TOLUCA, Mexico -- The Mexican finals, set to kick off Thursday, feature a newcomer in Club Tijuana, disputing its first ever Grand Final in the Liga MX. For Tijuana's opponent, Toluca, it's just the opposite.

Over the last couple decades, Deportivo Toluca FC has proved it knows how to get to the very end of short tournaments, ever since the abbreviated tournament format was established in Mexico in 1996.

This season, the Red Devils has once again demonstrated the same quality on the field that the franchise has become known for in winning seven titles since 1996. Toluca has done it by fielding a veteran squad led by Coach Enrique Meza, who himself boasts plenty of championship level experience, with four Mexican titles to his name.

With a team built from experienced players at the national and international levels -- such as Paraguayan international Edgar Benitez, Panamanian star Luis Tejada, and Mexican national teamers Zinha and Alfredo Talavera -- Toluca is a veteran group in every sense of the word.

All that experience makes Toluca, which led the Apertura 2012 with 34 points, the favorite headed into the finals match up with Xolos. After so many finals, the Red Devils even have their plan of attack sorted out headed into Thursday's away match to open the finals.

"It's important to take an advantage from the first game, or at least come out even, to try to close well," said Zinha, who will participate in his ninth final with the Red Devils, since arriving in Toluca in 1999.

"More than what it means as an individual, the most important things is what it means to the club. I hope we can earn another star. It's for them and not just for me, winning six titles," he said.

Toluca is in search of its eleventh title as a club, which would draw the Red Devils level with Chivas de Guadalajara on the all-time Mexican list. The majority of those triumphs have come in short tournaments: In the decade and a half since the short tournament format was introduced, Toluca has reaped seven of its ten titles, closing in on Chivas, which has won two in that same span.

Toluca has been crowned in the Verano 1998, Verano 1999, Verano 2000, the Apertura 2002, 2005, and 2008, and most recently following the Bicentenario 2010. Now, the Red Devils are out for another title, after a two year post season absence following their last crown.

If Toluca is back in the title mix this season, much of the credit is due to its veteran coach, Meza, who has directed seven finals, emerging victorious on four occasions.

"We have to play better, and not just come out to defend," said Meza of the upcoming away leg. "We're going to play a final, and any opponent is going to be difficult. [Tijuana is] well coached, they have a good team. It's a very attractive final."

Meza will now coach his eight final, during a career that includes three titles with Toluca and another with Pachuca, as well as finals reverses with Cruz Azul, Pachuca, and Toros Neza. This week he'll be looking for that fourth crown with the Red Devils against debutante Tijuana, but the coach doesn't think that his experience will factor in against a Xolos side coached by none other than Antonio Mohamed, who played under Meza for Toros Neza in the '90s.

"I don't play, I just coach. But the young coaches coming up these days are very talented. I don't feel I have any particular advantage," said the veteran coach.

The series kicks off at 7:00 PM local time on Thursday in Tijuana, where the Xolos haven't lost this season. The final match is scheduled for 6:00 Sunday evening in Toluca.