Leon Vs Atlas, Liga MX 2021 Final: Diego Cocca and Ariel Holan relive their rivalry

Diego Cocca and Ariel Holan will relive their rivalry in the 2021 Liga MX Final, in the Leon vs Atlas duel, as both coaches have faced each other in the past in Argentine soccer. 

The rivalry between these coaches was forged by fire in Argentina's First Division, a tournament in which the squads of both strategists clashed on several occasions. 

At that time, Holan beat Cocca in the first three matches, but when the two met in Liga MX, Cocca beat Holan on the only occasion on which they have faced each other, in Mexican soccer. 

The birth of their rivalry

Cocca and Holan's rivalry began between 2017 and 2019 when the latter coached Club Atlético Independiente, a period in which he faced the current Atlas coach, who spent time as Racing and Rosario Central's coach.  

The first time their squads met was on May 15, 2017, when Atlético Independiente beat Racing Club with a score of 2-0. 

This victory was marked by fire in the skin of La Academia fans, with goals from Emiliano Rigoni and Maximiliano Meza. But both coaches would face each other again at the end of the same year. 

Their next duel would take place in March 2019, when Cocca was in charge of Rosario Central. In that year, he faced Holan again, who was still in charge of Independiente. 

That April 7, 2019 Holan reiterated his dominance over Cocca, defeating him with a score of 2-1.

That was the last time both coaches faced each other in Argentine soccer. But the rivalry had already begun and not even the distance was going to end it. 

Diego Cocca and Ariel Holan relive their rivalry in Liga MX

The last time these two coaches met was on September 25, 2017, when Cocca, now at the head of Atlas, faced Holan, who was already at the coach of Club Leon. 

In that match, the former Racing coach was finally able to take revenge as Atlas won 2-0 at the Jalisco stadium, with goals from Anderson Santamaría and Diego Barbosa. 

With just hours to go before the start of another edition of their rivalry, both coaches seem confident in their squads, according to their statements to Publimetro. 

"I feel privileged to play in a final, for me it is a triumph to be here, but we want to achieve more; we are convinced that we are going for more. It's going to be a very worthy battle, between two teams with great conditions and first of all, we respect our opponents a lot. We want to do very well, for our fans," stated Holan.

For his part, Diego Coca said: "Today I believe that we have an identity in place, we are going to defend it and defend our idea; we are going to face a Leon team that also has a clear idea of what it plays for. It will be a match worthy of a Final.

Now that both coaches will face each other in the Liga MX final, who will emerge as the winner of this long-standing rivalry?