Cruz Azul renew ‘Potro’ Gutiérrez for Clausura 2023

Cruz Azul had a terrible start to the Apertura 2022 led by the Uruguayan Diego Aguirre, who left his management post after losing 7-0 to the Águilas of América in the Clásico Joven. Raúl Gutiérrez took command of the team and was able to raise it from its ashes to be able to put it in the liguilla, but there he was eliminated by the Rayados of Monterrey.

Now, just a few weeks before the Clausura 2023 begins, the board of directors of the sky blue team have given the U-17 world champion coach a vote of confidence to continue on the bench.

“We make the renewal of Raúl Gutiérrez as technical director official. Give it your all, Potro!” was the message from Cruz Azul via its social media account.

It is worth mentioning that the former player took La Máquina from matchday 11 and over was able to get five wins and a draw, with only a single loss, to reach 24 points in the table. That then allowed them to battle with León to progress, and they duly did.

Once into the quarterfinal round they were certainly underdogs and ended up losing to the Rayados de Monterrey who were led by the experienced Víctor Manuel Vucetich. But after lifting the team from where they were, the board of directors decided to keep faith in his project.

The Clausura 2023 tournament will begin on Friday, 6 January, although Cruz Azul have to wait until Sunday 8 January to get their campaign going, when they visit the Xolos of Tijuana at the Caliente Stadium.