Artur Jorge on pressure at Cruzeiro, best answer is to win

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·6 September 2026

Artur Jorge on pressure at Cruzeiro, best answer is to win

Cruzeiro’s 3-1 victory over Athletico-PR this Sunday (6) marked an important response from the team after their eliminations from the Libertadores and the Copa do Brasil. After the match, coach Artur Jorge held a press conference at Mineirão and addressed different issues related to the club’s current situation, including fan protests, the dispute between Matheus Pereira and Kaio Jorge over a penalty, and the use of Lucas Silva.

The coach also explained the changes made to the team to face Athletico-PR and highlighted the performance of Cruzeiro’s midfield, especially Matheus Pereira, Gerson, Lucas Romero, and Matheus Henrique.

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Artur Jorge responds to fan protests

After the recent eliminations, Cruzeiro fans staged protests in Belo Horizonte criticizing the squad, the board, and Artur Jorge himself. Asked about the demonstrations, the coach said he respects the demands, but stressed that he believes the main response has to come on the pitch.

Artur Jorge also said that, despite the atmosphere of criticism, it is the result that determines the evaluation of his work.

“I understand the pressure from outside and I respect those who respect me. That is non-negotiable. I believe the best response is to win. There is a principle within the team itself that can involve many contexts and variables, but what validates us is the hard, cold result, from the outside, especially for you and for those who want to see things superficially.

Character, courage, and competence are shown in silence. In the noise it is easy—there is a lot of noise in football, a lot of people make noise, culturally here it happens freely—but what we know how to do, and I particularly, having been heavily targeted by criticism, what validates my work is my result. Time in football is always a friend when it comes to separating opinion from fact. That is my position on it.”

Coach explains choices to face Athletico

Artur Jorge also detailed the changes made to Cruzeiro for the match. According to the coach, the choices were aimed at increasing control through possession and, above all, reducing space for Athletico-PR’s attacking players.

The Portuguese coach mentioned Kevin Viveros’ speed as one of the concerns and highlighted the role of the midfielders in pressing the opposing holding midfielders.

“These were changes made based on what we analyzed and saw from the opponent, and they were also intended to give us more control of the game through possession. This Athletico side has very quick players up front, like Viveros. We tried to control that with the two center-backs closer to him and, for that, it was important that we controlled not only the destination, but also the source.

With those four men who played an extraordinary game—Matheus Pereira, Gerson, Romero, and Matheusinho—because of the way they ran and gave themselves to the match, they were able to neutralize the opponent’s first holding midfielders and control the others in deeper areas.

That was also the idea behind having brave full-backs to push up against the opposing full-backs, often well beyond our midfield line.”

The strategy worked especially well in the first half, when Cruzeiro managed to create chances and took the lead through Matheus Pereira. The team also had a Matheus Henrique goal ruled out by VAR and missed a penalty with the No. 10 himself before João Cruz equalized in stoppage time.

In the second half, Lucas Romero and Kaio Jorge scored the goals that secured the three points.

With the win over Athletico-PR, Cruzeiro reached 42 points in the Brazilian Championship and moved back closer to the battle for the top spots. Eliminated from the Libertadores and the Copa do Brasil, Artur Jorge’s team will now have the Brasileirão as its only path to secure a place in the next edition of the continental competition.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.