Cruz Azul go into Week 10 bottom of the table

Just when Cruz Azul thought their current predicament couldn’t get much worse... it did. After the first 10 matchdays of the Apertura 2023, Joaquín Moreno’s side occupies last place in the general table, following Puebla’s 2-3 win at Atlas - a victory which allowed them to climb out of the bottom two places, and sank La Máquina to their lowest position of the campaign

The Cementeros starts this weekend’s fixtures as the team with the fewest points in the entire tournament - just five from a possible 27 - and with controversy. Firstly for their collapse and subsequent 1-3 defeat to Querétaro 3-1 followed by the party organized by Carlos Salcedo hours later to celebrate his birthday.

For obvious reasons, neither of those two incidents went down well with the board or the fans, and realistically, the only way the team can make amends is by getting results and climbing the table. The objective is to qualify for the playoffs at the very least, but looking at the fixtures calendar, that is not going to be simple.

Cruz Azul’s upcoming games

The outlook is looking even more complicated for the capital side as their next game is against leaders Atlético San Luis on Friday night. An Atlético San Luis that has only lost two games in the competition, and who will be at home... only Pumas have beaten them since the Liga MX resumed and only just (with a stoppage-time winner), so taking three points from that game will be anything but easy.

After that, Cruz Azul are on the road again, as guests of Necaxa - on paper, a weaker rival but let’s not forget they put five past Santos last weekend.

The following two games will be equally challenging for Moreno’s men: first, they facing Pumas in Week 12, followed by a visit to El Volcán to face Tigres in Week 13.