For the Clausura 2017, Tigres hired Chilean international forward Eduardo Vargas. Tigres finished the Clausura 2017 season in seventh place with 25 points and the best defense allowing twelve goals in 17 games. In the first leg of playoffs at the Estadio Universitario, Tigres faced Monterrey and beat them by 4–1 with Gignac and Dueñas scoring twice each. In the second leg of quarterfinals at the Estadio BBVA, Gignac scored twice for the 2–0 victory. Tigres beat Monterrey by an aggregate of 6-1 and secured semifinals. In the first leg of semifinals, Tigres defeated Tijuana by 2–0 with goals of Aquino and Zelarayán at the Estadio Universitario. With goals of Aquino and Jürgen Damm, Tigres beat Tijuana by 2–0 in the second leg at the Estadio Caliente, for a 4-0 aggregate. In the home leg of the finals against Guadalajara, Gignac scored twice and matched the score to 2–2. Tigres lost the second leg by 2–1 at the Estadio Omnilife for an aggregate of 4–3, in a controversial match where press and audience claimed that referee Luis Santander, who had refereed all of the home games of Guadalajara in play-offs, did not penalize a foul of Guadalajara's defender Jair Pereira over Ismael Sosa inside the penalty area minutes before the end of the match. Santander would later recognize and apologize for the mistake.