Sporting Cristal suffered a 1-0 defeat against Cienciano in Cusco in the 18th matchday of the 2023 League 1 Clausura Tournament and practically lost all chances of fighting for the championship and national title. Therefore, in the midst of the outrage of the Celeste fans, Tiago Nunes confessed when they lost the competition.
Throughout the Clausura Tournament, Sporting Cristal had a wide points advantage over Alianza Lima, Melgar, and Universitario de Deportes, to the point that even with one less match than their rivals, they were still the absolute leaders of the tournament, so it seemed impossible for them to lose the top spot.
However, suddenly the performance of the club from La Victoria started to decrease and now they are fourth in the league table with 33 points. The first stumble indicated by Tiago Nunes was the 1-1 draw of Sporting Cristal against Sport Boys in matchday 12, at the Miguel Grau Stadium in Callao, and the surprising part was that the rosados played with one less player almost the entire match.
Then, the second crucial match that the Celeste team couldn't win was the 1-1 draw against UTC playing at home, which ended up eliminating the advantage that the team from Rimac had over their rivals. The most surprising thing is that both matches were in Lima, so there is no excuse of altitude or a complicated environment.
What does Sporting Cristal need to play in the Liga 1 semifinals?
Sporting Cristal has a very difficult time winning the Clausura, as they must defeat Alianza Atlético by a large margin and hope that Universitario loses at home. However, qualifying for the Liga 1 semifinals is a bit more feasible, although they still need to win by at least three goals against the Sullana team and hope that 'U' can get at most one point against Sport Huancayo.
With these results, Sporting Cristal and Universitario would be tied on points in the accumulated table with 71 points, but due to goal difference, the Celeste team would finish in second place and force a semifinal against the cremas.