Tomás Boy didn't expect to be directing Morelia's team in Sunday's Mexican championship match against the UNAM Pumas in Mexico City.

The coach was ready to call it quits after the fifth week of the Clausura tournament following a dreadful start.

"If my resignation is a way for the team to improve, no problem," the coach said after Pumas played to a draw against Necaxa, the league's worst team, which has now been demoted to the second division. "My resignation is on the table."

Besides the poor results in the first five games – one win, one loss and four ties – there was a rift between some of Morelia's players and their coach.

The team's management called an emergency meeting with the coach.

After a long conversation, the executives decided to give Boy a chance to right his ship, and has he ever.

The coach mended his relationship with the players and gradually built the team that is now in the championship game, Boy's first title match.

After the crisis, the Morelia Monarcas went on to win four games in a row.

"I will go as far as my players want me to," Boy said after the Mocarcas beat Cruz Azul in last week's semifinals.

Morelia finished the tournament in third place in the standings with 34 points, four less than Pumas, which finished the regular season in second place.

For his part, this also will be the first final for the Pumas' coach, Guillermo Vazquez Jr.

Vazquez is in his second year as coach while Boy has 10 years coaching in Mexico.

"I am experiencing something new: a dream of winning a championship," Vazquez said after his team eliminated Chivas de Guadalajara last week. "It would be something very important for my career."

Pumas and Monarcas played each other in the regular season, in Week 10. Pumas beat Morelia 1-0 on the road. Both teams have played each other 63 times since 1981 with Pumas leading the series 34-14-15.

Morelia won the Winter tournament championship in 2000 after winning a penalty shootout against Diablos Rojos of Toluca.

Pumas is a six-time Mexican champion with the last title coming in 2009 during the Clausura tournament, beating Tuzos del Pachuca.

Los Xolos

Club Tijuana is hoping to add one more page to the city's history when the team faces the Freseros de Irapuato on Saturday in the second leg of the Mexican Liga de Ascenso final.

The Xolos, the 2010 Apertura champion, lost in the 2011 Clausura final to Irapuato. Both teams are champions, so the two must meet in a two-game series to determine which team will be promoted to the First Division and fill a void left by Necaxa.

The sellout match Saturday is to begin at 1 p.m. at Estadio Caliente in Tijuana, which has a capacity of 16,000.