Jardim: Cruzeiro underdogs, key change led to Bragantino win | OneFootball

In a comeback, Cruzeiro defeated RB Bragantino 2-1 this Sunday at Mineirão, in the 24th round of the Brazilian Championship. After the game, coach Leonardo Jardim stated that the club from Minas Gerais is an underdog in the competition's title race against Flamengo and Palmeiras.

“I told the players that Cruzeiro is an ‘outsider’ (underdog) in this position of the Brazilian Championship. Sometimes this bothers a lot of people. Our opponents, with a more aggressive attitude, as happened (with Bragantino), do not make the game easy. And once again, we had to overcome this on Sunday,” said the Cruzeiro coach.

Crucial Tactical Change

This Sunday, against RB Bragantino, Jardim associated the victory with a tactical change made in the first half. The Portuguese coach said he switched Christian and Wanderson, moving them from the right side to the left and vice versa.

“I think that after this switch with them, we balanced the game more and improved in the duel. We managed to score the equalizer and then, in the second half, continued to create difficulties. Christian on one side and Wanderson on the other are completely different things,” explained Jardim.

Photo: Gustavo Aleixo / Cruzeiro

With Sunday's victory, Cruzeiro reached 50 points in the Brazilian Championship, with 24 games played. Now, the team is in second place in the competition, one point behind the leader Flamengo, who has one game less.

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