The fans took Cruzeiro to the Maracanã, the team did not turn up | OneFootball

Disappointment is the mildest word to define Cruzeiro’s night at the Maracanã. The 2–1 defeat to Flamengo and elimination in the Copa Libertadores round of 16 would be perfectly understandable against an opponent that is the reigning South American champion, has a multimillion-dollar squad, and enough players to practically put together two high-level teams. The problem lies in how everything happened. After the 1–1 draw at Mineirão, the fans expected at least the same level of commitment shown in Belo Horizonte. They got something else.

In the first 45 minutes, Flamengo ran riot. There were countless chances, territorial dominance, possession, and pressure against a Cruzeiro side that practically couldn’t play. In an international competition, on a packed night at the Maracanã, with a place in the quarterfinals at stake, the attitude looked like that of a team that had forgotten to read the invitation. Flamengo came to decide it. Cruzeiro came to see what would happen. The 1–0 scoreline was flattering given what the Rio side produced.

And that is where Artur Jorge’s first major responsibility appears. Fagner was coming off an exceptional performance against Corinthians and was left on the bench. William got the opportunity and had a night to forget. Gabriel Rojas returned to full-back and still gave no indication of why he cost the club so much. In a match of this size, experience, connection to the club, and personality should matter. Villalba, because of his relationship with the institution, his experience, and his behavior on the pitch, could have been a more suitable alternative for a night when courage and personality were not minor details.

William was beaten, misplaced crosses, struggled defensively, and was still cut out of the play on Flamengo’s second goal. It was almost a payback for Arroyo’s work of art last week. Samuel Lino had spent the match at Mineirão looking for the ball. At the Maracanã, it was the Cruzeiro full-back’s turn to go looking for his opponent. Football, at times, has a sense of humor that borders on cruelty.

Otávio is an excellent goalkeeper and has already saved Cruzeiro on several occasions. Period. But when he has to play with his feet, it is another story. Yesterday, he got practically every short buildup attempt wrong and, on the long balls he tried to send into the opponent’s half, all of them went out. He did not inspire confidence with his passing inside the box and looked nervous, perhaps unsure, precisely in a match in which Cruzeiro needed calm to escape Flamengo’s pressure. With his hands, Otávio is reliability. With his feet, he is still a concern.

The entire defense suffered. Jonathan Jesus was below the level he had been showing. Fabrício Bruno could not organize the line. Gabriel Rojas barely appeared in attack and had difficulties defensively. The defensive system looked dismantled, while the opponent found space with an ease that should not exist in a match of this size.

The first goal came through Arrascaeta, after a first half in which Cruzeiro practically did not exist offensively. It was little compared to what Flamengo produced. The ball went in, the Maracanã erupted, and Cruzeiro went into the break with a scoreline that could have been far harsher.

And then came the night’s great disappointments.

Gerson had a personal story to settle that night. In the first round of the Brazilian Championship, in his first match against Flamengo after leaving the Rio club, he was called a traitor by the red-and-black fans. Now, in his second meeting with his former club, at the Maracanã and in a Libertadores knockout tie, he had the chance to respond on the pitch. But he felt the weight of the match, stayed hidden for much of the game, and did not take on the responsibility expected of him. It is true that he provided the assist for Romero’s stunning goal, but the play felt almost like an isolated event within a performance far below the level he had been showing at Cruzeiro. After that, he barely appeared. He did not control midfield, did not take the game upon himself, and did not show the personality required for a night of that magnitude. The assist happened. Gerson, as a protagonist, almost did not.

Matheus Pereira did not show up either. And that is even more troubling because he is the brain, the engine, the player who should take charge of the ball when the match gets heavy. I do not buy the idea that he disappears in big games. He is a terrific player and has proved it many times. But precisely because of who he is, he cannot put in a performance like today’s and go unnoticed.

In a Libertadores knockout match, you cannot be a supporting actor when the team needs its stars.

Kaio Jorge fought. Ran. Battled. Tried. But he was isolated and wasted the chance he had. Arroyo, this time, did not repeat his Mineirão performance. Wesley came on and looked tired before he had even started to run.

And the bench, once again, could not change the game. It is true that the substitutes have been decisive on other occasions. Against Corinthians, for example, they came on very well and directly helped secure the win. But they are far from being Cruzeiro’s solution. The solution was on the pitch. And the very ones who should have led it did not show up: Matheus Pereira and Gerson produced one of their quietest performances since arriving at the club.

Cruzeiro came back for the second half looking as though it had finally understood that this was a Libertadores knockout match. It started to play, pressed, and found the equalizer through Romero, with a stunning strike from outside the box. From then on, some opportunities appeared, but there was a lack of care in the finishing. Kaio Jorge had his. Matheus Pereira had his too. Cruzeiro grew into the game and even threatened Flamengo’s lead.

Romero, despite the wonder goal, was below par in the first half. He misplaced passes, gave the ball away, and could not provide the dynamism he usually offers in midfield. Effort was not lacking from Romero. Football was, in the first 45 minutes. And those are completely different things.

But the reaction did not last long. Flamengo found space again and Samuel Lino appeared to score the second goal. William got his marking wrong, was beaten badly, and ended up on the ground as Lino finished to put Flamengo back in front. It was another image of a defense that spent the night giving away too much space.

Four thousand fans left Belo Horizonte, in Minas Gerais, and took on more than 400 kilometers to Rio de Janeiro to support Cruzeiro at the Maracanã. They went from the heart of Minas to the coast of Rio to follow a Libertadores knockout match. Millions of others followed from afar, at home, at work, wherever they were. And what they got in return was a team that, for much of the first half, seemed not to understand the size of the occasion.

That is where the word disappointment takes on another weight.

After the match, Artur Jorge lamented the first-half performance, but he failed to point more clearly to the team’s shortcomings, the lineup mistakes, and what allowed Flamengo to completely dominate the opening 45 minutes.

Then came Pedro Lourenço’s statement, saying that Cruzeiro had gone toe to toe with Flamengo and that he would continue rooting for the rival in the competition.

It was an unnecessary thing to say at that moment.

The fans had just watched the elimination, were outraged by the performance, and still had to hear that the team had played on equal terms. And the situation gained an even more curious element because Leonardo Jardim, who had left Cruzeiro saying that in Brazil he would only coach the blue club, ended up joining Flamengo a few months later. For the Cruzeiro fan, that was a betrayal.

If there is a time to choose your words, that was one of them. Not every statement needs to be made in the heat of an elimination, especially when the fan is still trying to process a performance like that.

And there is the warning.

Cruzeiro cannot carry the mistakes made at the Maracanã into its next commitments. Flamengo and Atlético appear again on the path, two opponents that will demand a more focused, competitive team, closer to the one it had been showing before last night.

The elimination needs to serve as a lesson, not as a sentence. Cruzeiro has the football to respond, has players capable of delivering much more, and will have two important opportunities to show that the night at the Maracanã was an outlier.

Saturday already brings Flamengo again. Then comes Atlético, in the Copa do Brasil, at Mineirão. It is time to turn the page, regain confidence, and remember that the Cruzeiro that got here was not built on fear of facing anyone.

But turning the page does not mean forgetting what happened at the Maracanã. A shirt like Cruzeiro’s, five stars on the chest and fans who traveled more than 400 kilometers to be at the stadium, did not deserve a performance like that. And it was not only the four thousand at the Maracanã. The fans who stayed in Belo Horizonte, in Minas Gerais, anywhere in Brazil or the world, also deserved respect. They all stopped to follow a Libertadores knockout match and expected a team worthy of that shirt.

The elimination was not the work of chance, nor merely the consequence of Flamengo’s strength. It began with the lineup, took shape in the first half, and ended at the feet of players who did not deliver the football a knockout match demanded.

The fan can accept a defeat. Can accept elimination against the reigning South American champion. What they should not have to accept is the feeling that their team was not worthy of the shirt it wore.

Cruzeiro did not just lose a place in the next round. It lost the chance to show, on a night the size of the Maracanã, that its players understood the weight of five stars on the chest. And that responsibility belongs to those who chose and those who stepped onto the pitch.

The fans have already done their part. Now it is up to the players and the coach to show that they understand the size of the Cruzeiro they represent.

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