For all of Cruzeiro’s seemingly incisive buildup play – dragging Internacional’s midfield and defense in all different directions –they came up empty-handed. Playing mostly from controlled possession play, it was Cruzeiro that began to make erroneous decisions, as opposed to their sitting opponents. Tactical analysis and match report by Peter M. Almost a month ago, […]

The Brasileiro schedule served up a meeting between two high profile managers. Jorge Sampaoli brought his table-topping Santos side to the home of Cruzeiro, where Brazilian football’s goalkeeping icon Rogério Ceni made his managerial debut. Cruzeiro had come into the fixture amid a relegation battle and in a poor run of form, which led to […]

Transparent midfield bases were at the core of both teams’ defensive problems, although neither side could raise any troubling questions with their narrow formations. Tactical analysis and match report by Peter M. Having met merely a week ago in the first leg, many spectators would have been hoping for an alternative score line following last […]

In this match, River Plate were just not able to make their deliveries stick. They controlled the match and found themselves in countless good crossing positions. Up until that point in each attack, they were cantering through Cruzeiro’s defense using expansive wide play, without stinging. Eventually, the visitors’ second half performance seemed to tip the […]