Cruz Azul

Mexican Liga MX
25 Jan 2027
Monday
Process
25 Edition

The Cruz Azul Gazette

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Jeremy Márquez runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 41. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Carlos Rotondi scores twice — 8.29

Two goals and a mark of 8.29 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Transfer targets

Cruz Azul rebuffed over Carlos Moreno

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Pachuca have kept their man, and Cruz Azul go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Market

Cruz Azul turn down Monterrey for Luka Romero

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Match

Cruz Azul make it 3 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Cruz Azul have 3 straight wins of it.

Squad

Tempers go at Cruz Azul

Nicolás Ibáñez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Cruz Azul

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Erik Lira was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Cruz Azul get the job done against Dorados

A 2‑0 win over Dorados, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

The dugout

Cruz Azul keep their word to Jeremy Márquez

Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.

In brief

Back issues
24 Edition

The Cruz Azul Gazette

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Triumph

Player ratings

Luka Romero was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 43. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Match

Cup progress for Cruz Azul

A 1‑0 win over Atlas, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

Transfer targets

Cruz Azul baulk at the price for Yael Padilla

Tijuana wanted more than $8.0M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Transfer targets

An offer of $3.2M for Elias Manoel

Cruz Azul have gone to Tijuana with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

The dugout

Íñigo Cuesta says Cruz Azul went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Market

Atlas come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Cruz Azul did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Words exchanged at Cruz Azul

Nicolás Ibáñez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

A row about effort at Cruz Azul

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Erik Lira was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Whatever happens, Cruz Azul do not lose

6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

In brief

23 Edition

The Cruz Azul Gazette

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Carlos Rotondi was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 31. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Squad

Nicolás Ibáñez is named among the best

There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Cruz Azul will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.

Transfer targets

An offer of $3.0M for Yael Padilla

Cruz Azul have gone to Tijuana with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Market

Eyes on Luka Romero again

The phone has started ringing about Luka Romero again, and this time the name on the line is Tigres. Cruz Azul are listening politely and promising nothing.

Squad

Omar Campos in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cruz Azul this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Amaury Morales signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Amaury Morales and Cruz Azul agree another 5 years.

The dugout

A promise honoured for Agustín Palavecino

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Cruz Azul told Agustín Palavecino something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Luka Romero

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Match

Carlos Rodríguez rescues a point for Cruz Azul

It needed Carlos Rodríguez to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Leon, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

22 Edition

The Cruz Azul Gazette

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Carlos Rotondi

Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Nicolás Ibáñez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cruz Azul this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Real improvement from Íñigo Cuesta at Cruz Azul

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Íñigo Cuesta is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Words at Cruz Azul training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Erik Lira is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

Carlos Rotondi makes it 200

200 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.

The dugout

A promise honoured for Erik Lira

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Cruz Azul told Erik Lira something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

The dugout

No hiding place for Jorge Rodarte

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jorge Rodarte, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Erik Lira knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cruz Azul, and both men came out saying it was fine.

The dugout

The form table has caught Andrés Desábato

Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.

In brief

21 Edition

The Cruz Azul Gazette

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Jesús Orozco Chiquete breaks a bone — 16 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

Gabriel Fernández leads the rout of Chiapas

4‑0, and Gabriel Fernández took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Cruz Azul tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Market

Cruz Azul say no — this time

The offer from Universitario for Luka Romero was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Market

Erik Lira raises the bar for Cruz Azul

“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Cruz Azul heard it as anything else.

Squad

A row about effort at Cruz Azul

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Erik Lira was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Tempers go at Cruz Azul

Gabriel Fernández was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Gabriel Fernández at his very best

Marked 8.77. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Cruz Azul.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Jeremy Márquez

Marked 8.43 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Nicolás Ibáñez at his very best

Marked 8.03. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Cruz Azul.

In brief

20 Edition

The Cruz Azul Gazette

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jeremy Márquez

Successful dribbles: 44. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

24 days out for Jesús Orozco Chiquete after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Cruz Azul will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

Tempers go at Cruz Azul

Omar Campos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

Agustín Palavecino the difference as Cruz Azul beat Morelia

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Agustín Palavecino. 1‑0 against Morelia, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Agustín Palavecino at his very best

Marked 8.33. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Cruz Azul.

The dugout

Omar Campos gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

Nestor Alvarez: “That is the standard”

“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.

The dugout

Nicolás Ibáñez gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Nicolás Ibáñez is on it.

The dugout

Andrés Desábato dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

In brief

19 Edition

The Cruz Azul Gazette

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Jesús Orozco Chiquete out for 34 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cruz Azul will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Player ratings

Jeremy Márquez beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

A falling-out at Cruz Azul

Nicolás Ibáñez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Market

Carlos Rotondi has his eye on Europe

It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Cruz Azul can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.

Squad

Erik Lira falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

Erik Lira gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Match

Cruz Azul come up short against Pachuca

Pachuca left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

200 appearances for Jeremy Márquez

200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.

The dugout

Nestor Alvarez answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

In brief

18 Edition

The Cruz Azul Gazette

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

42 days out for Jesús Orozco Chiquete after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Cruz Azul will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Player ratings

Carlos Rotondi beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 35. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

Andrés Desábato: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cruz Azul have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market

Erik Lira wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Squad

Nicolás Ibáñez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cruz Azul this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Erik Lira falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

Cruz Azul see off Puebla

Three points for Cruz Azul, 2‑0 the final word against Puebla in a contest settled by the finer margins.

The dugout

No hiding place for Gabriel Fernández

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gabriel Fernández, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Nicolás Ibáñez takes the honours

Marked 7.99 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Cruz Azul had the best player on the pitch.

In brief

17 Edition

The Cruz Azul Gazette

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Carlos Rotondi runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 52. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

A fracture rules Jesús Orozco Chiquete out for 51 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cruz Azul will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Carlos Rodríguez wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Squad

Tempers go at Cruz Azul

Nicolás Ibáñez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Leonardo Sánchez gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Leonardo Sánchez has just signed for Cruz Azul, and for once the answer mattered.

Match

At last: Cruz Azul win one

6 matches without a win, and then this, against Tijuana. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.

Match

Cruz Azul get the job done against Tijuana

A 1‑0 win over Tijuana, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Squad

Luka Romero signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Luka Romero commits to Cruz Azul for another 5 years.

Match

Cruz Azul at the halfway mark

Half the programme played, position 8, 27 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.

In brief

16 Edition

The Cruz Azul Gazette

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

A derby to forget for Cruz Azul

Beaten 1‑2 by Club America in the one fixture where losing is not allowed. The football was bad enough; the week ahead will be worse.

Player ratings

Carlos Rotondi beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 43. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

A fracture rules Jesús Orozco Chiquete out for 60 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cruz Azul will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

6 matches without a win for Cruz Azul

The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Cruz Azul are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Words exchanged at Cruz Azul

Nicolás Ibáñez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Words at Cruz Azul training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Erik Lira is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Nestor Alvarez left the room before anybody could ask which.

The dugout

Andrés Desábato dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

The dugout

Nicolás Ibáñez has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Cruz Azul will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

In brief

15 Edition

The Cruz Azul Gazette

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to Cruz Azul's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Cruz Azul has to find a result from somewhere.

Market

Erik Lira wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Cruz Azul hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Squad

A falling-out at Cruz Azul

Nicolás Ibáñez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Cruz Azul training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Erik Lira is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Cruz Azul come up short against Monterrey

Monterrey left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Erik Lira

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Carlos Rotondi

Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Looking ahead

The neighbours are next for Cruz Azul

Nothing about the week ahead is ordinary. Club America on Saturday, a town that has already started talking about it, and a dressing room that does not need telling what it means.

The dugout

Nestor Alvarez answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

In brief

14 Edition

The Cruz Azul Gazette

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Juan Peñaloza runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 52. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Emi Ochoa is the hero from the spot

A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Emi Ochoa: 3 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.

Match

Cup progress for Cruz Azul

A 0‑0 win over Tijuana, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

Market

Carlos Rodríguez wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Cruz Azul hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Match

No end in sight to Cruz Azul's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Cruz Azul has to find a result from somewhere.

Match

Pumas UNAM take the points off Cruz Azul

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Andrés Gudiño

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

The kick that got away from Fabrizzio Orozco

Twelve yards, a goalkeeper guessing, and it still did not go in. He will take the next one, and every soul in the ground will hold their breath.

The dugout

Cruz Azul keep their word to Agustín Palavecino

Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.

In brief

  • The dugout The view from the dugout
  • Squad A falling-out at Cruz Azul
  • Squad Luka Romero named in the team of the month
13 Edition

The Cruz Azul Gazette

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Amaury Morales was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 25. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Squad

Erik Lira falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

A bad afternoon for Cruz Azul against Tigres

1‑2 to Tigres, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Omar Campos

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

Nestor Alvarez faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Nestor Alvarez after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

Squad

Manuel Pérez signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Manuel Pérez and Cruz Azul agree another 2 years.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Andrés Desábato

The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.

Squad

Cruz Azul are still strangers to each other

5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

Looking ahead

Cruz Azul take on the side everybody is chasing

Pumas UNAM arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.

In brief

12 Edition

The Cruz Azul Gazette

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Carlos Rotondi runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 45. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

The step up is real for Cristopher Benítez

At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Squad

A row about effort at Cruz Azul

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Erik Lira was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Tempers go at Cruz Azul

Omar Campos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

The dugout

A promise honoured at Cruz Azul

Something was said to Erik Lira and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

The dugout

Andrés Desábato dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

Player ratings

Agustín Palavecino stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.28 on the card, and the Cruz Azul support went home talking about one name.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Jorge Rodarte

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

Nestor Alvarez: “We have to be better”

“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.

In brief

11 Edition

The Cruz Azul Gazette

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Nicolás Ibáñez scores twice — 8.88

Two goals and a mark of 8.88 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Squad

A falling-out at Cruz Azul

Nicolás Ibáñez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Market

Carlos Rotondi has his eye on Europe

It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Cruz Azul can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.

Squad

The step up is real for Rogelio González

At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Match

Nicolás Ibáñez the difference as Cruz Azul beat Santos Laguna

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nicolás Ibáñez. 2‑0 against Santos Laguna, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Carlos Rotondi was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

The dugout

Jesús Orozco Chiquete gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

Cruz Azul pick somebody else ahead of Andrés Desábato

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Nestor Alvarez, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

In brief

10 Edition

The Cruz Azul Gazette

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Cruz Azul win it in stoppage time

The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 93th minute. Veracruz will replay every second of the added time for a week.

Player ratings

Carlos Rotondi runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Cruz Azul may not be able to give Erik Lira what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Erik Lira wants continental football; whether Cruz Azul can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Squad

Nicolás Ibáñez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cruz Azul this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Cruz Azul training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Erik Lira is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Agustín Palavecino the difference as Cruz Azul beat Veracruz

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Agustín Palavecino. 2‑1 against Veracruz, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Match

Cruz Azul keep winning on the road

3 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.

Market

One of our own: Christian Dos Santos joins the Cruz Azul first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Christian Dos Santos is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

Cruz Azul promote Javier Gutierrez from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Javier Gutierrez has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

In brief

9 Edition

The Cruz Azul Gazette

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Carlos Rodríguez has his eye on Europe

It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Cruz Azul can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.

Squad

Tempers go at Cruz Azul

Nicolás Ibáñez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Erik Lira falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

Cruz Azul come up short against Queretaro

Queretaro left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

Nestor Alvarez faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Nestor Alvarez after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

Squad

Ángel Tecpanécatl signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ángel Tecpanécatl and Cruz Azul agree another 4 years.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Andrés Desábato

The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.

Squad

The division's best last weekend was a Cruz Azul man

It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Nicolás Ibáñez was the best thing in any of them.

Player ratings

Nicolás Ibáñez could have had three

9 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.

In brief

8 Edition

The Cruz Azul Gazette

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Nicolás Ibáñez leads the rout of Dorados

4‑1, and Nicolás Ibáñez took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Cruz Azul tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Player ratings

Both of them Nicolás Ibáñez's — 9.00

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.00, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Player ratings

Amaury Morales, 20, steals the show — 8.04

Marked 8.04 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Player ratings

Carlos Rotondi was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Squad

Words exchanged at Cruz Azul

Nicolás Ibáñez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Amaury Morales

At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Squad

Words at Cruz Azul training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Romero is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

Andrés Desábato dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

The dugout

Nestor Alvarez has his say

“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Nestor Alvarez on a 4‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.

In brief

7 Edition

The Cruz Azul Gazette

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Both of them Nicolás Ibáñez's — 8.78

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.78, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Player ratings

Omar Campos runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Lucas Ocampos

Cruz Azul asked and Monterrey said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Market

Erik Lira wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Cruz Azul hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Squad

Jeremy Márquez signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jeremy Márquez and Cruz Azul agree another 4 years.

Squad

Words at Cruz Azul training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Erik Lira is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Nicolás Ibáñez the difference as Cruz Azul beat Guadalajara

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nicolás Ibáñez. 2‑0 against Guadalajara, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Gabriel Fernández

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

Cruz Azul pick somebody else ahead of Andrés Desábato

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

In brief

6 Edition

The Cruz Azul Gazette

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Omar Campos beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 63. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Market

Gabriel Fernández says no to Granada

“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Gabriel Fernández had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Richard Ledezma

Cruz Azul asked and Guadalajara said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Boardroom

Cruz Azul close the window on a squad of their own making

14 in and 4 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.

Market

Cruz Azul turn down Monterrey for Amaury Morales

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Eyes on Luka Romero again

The phone has started ringing about Luka Romero again, and this time the name on the line is Bologna. Cruz Azul are listening politely and promising nothing.

Squad

A row about effort at Cruz Azul

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Erik Lira was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

A bad afternoon for Cruz Azul against Leon

0‑1 to Leon, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Market

Cruz Azul sign Juan Peñaloza with one eye on the future

Nobody at the club will say out loud who this signing is for, which is how you know exactly who it is for. Juan Peñaloza has been brought in to take a shirt somebody is still wearing.

In brief

5 Edition

The Cruz Azul Gazette

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

José Paradela sold, and an era ends

$18.1M from Sevilla for José Paradela. Money is money, but the dressing room has lost the man it looked to.

The terraces

Cruz Azul sell a favourite for $18.1M

The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. José Paradela was one of the reasons people came, and $18.1M does not replace that by itself.

Transfer targets

Cruz Azul rebuffed over Wessam Abou Ali

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Columbus Crew have kept their man, and Cruz Azul go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Market

Gabriel Fernández attracts admirers

The name of Gabriel Fernández has come up in conversations Cruz Azul were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Squad

Words exchanged at Cruz Azul

Omar Campos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Player ratings

Amaury Morales runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

The dugout

No hiding place for Andrés Gudiño

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andrés Gudiño, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Nicolás Ibáñez was the difference for Cruz Azul

Marked 7.78. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

Match

Cruz Azul share the spoils with Toluca

A 1‑1 draw with Toluca leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

In brief

4 Edition

The Cruz Azul Gazette

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Market

José Paradela has said yes to Sevilla

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Cruz Azul have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Match

Cruz Azul tear Chiapas apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 9‑0 against Chiapas, and it could have been more.

Squad

A day José Paradela will not forget

4 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Transfer targets

Too dear: Cruz Azul walk away from Angel Montes

$13.0M was the most the club would pay and Veracruz were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.

Squad

A day Nicolás Ibáñez will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Market

Atlético Madrid come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Cruz Azul did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Market

Cristopher Benítez asks to leave Cruz Azul

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Oswaldo Virgen

Cruz Azul asked and Toluca said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

Words exchanged at Cruz Azul

Nicolás Ibáñez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

In brief

3 Edition

The Cruz Azul Gazette

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Transfer targets

Cruz Azul bid $13.0M for Angel Montes

The offer went to Veracruz this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.

Match

Cruz Azul strike at the death to beat Morelia

There were 87 minutes on the clock and Morelia had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Cruz Azul did not stop to explain themselves.

Transfer targets

Cruz Azul rebuffed over Raúl Rangel

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Guadalajara have kept their man, and Cruz Azul go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Market

Las Palmas watching José Paradela

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Cruz Azul have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Player ratings

Amaury Morales was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Squad

A falling-out at Cruz Azul

Nicolás Ibáñez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Erik Lira falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Luka Romero

At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Match

Cruz Azul get the job done against Morelia

A 1‑0 win over Morelia, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

In brief

2 Edition

The Cruz Azul Gazette

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Transfer targets

Veracruz tell Cruz Azul: Angel Montes is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Market

Cruz Azul say no — this time

The offer from Vancouver Whitecaps for Emi Ochoa was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Market

Carlos Rodríguez wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Cruz Azul hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Squad

José Paradela signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” José Paradela commits to Cruz Azul for another 4 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Cruz Azul

Nicolás Ibáñez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Market

Cruz Azul promote Santiago Arteaga from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Santiago Arteaga has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

Cruz Azul promote Cesar Sanchez from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Cesar Sanchez has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Squad

Andrés Montaño makes it 100

100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.

Match

Cruz Azul rescue it on 89 minutes

Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 89. Pachuca had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.

In brief

1 Edition

The Cruz Azul Gazette

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

José Paradela wins it after the whistle should have gone

95 minutes played. José Paradela found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Puebla went from a point to nothing inside one movement.

Player ratings

Carlos Rotondi beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 30. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Player ratings

A brace, and José Paradela takes the afternoon — 8.17

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. José Paradela provided it, and the 8.17 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Market

Cruz Azul say no — this time

The offer from Leganés for Gabriel Fernández was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Market

José Paradela wants more than Cruz Azul are offering

“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.

Squad

Willer Ditta stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Willer Ditta and Cruz Azul agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Nicolás Ibáñez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cruz Azul this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Carlos Rotondi wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Match

Cruz Azul get the job done against Puebla

A 3‑2 win over Puebla, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

In brief