Angel Sepúlveda and Carlos Rodríguez emerge as the possible variants of Cruz Azul to face Xolos Tijuana this Saturday, in search of the feat of overcoming a 3-0 disadvantage in the second leg of the quarterfinals of the Apertura 2024 tournament league.
Both players would relieve the suspended Jorge Sánchez that last Wednesday he made a childish mistake by getting himself ejected by an opponent in the most critical moments of the “Celestial Machine.”
In this case, Sepúlveda would enter as a second center forward along with the Greek Girogios Giakoumakis and he would have to sacrifice Lorenzo Faravelli or even Alexis Gutiérrez himself, but so far Martín Anselmi’s coaching staff continues to analyze these movements.
While Carlos Rodríguez could take the place of Alexis Gutiérrez, Luis Romo or Lorenzo Faravelli, The latter made his reappearance on the border, after a long absence and did not seem to have rhythm in the game, which is why he has a greater chance of not appearing in the starting 11 of the cement team.
It is a fact that Cruz Azul requires certainties and to play an almost perfect match against an opponent who has a coach like the Colombian Juan Carlos Osorio, that could ruin the season of the celestials by eliminating them at the first opportunity in the league.
Especially because it would be one of the great failures in the history of the Machineespecially because of the numbers they put in place and the great style they imposed throughout the 17 days of the regular tournament, to the point that everyone considered them big favorites.
But since not everything that glitters is gold, it was a fact for the cement producers that the 18-day inactivity that the FIFA championship held at the time hit them too hard, because when they returned to the activity they faced an opponent who surprised them and surpassed their backs taking advantage of the fact that the cement team jumped onto the field of play with overconfidence.
But they say that the skinny dog gets fleas and in that sense Cruz Azul, after the defeat in Tijuana had a lot of problems returning to Mexico City, since they had planned to do so after finishing the game on Wednesday, but due to to a fog bank at the border airport they had They had to leave until Thursday afternoon, arriving in the capital of the Republic, around midnight.
TAll these factors are putting the celestials against the wall and this has been reflected in a poor influx to the ticket offices of the Ciudad de los Deportes stadium and to the electronic ticket purchasing system, unlike the nine games of the regular tournament where Cruz Azul managed to place itself as the fifth best team in attendance in the current championship.
With the movements of Ángel Sepúlveda and Carlos Rodríguez, Cruz Azul’s most likely starting eleven would be with Kevin Mier in goal, Nacho Rivero, Gonzalo, Piovi, Willer Ditta and Erick Lira in central defense and Carlos Rotondi on the other side. In the midfield Luis Romo, Alexis Gutiérrez and Lorenzo Faravelli, although Carlos Rodríguez could play in place of one of the three and forward Ángel Sepúlveda and leave Faravelli out to partner up front with the Greek Giorgios Giakoumakis.
It is a reality that Cruz Azul will go for a titanic task against a team that in the last month has recovered a great football level where it is reaching the top of its performance curve, while the Celeste Machine seems to be on the decline.
If the cement producers overcome the 3-0 deficit, they would be certain of returning to being the team that encouraged all the predictions of crowning his performance with the title, otherwise it will be a story that has been repeated many times in the last 27 years.
Continue reading:
-Do the Cruz Azul fans abandon the Celeste Machine?
-Xolos will seek to play a “smart” game at the Estadio Azul, advances Kevin Balanta
-Martín Anselmi trusts in Cruz Azul’s comeback against Tijuana