This Tuesday, March 11, Club Tijuana officially announced that the team and now former manager Juan Carlos Osorio parted ways.

The Colombian manager was only in his second season with the Xoloitzcuintles and enjoyed success in his first campaign.

In his first season, Osorio managed to take the Border City Dogs to the playoffs after an almost six-year drought. The former Mexico national team boss also made the Estadio Caliente a fortress with one of the best home records in the league.

#Xolos‘ manager Juan Carlos Osorio starts the post-game press conference by saying sorry to the fans and saying the 4-3 loss is inexcusable.@EVT_News pic.twitter.com/eghhpf7VAj

— Francisco Velasco (@FranciscoEfV) March 10, 2025

Club Tijuana only lost one out of nine home games and really became a force in front of the home crowd. Osorio had built up a distinct playing style that focused on heavy possession and his usual squad rotations.

No one had a secure starting role in Osorio’s lineup, and that remained consistent in the current season. However, after the recent 4-3 loss to Atlas, the Colombian manager did say this was one of his faults. Ososrio admitted that he may have put too much pressure on some of the younger players on the squad.

Club Tijuana was ahead 3-0 against Atlas and, unbelievably, went on to lose 4-3 at home. Osorio made some risky substitutions in this game, which he himself said contributed to the negative result. This was an incredibly upsetting defeat to all involved, along with the fans, who booed and jeered loudly after the game.

This was ultimately the match that cost Juan Carlos Osorio his tenure at Club Tijuana, but the season overall has been a disaster. Xolos is dead last in the Liga MX with just seven points from 11 games played and has the worst defense in the league with 27 goals conceded.

The front office did sell former club captain Christian Rivera against Osorio’s wishes but also splashed quite a bit of money on signings. The Colombian manager had mentioned that he asked for certain players from the front office, and it seems that most, if not all, were signed.

Frank Boya, Jackson Porozo and Shamar Nicholson were added to the squad and were players Osorio was happy with. None of the three have really performed well in Liga MX, and Porozo has specifically contributed directly to some of Tijuana’s defensive struggles this season.

Liga MX is constant transitions in short periods of time and like the new signings, Osorio was not able to transition quickly into this season. However, it is odd that the front office was tougher on Osorio than with Miguel Herrera, who was unable to get Xolos to the playoffs in his second tenure.

Assistant manager Cirilo Saucedo is expected to finish out the 2025 Clausura campaign while the front office looks for a new boss.

Francisco Velasco

Francisco, 28, Chula Vista/Tijuana. I have been a Padres fan all my life, did most of the series previews and recaps in the Padres’ 2016 season for EVT. Now I focus more on the local soccer scene. Tijuana Xolos, San Diego FC, San Diego Wave. I have covered Liga MX, MLS, Mexico National Team, USWNT, Copa América and European clubs like Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund.