The Cruz Azul of the Peruvian coach Juan Reynoso will visit Santos Laguna on Thursday in the first leg of the final of the Clausura of Mexican football, which the celestial team intends to be a before and after in its history.
Although he won the regular season with the best offense and the best defense, Reynoso has insisted that will mean nothing if he does not win the title that the team has not won since the 1997 winter tournament.
The sky blue team has lost six finals since then and this Thursday they will seek to bring out their defense, the safest of the season, to try to stop a Santos who, led by Uruguayan Guillermo Almada, arrives in a good moment of form.
In Torreón, northern Mexico, Santos will seek victory at home and then manage the score for the series, something that worked for them in the quarterfinals against coach Javier Aguirre’s Monterrey and in the semifinals against Puebla of Argentine Nicolás Larcamón.
Santos defeated Cruz Azul 1-0 on January 10 in their debut in the championship in a game in which the Blues did not play badly, but were defeated with a goal by Chilean Diego Valdés. Then Reynoso had been in charge of the team for a few days, which he took from a mental loss and put him in the final.
Things have changed since then and the media mention Cruz Azul as a favorite because he showed the best performance so far this year, leader of the tournament and undefeated in the Concacaf Champions League, however the final will be two games and his result It will depend on the small details in 180 minutes.
With balance in all its lines and an attack led by the Uruguayan Jonathan Rodríguez, Santos scorer between 2016 and 2018, Cruz Azul will go out to stop the attack of the rival team, led by the Ecuadorian Ayrton Preciado and the Mexican Eduardo Aguirre up front. and by Valdés and the Uruguayan Fernando Gorrirán in the midfield.
«The subject of favorite or not is cataloged by journalists and people; the finals are parties apart, the hierarchy does not matter, nor does anything matter. The one who does things better is the one who wins the tournament. We will play with a great team and it will be a pleasure to live this moment, “said Gorriarán.
Of the six league finals lost by Cruz Azul, one was with Santos, 3-2 in the Clausura 2008, an additional ingredient in the series between two of the best performing teams in Mexico so far this century, although in the last 20 years Cruz Azul failed at the crucial hour and Santos won five league titles.
For the Blues, the best thing is that history does not have to weigh. Most of the team’s players were elementary school kids when their slump began, so they have no responsibility in the lost finals, which Reynoso repeats.
The second leg will be played on Sunday at the Estadio Azteca, home of Cruz Azul. EFE (HN)