José Paradela left the second leg of the Liga MX final before halftime after a hard collision with Adalberto Carrasquilla, adding another flashpoint to a rivalry already marked by controversy. The Cruz Azul midfielder felt clear muscular discomfort after the play, continued for a short time, then asked to come off and left the field in tears at the 35th minute.
The foul was called by referee Daniel Quintero Huitrón in the 18th minute, according to TUDN, when Paradela and Carrasquilla went for the ball and the Pumas player arrived late. Paradela had reached the ball first and even poked it away, but the hit left him with pain on the left side of his hip and thigh. Gabriel 'Toro' Fernández replaced him, and the loss came after Robert Morales had opened the scoring for Cruz Azul at the 30th minute at Estadio Olímpico Universitario.
Carrasquilla, who had been a doubt for the second leg, was in Pumas’ starting lineup. That detail mattered because the midfielder’s name had already become a source of tension in the final after the earlier injury to Kevin Mier, also in a challenge involving Carrasquilla. TUDN said Mier fractured his tibia on 8 November during Jornada 17 of Apertura 2025, was sidelined for four months and received only a yellow card for the play. Pumas went on to beat Cruz Azul 2-3 in Puebla in that match, and TUDN said Cruz Azul later sought to have Carrasquilla ruled ineligible until Mier returned, though the request did not move forward.
The latest incident sharpened the same question that has shadowed Carrasquilla throughout this tie: how much contact is too much when the stakes are at their highest? Paradela’s exit did not decide the final by itself, but it deepened the sense that Cruz Azul was again paying a price in the same area of the field, against the same opponent, under the same scrutiny.
What is clear now is that Carrasquilla is no longer just another midfield option in this final. His challenges have become part of the story, and every tackle involving him and Cruz Azul is being judged against what happened to Mier in November and what happened to Paradela on this night.
