Cruz Azul risk registering worst Liga MX start in 19 years
It would not be the first time that the Cementeros start the season with three consecutive defeats in the short tournament era.
Cruz Azul are just one negative result away from equalling their worst start to a tournament. During the Apertura 2004 championship, the team lost the first three games and now, the only time they have done so in the 55 previous editions of the short tournament era, since the Winter 1996 campaign.
La Máquina’s woeful start to the Apertura 2004 began with a 3-1 defeat to Puebla on the opening day (15 August), with Jair García firing Puebla ahead with goals in each half and Luis Quinteros grabbing the third; Colombian John Jairo “Choronta” Restrepo pulled one back for the visitors but the damage had already been done.
They followed that up by losing 3-4 to Jaguares at the Azteca, in one of the shock results of the weekend. Even more surprising was that the Chiapas were down to 10 men for most of the second half. Jaguares bounced back after going behind twice in a topsy-turvey game that was settled right on 90 minutes by Paraguayan Salvador Cabañas.
The third defeat was against Monterrey, who led from the 17th minute though Argentine -naturalized-Mexican Guillermo Franco; Brazilian pair Argemiro Veiga and Oribe Peralta put the game late on, scoring almost immediately after the visitors had Adrian Cortéz sent off.
That year, it went from bad to worse as the Cementeros slumped to a fourth straight defeat, losing by the minimum to Necaxa with Alfredo Moreno scoring the decider. Luis Fernando Tena was sacked in Week 10 and succeeded by José Luis Saldívar who remained in charge up until Week 17.
So the Cruzazulinos cannot afford to lose this Friday, when they take on Xolos de Tijuana at Estadio Caliente in Week 3 of the current campaign.
So far, there have been three occasions since the Winter 1996 tournament when Cruz Azul have started with two defeats - in the current Apertura 2023 (Atlas 2-0 and Toluca 0-2), and in the Clausura 2021 when they lost to Santos (1-0) and Puebla (0-1), as well as in the Clausura 2020 with consecutive defeats to Atlas (1-2) and San Luis (2-1).