Cruzeiro hosts Emelec in round 6 of South American Copa Libertadores. The match will be played on Thursday, May 9th at Mineirão (Belo Horizonte)
Brazilian Cruzeiro is the only team in the Copa Libertadores group stage with a 100% score. The goal difference of the five rounds is also impressive - 10: 0, so if Raposa gets into the final stage of the tournament, the team of Menezes will have the advantage of a return home game with any other opponent.
The second wave of the group has not yet decided on the part of entering the playoffs, so Emelec will be more motivated. Bombillo has 6 points, ranking second. However, Venezuelan Deportivo Lara is only one point behind the Electrics. A competitor will play in a parallel away match with Argentinean Huracan, an outsider of the group, which definitely does not solve any tournament problems and has generally bad shape. Venezuelans may probably win in Argentina; then Emelec won’t be satisfied with even a draw in Belo Horizonte. Mano Menezes is a well-known pragmatist who likes playing without a ball and risk. Having scored a goal, usually after a counterattack (if we are talking about an away match), Cruzeiro tries to move the game away from their box and sits on the lead. However, Mano's favorite scenario turned out to be a failure in the starting away match of Serie A with Flamengo (3: 1). The defeat mostly hurts Cruzeiro; the team hasn’t lost been since November last year. In short, the loss served as a signal of the importance of the field factor for Cruzeiro. It is good that Cruzeiro beat Ceara (1: 0) and Goias (2: 1) after that.
| 2 x £10 Free Bet | Review | |||
| 100$-500$ for No Lose Free Bets | Review | |||
| 100% up to £200 | Review | |||
| Not available | Review |
At Maracana, Mano used point rotation, giving the players a rest after a victorious voyage to Lara (0: 2). Now the coach is not inclined to take risks, but he did not use four regular players against the weaker teams in Brazilian Serie A. Despite the prescheduled promotion to the playoffs, Menezes will not spoil the statistics, which can serve the good turn in the end. All the main players of Cruzeiro will play against the motivated Emelec. Mano can only preserve a center back Dede, who is hanging on two yellow cards. Something is rotten in the state of Emelec. Leaving the team on the 3rd line of the CL group and with just 13 points in Liga Pro (outside the playoff zone), the club management dismissed coach Saso, who led the team to the main competition of the continent. Everything happened after the away defeat to Guayaquil (1: 0), but without a manager, the Electrics lost again to LDU (2: 1). However, assistant Vera shook the team, and the Ecuadorians won Huracan away (1: 2), taking the 2nd position in the CL group. A home victory over America came as well (3: 0), but Emelec is going to Brazil, being outside the play-off zone in the local championship once again.
A week ago, the management signed a contract with the Spanish coach Rescalvo, who needed an internal result in the away game with Olmedo before the voyage to Brazilian Minas. Alas, the trip to the Andean Cyclone turned into a romp (3: 1), and the new coach of Emelec did not use the popular strategy of preserving the regular players for a more important match. There was some rotation were, but only point one. Given the flight and climate change (descent from a height of more than 2000 m above sea level), I will not call the motivated visitors fresh and prepared. I will certainly add that the young specialist from Levante system trained the Colombian Ewingado and Medellin Independiente for a year each, but he never played with the Brazilian teams. From the experience in the CONMEBOL cups, Rescalvo has only two matches with Paraguayan Sol de America and the relegation from the tournament last year. He simply did not have time to prepare the team and, all the more, to learn about the tricks of the experienced Menezes. In the last home games, Cruzeiro did not show impressive football, and the first goals in both games were scored only in the second half. Obviously, Mano doesn’t need pressuring at all. Emelec will most likely monitor a parallel match in Argentina because, in the case of any visitors’ misfire, the Electrics will be satisfied with a draw. Deportivo scored only 2 goals in the away matches and scored them to Emelec, but both teams opened the score in the second half as well.
Prediction for the match: Under 0.5 goals scored between 1 and 30 minute
