Life without Martín Anselmi started in grayscale for Blue Cross. On the field, they did not go beyond a 1-1 draw against Puebla, one of the weakest teams in the MX League in recent tournaments, and at the box office they had an entry of less than 20%.
Cruz Azul received Puebla at the Olympic University Stadium (CU), which will be its home throughout the Clausura 2025 tournament. It was a match corresponding to Matchday 3 and with the special ingredient of being the first of the post-Anselmi era .
The Argentine wrote a novel about the Machine in the week prior to this match, traveling to Europe to sign up with Porto in Portugal without having finalized his contract with the cement board and without a single message addressed to the fans.
In addition, various media reported that Vicente Sánchez, coach of the under 23 branch, did not want to assume the position of interim coach to face Puebla, making the doubt even greater about who would appear on the bench.
Finally it was Sánchez. The Uruguayan was advised by Joel Huiqui, former defender of the Machine, and Héctor Gutiérrez. They presented a lineup that was nothing out of the ordinary, with names like Ángel Sepúlveda, Kevin Mier, ‘Charly’ González, Willer Ditta and Ignacio Rivero as captain.
It seemed that Cruz Azul would have an afternoon of reconciliation with its fans, because just in the 2nd minute they took the lead on the scoreboard through Lorenzo Faravelli. Those attending the stadium celebrated as if no goodbye had happened midweek.
But Puebla put an end to the celebration 13 minutes later with a goal by Emiliano Gómez. That was all on the scoreboard, in a match that ended with just four shots on goal between both clubs.
One of the highlights of the Machine was the debut of Luka Romero, one of its most anticipated reinforcements. The one born in Durango, but representing the Argentine National Team due to his origins, played the entire second half and was highly participatory, causing cheers from the stands.
Cruz Azul lost a penalty due to VAR revocation before the end of the first half; It had some sporadic shots from Luka Romero, Giorgos Giakoumakis and Gabriel ‘Toro’ Fernández, but nothing extraordinary.
The game ended under a boo that was not of great volume, since the official attendance was 10,074 fans. This represents just 17.2% of the total capacity of the stadium that normally belongs to Pumas.
In two home games at CU so far this Closing 2025Cruz Azul has barely received 19,806 fans (against Atlas and Puebla). A year ago a contrast was seen on Matchday 1 of Clausura 2024, in Martín Anselmi’s debut on the bench facing Pachuca at the Ciudad de los Deportes stadium, when they received 26,100 spectators.
As if that were not enough, the draw against Puebla leaves Cruz Azul without knowing victory, yet, in the Clausura 2025. They tied 1-1 with Atlas on Matchday 1 and lost 1-0 on a visit to Bravos de Juárez on Matchday 2 That is why the cement producers will continue in the last three places in the table.
wounded hobby
Another nuance of the match was colored by the fans, those who gave themselves to Martin Anselmi with songs of Julieta Venegas and serenades.
As if it had been the day after a storm, those who entered CU before the duel against Puebla showed serious and doubtful faces. Others, completely resigned to losing all the dynamics that Anselmi left from January to December 2024.
Although they waved flags, sang and applauded inside their seats, the intensity was different from what was experienced in Sports City with the Argentine strategist.
“He left us a very beautiful stage because I had never seen this Cruz Azul in my entire life. It was a very offensive Cruz Azul and they liked it. Anselmi left us a much more rooted identity, he gave us that again, but the way he left, without saying goodbye to the fans, is what hurts,” said Mario Ortiz, a 54-year-old fan.
The Economist He spoke with several Cruz Azul fans during the game against Puebla, which marked the end of the Anselmi era.
The shared feeling was disappointment: “It’s a shame that he behaved like an Americanist, very ordinary, and left. I think that, like everyone, their dreams prevailed, that’s good, but the forms are fundamental and they were not correct,” added Jesús Toscano, 31 years old.
Diego Ortiz, 23, added: “It was something that did hurt, because the fans had become very fond of him and we supported him when there was the problem with (Juan) Escobar (former team captain). “It wasn’t the way, if he had gone to Europe well, there wouldn’t have been any problems even if he hadn’t won the championship, but not in this way.”
As for the positive, they agree that the Argentine laid the foundations for an attractive playing style and returned the feeling of identity.
“Martín leaves something open that can be a plus for the team: It once again generated unity between the team and the fans and that can be beneficial from now on. We must keep the good things that he left us and continue supporting our team until we win the title,” said Víctor Hugo Serrano.
“It had been quite a few years since we had seen a communion between the fans, the team and the coaching staff. Unfortunately we were very close to the tenth, which would have been the culmination. Thus, even if it had only been a semester that he was here, he could have gone to Europe without problems,” added Rogelio Méndez, a 50-year-old fan.
Finally, they sent a message to the board regarding future decisions: “More respect and facilities for the fans, because the fans are the only ones that do not abandon,” Víctor Serrano began.
“We have been unconditional. For example, I am a subscriber and I bought a place where it looked very nice (in Ciudad de los Deportes), then they send us to an area where you can see very far away (in CU) and it doesn’t seem fair to me. I would like them to value the feeling of the fan more, the tickets are not cheap at all but you make the effort to be here, especially because of the relationship that existed (with Anselmi), but for the fans there is nothing. The only satisfaction is seeing our team succeed.”
Fan Mario Ortiz concluded: “The first thing is that we already need a stadium to have an identity. We know how this is handled, but yeah we need our own house. Regarding the coaches and players who leave, that always happens, it happened to Chivas and to us with (Iván) Marcone, Teófilo (Gutiérrrez) and (and Igor) Lichnovsky. So nothing happens with that.”
