Leonardo Jardim emotional, celebrates progress at Toca da Raposa

In partnership with

Deus me Dibre

·12 de setembro de 2025

Leonardo Jardim emotional, celebrates progress at Toca da Raposa

Cruzeiro confirmed their spot in the semifinals of the Copa do Brasil by defeating Atlético 2-0 on Wednesday night at Mineirão, in the second leg of the quarterfinals. With this result, the Raposa closed the match-up with a 4-0 aggregate score and secured their classification in grand style in front of more than 61,000 fans. After the game, coach Leonardo Jardim spoke emotionally about the achievement, recalling the beginning of his journey at the club, praising the work built day by day, and projecting the upcoming challenges of the season.

When analyzing the victory, Jardim remembered that his arrival at Cruzeiro coincided with a classic against the rival. On that occasion, he watched the match from the stands and saw the team lose in the Campeonato Mineiro. Therefore, he emphasized the importance of Wednesday's result.

Vídeos OneFootball

“Regarding the result, we achieved our objective. Fairly, for what happened in both games. But this game goes beyond the sporting aspect. A classic is a classic. I arrived on February 9, the day of the classic. I was sad to see our fans leaving with a defeat. I wanted to give them a victory against the rival as a gift. It didn't happen in the championship, despite the excellent game we played. And I am very happy to give this victory to all Cruzeiro fans.”

The coach also valued the work structure set up in the daily routine at Toca da Raposa II and highlighted that good results come from various areas of the club, not just the squad and coaching staff.

“When the game ended, I congratulated them for the result, for the classification. A rival that at the beginning of the season was going to play for the title. Sometimes it’s the face of the coach, the players, but we have to congratulate the staff responsible for the club's set pieces. We are more competent in defensive and offensive terms. And the medical department is also an integral part of this foundation. It helped recover the players, as it has helped the team to have high recovery levels. Intensity x recovery.”

Regarding the fight for the Copa do Brasil title, Jardim stated that the group does not shy away from responsibility but asked for focus on the present and dismissed the idea that the weight of the past could hinder the current work.

“This competition is as important as the Brasileirão. We never shied away from this responsibility. Now we will only think about December. But I will say one thing about the past: the past is a story that is important, but for us, the next game and what will happen in the present are important. It was different, the past cannot come on our shoulders, it has already passed.”

Emotional with the classification and the joy of the Cruzeiro fans, the coach made a point of reinforcing that the squad has not won anything yet and is already thinking about the continuation of the season.

“I am in football for emotions. It is a great happiness to bring a 4-0 aggregate victory over our rival and make our fans extremely happy. As a coach, I felt this evolution. We haven’t won anything, tomorrow we will start recovery because we have a difficult game, players out, we have to think ahead.”

Jardim also commented on breaking taboos and the team's evolution since his arrival, reinforcing the role of the athletes in assimilating new ideas and building good results.

“I am aware that every day I give my best for my work. Certainly, the main responsible are the players. My role is to guide. And the squad accepted a new idea, a new approach. Congratulations to everyone, the coach is a manager, and the players are the ones who manage to bring the results, so far, positive.”

Explaining the strategy adopted against Atlético, Jardim mentioned the study done on Jorge Sampaoli's work and the execution of the game plan by the Cruzeiro squad.

“Regarding the work, it was divided into two phases. Our strategy, our way of working. The second was two alternatives that could appear in this system, already used by the coach at Rennes and Flamengo. We had an analysis of these types of situations. What we did: we closed the interior game and gave the corridors because we knew that in crosses we would be more competent and stronger. In terms of goal opportunities, there were 4 for Cruzeiro and only 1 for the opponent.”

Finally, the Portuguese coach commented on the reorganization of the Brazilian football calendar, with the Copa do Brasil having its final stretch rescheduled for December, and projected the dispute of the Campeonato Brasileiro in the continuation of the season.

“The federation took advantage of the elimination of Palmeiras, São Paulo, and Flamengo from the Copa do Brasil to reorganize the calendar, if it didn't happen, they would have to organize it differently. It is neither positive nor negative, it is what it is. Regarding the Brasileirão, it will be a tough championship, many teams fighting for the top spots and we have to be competent, humble, and hardworking, to gather points and see what we will achieve.”

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