Cruz Azul is no longer a contender for the Liga MX title. La Máquina lost that chance after being eliminated by Atlas in the repechage phase of the Clausura 2023 tournament by a score of 0-1, despite playing in front of their fans at the Azteca stadium. Despite being the favorites of the series, they suffered from the same deficiency that characterized them during the regular season, which was the lack of offensive forcefulness.

Both teams came into this match labeled as being the most even in the playoffs, because while the light blues finished the regular season in eighth place with 24 points, the red and blacks did so in ninth with 21. However, Atlas arrived motivated with a streak five games without losing (including two victories) and that pushed them to seek victory at the Azteca stadium.

The system that Cruz Azul’s coach, Ricardo Ferretti, sent to the field, was the same that gave him results in the last 10 dates and allowed him to enter the playoffs: a line of three central defenders, two wingers, two containments, two wingers and a center forward. Augusto Lotti was chosen to score the goals, flanked by Uriel Antuna and Carlos Rotondi.

But that tactical drawing was hit from the first 100 seconds of the game, when Atlas used the power of his attackers, Julián Quiñones, Mauro Manotas, Ozziel Herrera and Brian Lozano in a counterattack transition for the latter to define with a cross shot to the post Jesús Corona’s left foot and made it 0-1.

The long faces of the celestial fans were present from minute two with the Uruguayan Lozano’s goal and they were even more replicated after a few moments after the goal the cement defender Ramiro Funes Mori made an error in his area that caused Ozziel Herrera to was close to scoring the second, only the post and Funes Mori himself ended up rescuing the play at the last breath.

It was not a good start for Cruz Azul and the public made them feel it with boos mainly towards Funes Mori. It was then that Ignacio Rivero, Carlos Rodríguez, Uriel Antuna and Carlos Rotondi took the lead and pushed the Cruzazulino attack, although the Atlas defense began to give the demonstration that would characterize them for the rest of the game, acting as an insurmountable wall.

The narrative became like this from the middle of the first half: Cruz Azul controlling the ball (it finished the game with 74% possession) and insisting on the attacks, while Atlas defended himself with up to nine of his elements and took advantage of the slightest moment with the ball at his feet to launch a counterattack hope towards Quiñones.

The formula was working for Atlas to the extent that at the end of the first half they made it 0-2 with a counterattack created by Brian Lozano that Mauro Manotas defined, but after an exhaustive review in the VAR (for almost five minutes), the Referee César Ramos received the instruction to cancel the goal due to an offside.

The referee’s decision allowed Cruz Azul to leave with a high dose of motivation at halftime. When he returned to the field, with the entry of another center forward, the Uruguayan Gonzalo Carneiro, he continued with the trend of dominating the ball and attacking, with Antuna and Rotondi being the most insistent. But the lock on Atlas continued and ‘Tuca’ Ferretti had to bring in a couple more attackers, Christian Tabó and Iván Morales.

However, Atlas recovered the mystique that led him to the first two-time championship in his history just between 2021 and 2022, that is, maximizing the qualities of his defense and also trusting those of his goalkeeper, Camilo Vargas. Rejections, sweeps, blocks, recoveries and even a save with a changed hand prevented La Máquina from getting the tie.

On the contrary, the rojinegros had one last chance to seal the 0-2 through a counterattack between Julián Quiñones and Javier Abella, the latter being the one who was left in front of goalkeeper Jesús Corona but ended with a shot off the post less than two minutes from time. for the time added by César Ramos to end.

Diego Barbosa, Hugo Nervo, Anderson Santamaría, Aldo Rocha and of course the goalkeeper Vargas joined in a shout of celebration when the referee decreed the end of the game, since they were the protagonists of Atlas keeping the 0-1 score for 88 minutes of regular time and about 12 in the aggregate.

With this result, Cruz Azul was left out of the fight for the title without even entering the league. After he was champion in the Clausura 2021, he already has four consecutive tournaments in which his maximum reach is the quarterfinals and this was his second fall in the playoffs after the Apertura 2021 against Monterrey.

For its part, Atlas returned to the league after an absent tournament and now under the technical direction of Benjamín Mora, who is trying to recover the effectiveness of several elements that were key players during the two-time championship, such as Julián Quiñones himself, Camilo Vargas , Aldo Rocha and Julio Furch, who could not play against Cruz Azul due to being sent off.