Blue Cross begins his way in the postseason of the MX League with only two paths: the two-time championship or nothing. His walk will begin and could end this weekend, when he faces Monterrey within the playoffs, in a single match to be held in the Aztec stadium and without an audience, due to the punishment that the club received for the discriminatory shouts of its fans on the penultimate day.
Inside the Noria the view is focused on repeating the title of the Guardians 2021. Although it might be thought that Machine He has already paid off his 23-year debt with the fans after the championship, the players and coaching staff do not see it that way. There is no relaxation or excuses, the look continues on continuing to make history.
– How is the first post-championship league lived within the club, is there more relaxation or pressure?
– “We live with a lot of demand, because in the first place we have the squad to defend it and to be able to repeat the title. We are in a situation where we have the last bullet to continue with that dream, but the demand is very high because of what was achieved in the last tournament and also in the ancestors, where they had been doing things very well despite not winning. We are aware of what we are at stake this weekend and we are going to go out to propose, to win and to know that we have the team and enough talent to repeat the championship ”, replied the midfielder, Raphael Read, a The Economist.
Baca Miranda is playing his 15th tournament with the Cruz Azul shirt, since he arrived in the Closing 2014, being the third oldest of the current squad behind the “eternals” Jose de Jesus Corona and Julio César Domínguez. He knew the pressure after the title drought from the first moment, which remains the same despite having already achieved it.
“The debt is more than ourselves, because we have stopped doing many things. I could make 1,000 excuses, but I’m not like that, in the end you have to face things as they are presented, ”he said at a press conference prior to the playoff game against Monterrey.
This will be the third tournament since the playoffs returned to Mexican soccer and it is the first time that Cruz Azul did not qualify directly for the quarterfinals; in the above (Guardians 2020 and 2021) his balance was so high that he finished as a semifinalist and champion, respectively.
The confidence of Baca and the rest of the team rests on the fact that they have the same squad as six months ago, although with inconsistencies that cost them to finish in eighth place: “It was a very irregular tournament, which this group does not deserve because of the quality it has, also because in Cruz Azul it is measured with a very high bar, either you are a champion or it is a failure, things are clear for those of us who are here ”.
Unlike the championship tournament, where La Maquina finished the regular phase as leader with 41 points and 13 wins, now it only had 23 points and five wins, so in the general table it was even surpassed by clubs with a much lower payroll. like Atlas, Toluca and Puebla. For this reason, the battle against Monterrey in the playoffs is seen as the springboard to smooth things over with its audience and not fall back on the ghosts of yesteryear.
The fans have to be calm and know that we are capable of moving forward, it depends much more on those of us who are on the field, the responsibility falls on us to know what we want to achieve: continue to transcend or if we are going to relax and let things like in the match against Pumas (on the last day, where they came back 3-1). Soccer is giving us another chance and we are already focused, knowing that it is the last bullet we have ”.
Cruz Azul will play this final match without the warmth of its people, since the Mexican Soccer Federation (FMF) vetoed his audience for the discriminatory screams displayed in his penultimate game of the tournament, on November 3 in the 0-1 loss to León. In this match, the celestial fans incurred at least four shouts and the referee had to activate step 1 of the protocol against this attitude. The consequence is that the playoff against Monterrey will be behind closed doors.
“The fans are very important, they are the push when the team uses that external help to encourage us and continue to motivate us. Yes, the fans will be missed but we have to focus on the game and know that we have to do it for them, it would be very unfortunate to be left out and know that our fans did not have the opportunity to be there, while it would be nice to move forward and have new to our fans in the quarterfinals ”, Rafael Baca concluded.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx