How many times have Cruz Azul lost the opening two games in the last 10 years?
Cruz Azul are still without a win in the Liga MX and not for the first time. We take a look at their record in Weeks 1 and 2 over the past decade.
Two matchdays into the Apertura 2023 and Cruz Azul are still waiting for their first win. It’s not the first time that they have started a tournament with two defeats during the last ten years - they also started on the wrong foot at the start of the Clausura 2021, losing the opening game to Santos and the following one against Puebla. History has repeated itself this year.
In general, it is unusual for the Cementeros to start with two defeats - in the 21 tournaments since the 2013 Apertura championship, there have only been two other occasions when they have suffered the worst possible start to a campaign.
First, let’s go back to the Clausura 2021 - an inauspicious start against Santos on the opening day, with Chilean Diego Valdés scoring the only goal of the game. A week later against Puebla on matchday 2 at the Azteca, Cruz Azul were beaten by the same result - Uruguayan Christian Tabó firing in the winner.
Going even further back, to the Clausura 2020 where they lost in their opening match against Atlas 1-2 with goals from Jeremy Márquez and Ignacio Jeraldino then slumped to a second consecutive defeat to San Luis seven days later with goals from Luis Reyes and Germán Berterame making worse what was already a miserable week for the Cementeros.
Positive starts for La Máquina
On the hand, there have been very encouraging starts during the past ten years - three straight wins in the Clausura 2022 tournament starting with a 2-0 victory over Tijuana 2-0 with goals from Carlos Rodríguez and Rafael Baca, which was followed by a slim win against Juárez with Rodríguez on the score sheet again.
In the Apertura 2018 tournament they beat Puebla 3-0 in Week 1 at the Azteca with Andrés Rentería, Milton Caraglio and Elías Hernández finding the target, then a 1-0 win over Chivas away with Martin Cauteruccio providing the decider.
Going further back to the Clausura 2015 tournament when they beat Pachuca 0-1 at the Hidalgo stadium (João Rojas) on the opening day, and Santos by the same score in a duel at the Azteca - Alemao getting the winner.
Cruz Azul's record in the opening two games in the last 21 tournaments:
Apertura 2023: Atlas 2-0 Cruz Azul / Cruz Azul 0-2 Toluca
Clausura 2023: Tijuana 1-1 Cruz Azul / Cruz Azul 2-3 Monterrey
Apertura 2022: Tijuana 2-3 Cruz Azul / Cruz Azul 1-2 Pachuca
Clausura 2022: Cruz Azul 2-0 Tijuana / Cruz Azul 1-0 Juárez
Opening 2021: Cruz Azul 0-2 Mazatlan / Santos 1-1 Cruz Azul
Clausura 2021: Santos 1-0 Cruz Azul / Cruz Azul 0-1 Puebla
Apertura 2020: Cruz Azul 2-0 Santos / Puebla 1-1 Cruz Azul
Clausura 2020: Cruz Azul 1-2 Atlas / San Luis 2-1 Cruz Azul
Apertura 2019: Necaxa 0-0 Cruz Azul / Cruz Azul 1-1 Toluca
Clausura 2019: Puebla 1-1 Cruz Azul / Cruz Azul 0-1 Chivas
Apertura 2018: Cruz Azul 3-0 Puebla / Chivas 0-1 Cruz Azul
Clausura 2018: Cruz Azul 0-0 Tijuana / Chivas 1-3 Cruz Azul
Apertura 2017: Tijuana 0-2 Cruz Azul / Cruz Azul 1-1 Chivas
Clausura 2017: Cruz Azul 1-0 Necaxa / Pumas 1-0 Cruz Azul
Apertura 2016: Necaxa 0-0 Cruz Azul / Cruz Azul 0-0 Pumas
Clausura 2016: Morelia 2-2 Cruz Azul / Cruz Azul 1-1 Chivas
Apertura 2015: Cruz Azul 0-3 Morelia / Chivas 0-1 Cruz Azul
Clausura 2015: Pachuca 0-1 Cruz Azul / Cruz Azul 1-0 Santos
Apertura 2014: Cruz Azul 0-1 Pachuca / Santos 1-1 Cruz Azul
Clausura 2014: Monterrey 0-0 Cruz Azul / Cruz Azul 2-1 Santos
Apertura 2013: Cruz Azul 1-0 Monterrey / Santos 3-2 Cruz Azul