Cruzeiro edge Atlético at Arena MRV, lead Copa do Brasil quarters | OneFootball

Atlético and Cruzeiro faced off on Wednesday night (27), for the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Copa do Brasil. The classic match marks the fifth knockout encounter between the two teams in national competitions - the teams have faced each other other times in the Brasileirões of 1986 and 1999, in addition to the Copa do Brasil of 2014 and 2019 - and put forward teams that are experiencing different moments in the season.

Still seeking optimal performance, Atlético remains alive in all the season's disputes. The team led by Cuca is in 12th place in the Brazilian Championship, where they struggle to achieve a sequence of good results, especially in the post-Club World Cup period. The chips are being placed on the knockout: with two victories over Godoy Cruz, Galo is qualified for the quarterfinals of the Copa Sudamericana and also places a lot of hope in the Copa do Brasil, where they face their biggest rival.

Cruzeiro is on a different wavelength: the club continues to fight at the top of the Brazilian Championship, occupying the 3rd position and 41 points accumulated, 5 less than the leader Flamengo. The restructuring of Cruzeiro took place precisely after the team's elimination, still in the group stage, of the Copa Sudamericana. With excellent collective performance and some individual highlights, coach Leonardo Jardim has no doubts about which team to field and is characterized by few changes during the game.

Lineups:

Cuca surprised everyone with the lineup of Galo for the first game of the Copa do Brasil. Dudu, a forward who came precisely from the rival, started as a starter, alongside Hulk and Cuello, forming a line of three forwards. Scarpa occupied the midfield, alongside Alan Franco and Alexsander. In defense, without Lyanco (injured), nothing different from expected. This is how Atlético went to the field:

Jardim had already advanced that he would not change the team, in relation to the confrontation last weekend, when Cruzeiro beat Internacional at Mineirão. Without changes, Cruzeiro went to the field with what is considered today, the Portuguese coach's "ideal 11". This is how Raposa went to the field:

First half:

The first half started with intensity and strong marking, but, contrary to predictions, with an open game, with both teams seeking the attack within their characteristics. Cruzeiro anticipated the marking and forced the attack in conjunction, with the ball always seeking the top scorer Kaio Jorge. Atlético responded with the long ball, mainly looking for Cuello as an escape valve.

Cruzeiro pressed in the attacking field and left the team sometimes unprotected in the defensive field, letting Atlético arrive with a lot of space mainly in the backs of their fullbacks. In this way, Dudu and Hulk had good chances to create attacking movements, but they did not end in good finishes. Working the ball in front of the opponent's area, Cruzeiro saw difficulties in finding solutions in the short space left by the alvinegro markers.

The game took on different contours after the middle of the first half. Atlético managed to raise their lines and started to create more with short passes and good exchanges of passes, always looking for Cuello for the individual play or Hulk, in the attack command. Kaio Jorge was the first yellow card of the classic, after making a foul in the attacking field on Scarpa.

Cruzeiro continued to struggle to create, but it was in a mistake by Galo that Cruzeiro almost created their best opportunity, with Romero disarming Franco and serving Kaio Jorge, who passed to Matheus Pereira, who instead of shooting, tried to dribble. The ball ended up falling to Wanderson, who tried a strong shot, but missed.

The second yellow of the first half came at 34 minutes, with Junior Alonso preventing Wanderson from pulling a Cruzeiro counterattack, which now saw a more disputed game in the midfield. With more duels than worked plays, the game was shaping up to be even more balanced in the final stretch of the first half. Cruzeiro was forcing the game a lot on the sides of the field, but without success in triggering the attack, while Atlético also explored the spaces on the sides, but trying more to activate Hulk on the ground.

The third yellow came for fullback Guilherme Arana, at 40 minutes, for a hard foul in the midfield. Following the foul, Wanderson also took a yellow card, preventing a possible counterattack by Scarpa. Still with many duels and a more foul game after the good start, the referee signaled another 3 minutes of added time. Atlético still tried one more play in the Cruzeiro area, which had Cássio to defend, but the move was already offside. And so the score ended goalless in the first half: 0 to 0.

Second half:

The teams returned to the field without changes, but the game of strong duels started right in the first minute, with Wanderson and Alan Franco disputing the ball and ending in a foul. If the game seemed truncated, Fabrício Bruno acted as a number 10: he carried the ball alone in the midfield and released a blast, in the angle of Everson, who couldn't reach it. Cruzeiro opened the scoring at Arena MRV: Atlético 0 to 1 Cruzeiro.

Atlético tried to respond, mainly with long and inverted balls in the attacking field, looking for Dudu on one side and Cuello on the other. With the need to go up, Cruzeiro found spaces to control the ball in the attacking field, but saw Atlético go out in dangerous counterattacks, always in one-on-one with the celestial defenders.

Needing to change the result, Cuca made his first changes in the Galo team: Dudu left for the entrance of Rony and Scarpa for the entrance of Reinier. The goal was to gain more speed with Rony more open and also give more quality to the midfield, with Reinier closer to Hulk, who led the front.

But it was Cruzeiro, on the set piece, who found the second goal. Wanderson took a corner, the ball rebounded in the area fell at the feet of the top scorer: Kaio Jorge, face to face with Everson, just pushed to the back of the nets making the second celestial goal. Atlético 0 to 2 Cruzeiro.

Right after the goal, Wanderson was substituted for the entrance of Matheus Henrique. A response from Leonardo Jardim to what Cuca did, looking for more stamina and a better midfield battle. Unable to respond to the changes, Cuca opted to make new changes, this time entering Igor Gomes in place of Alan Franco, trying to have more control of the midfield and making a line of two midfielders to help Hulk in front, and Biel in place of Cuello, giving more stamina to the celestial attack.

Jardim responded again with another substitution: Kaio Jorge left for the entrance of Gabigol, who was instructed to play further forward, in the position of the number 19. William ended up being yellow carded at 33 of the second half, when he prevented Biel's progression with a slide. The frontal foul was taken by Hulk, who tried the low shot. On the return, Alexsander shot into Cássio's hands. Reinier was also yellow carded after a foul in the midfield on Lucas Romero.

The game continued a very similar pattern to the end of the first half, with many fouls and very truncated. Atlético tried to activate their strong men in the long ball, on the sides of the field, forcing Cruzeiro to make a mistake. The celestial team showed signs of fatigue, especially from their midfield men. Lucas Silva was the target of Galo's midfielders for progression, showing clear signs of exhaustion.

Jardim made his last substitution at 42 minutes on the field. Matheus Pereira left for the entrance of Eduardo, while Atlético had a frontal free kick to take. Hulk took it, but sent it wide, no danger to goalkeeper Cássio. Referee Ramon Abatti Abel pointed out 6 minutes of added time.

Cruzeiro closed their team to try to go out on the counterattack, while Atlético raised their lines to pressure in all ways. But with little creativity and firepower, Cuca's team had a lot of difficulty in creating clear chances, even with a higher number of ball possession. And it ended in this rhythm: Atlético 0 to 2 Cruzeiro in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Copa do Brasil.

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