Cruzeiro secures windfall with last-16 spot, awaits Libertadores rival | OneFootball

The 4-0 victory over Barcelona de Guayaquil at Mineirão not only secured Cruzeiro’s place in the Copa Libertadores round of 16, keeping alive the tradition of never having been eliminated at this stage of the tournament. Advancing also guarantees the club another multimillion-dollar prize in the continental competition.

With their spot in the knockout stage confirmed, Cruzeiro secured another US$ 1.25 million (about R$ 7 million at the current exchange rate) paid by Conmebol for reaching the round of 16. The amount is added to the prize money accumulated throughout the campaign in the competition. Conmebol pays US$ 340,000 for each victory in the group stage.

In total, Cruzeiro has already earned about US$ 3.27 million in prize money, a figure that currently comes to around R$ 16.4 million.

The return to the round of 16 ends a gap of seven seasons without Cruzeiro playing in the Libertadores knockout stage. The club’s last appearance in the competition’s knockout rounds had been in 2019.

Now, the team coached by Artur Jorge awaits the draw to find out its next opponent. The round-of-16 matchups will be set by Conmebol after the group stage is fully completed.

With qualification for the Libertadores round of 16 confirmed, Cruzeiro is now waiting for the Conmebol draw to learn its knockout-stage opponent. Among the possible matchups for the Belo Horizonte side are Flamengo, Coquimbo Unido, Independiente Rivadavia, Universidad Católica, Corinthians, Cerro Porteño, LDU, and Independiente del Valle.

Conmebol is working with tentative dates for the knockout ties of August 12 for the first legs and August 19 for the return legs.

Cruzeiro still has one last match before the break for the World Cup. The team faces Fluminense on Sunday (31) at 8:30 p.m. at Mineirão in the 18th round of the Brazilian Championship.

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