
Sunday
Club America vs. Atlas (TeleFutura, 6 pm ET)
Pachuca vs. Santos (Azteca America, 9 pm ET)
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