Cruzeiro v Flamengo to reunite Gerson and Jardim after turbulent exits | OneFootball

Cruzeiro v Flamengo in the Conmebol Libertadores last 16 brings fraught reunions for Gerson and Jardim, each facing a former club. Both left amid turbulence and now seek a quarter-final place at the expense of old homes.

According to Globo.com, the first leg is at the Mineirão, so Leonardo Jardim, now at Flamengo, will hear Cruzeiro's boos first. The anger stems from his December 2025 departure and move to Flamengo three months later, despite Arthur Jorge's arrival.

Jardim quit saying he would step away and, if he returned in Brazil, it would only be at Cruzeiro. In March this year he took the Flamengo job after Filipe Luís was dismissed, later calling that pledge naive and stressing respect for his former club.

He already felt hostility at the Maracanã in the league opener, a 3-1 Flamengo win in which Cruzeiro fans jeered and labelled him a mercenary. The Mineirão will be his first meeting with them as a visiting coach.

That same match also signalled the reception awaiting Gerson, whose Flamengo exit soured amid boardroom friction and a legal row. Talks early last year ended with an April renewal to 2030, but a reduced clause saw Zenit pay in July, before he joined Cruzeiro six months later. Flamengo cut his clause from 200 million euros to 25 million euros.

In January this year Flamengo filed a claim for R$ 42.7 million against Gerson and FGM Sports.

Source: Globo.com

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”