Juan Reynoso relegated Rafael Baca and Brayan Angulo from Cruz Azul

Although Cruz Azul had a good start in Clausura 2022, in their most recent games they haven’t found the consistency they showed at the start of the season, as they’ve won just two games from the last five that they’ve had in Liga MX.

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These results have to do with the fact that La Máquina has faced a tight schedule between February and March, as they have played two games a week for the past month, given that they’re also competing in the CONCACAF Champions League.

Reynoso has said in multiple occasions that they’re focused on both competitions and that the CONCACAF Champions League is a tournament they really want to win, which is why La Máquina usually calls their best players for the matches played mid-week.

But what stood up the most for the second leg of the quarterfinals against CF Montréal was the absence of two of the regular players in Juan Reynoso’s squad: Rafael Baca and Brayan Angulo, as the Peruvian coach decided to leave them in Mexico.

Why didn’t they travel with La Máquina?

According to reports, their absence has nothing to do with an injury or something similar, it was a tactical decision, given that Reynoso knows that the team needs to establish a rotation system in order to keep all of the players healthy.

But he also realized that, at least in Angulo’s case, he hasn’t showed the level needed to give La Máquina the advantage on the pitch, as he has given him plenty of opportunities, even benching Santiago Giménez, and he hasn’t been able to score.

Who is replacing him on the starting XI?

Reynoso gave Santiago Giménez the option of starting, alongside Uriel Antuna and Ángel Romero, the Paraguayan left-winger that arrived in Cruz Azul after Clausura 2022 had already started. Romero was the last addition for La Máquina in a movement that surprised everyone, as Boca Juniors was expected to sign him.

So far, the Paraguay international has played in five Liga MX games, where he’s been able to assist on one occasion, as a result of a slow adaptation to Mexican soccer, although he’s gaining the regularity he needed after being without a team for the past semester.

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