From rock bottom to rivals' worst nightmare | OneFootball

A few months ago, Cruzeiro looked at the Brazilian Championship table and saw an abyss. Now, their opponents look at Cruzeiro and are starting to see a problem. It’s the kind of transformation that challenges even the most optimistic script: the team that endured life at the bottom of the table at the start of the competition, still under Tite, is now knocking on the door of the G-4 and frightening anyone who comes its way. With Artur Jorge in charge, Raposa has turned into a kind of blue haunting of the league.

And Sunday was yet another proof of that. In front of nearly 58,000 people at Mineirão, on Father’s Day and at 11 in the morning, Cruzeiro beat Mirassol 3-1 and reached 33 points, sitting just two behind Fluminense, who close out the G-4. The kickoff time might have suggested the kind of Sunday football that feels like a family lunch. Cruzeiro, however, decided to turn the celebration into a work meeting.

The win did not come without some scares. Cruzeiro went ahead, conceded the equalizer still in the first half, and needed to show maturity so the game would not slip away. But the team came back from the break as if it had forgotten something in the locker room: its good football. It regained control, started pressing again, and found the spaces it needed to turn its edge into victory.

Kaio Jorge showed up again, proved that the pressure is behind him, and scored a beauty. He received the ball, cut past his marker — a true little sombrero flick — and finished with class. It was one of those plays where the striker seems to have put the ball on replay mode before even finishing the move. But the one who really stole the show was a kid who had barely arrived and already decided to make his presence felt. Wesley made his debut with a stunner and did exactly what every new signing dreams of doing: he needed only a few minutes to turn his introduction into a calling card.

It’s the kind of debut that immediately makes fans commit that classic football sin: building too much expectation after one game. One great goal, one burst forward, two good plays, and that’s it. There are already people asking for a statue. Easy now. But the boy definitely got off to a good start.

And that is exactly where one of the biggest merits of Cruzeiro’s reaction appears. The board realized the team had shortcomings, realized some injuries had hurt the squad, and went into the market. Gabriel Pec and Sinisterra, among other physical issues, reduced the options and increased the need for reinforcements. The response was to bring in players capable of expanding the team’s range.

Wesley arrived and scored. João Costa got his opportunity and showed personality. Other signings are already on the radar, and the squad is beginning to gain alternatives for a season that has entered that stage where the schedule seems to have been made by someone who does not like football players.

Cruzeiro now does not have just one starting team. It is starting to have options. And that, in August, can be worth as much as three points.

The rise in the league would already be enough to excite the fans. But there is one small matter called the Libertadores waiting on Wednesday.

And that changes the scale of the conversation.

Flamengo, the current champions of the competition, will be the opponent at Mineirão. And if the nearly 58,000 fans who went to the stadium at 11 in the morning on Father’s Day already put on a massive celebration, the expectation is for an even fuller house for what could be Cruzeiro’s most important match of the season so far.

It is no exaggeration to say that Wednesday feels like a final. Cruzeiro arrive riding a wave, strengthened by qualification in the Copa do Brasil, by their string of wins in the league, and by a transfer market that is already starting to produce results. Flamengo arrive wearing the badge of reigning champions. Mineirão should arrive packed.

It is the kind of night when history likes to show up.

Cruzeiro have gone from bottom of the table to contenders. From a team that needed to look down to one that is starting to look up. From concern to expectation. And, above all, from spectators of the table to protagonists in it.

Now it remains to be seen whether this rise is just a good run of form or whether Cruzeiro are really preparing something bigger.

On Wednesday, against Flamengo, the blue ghost will have its first great continental haunting.

And this time, no one will want to turn off the lights.

Angel Drumond

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