The Last Tournament of Cruz Azul at Estadio Azul

The last tournament of Cruz Azul at Estadio Azul has become a true martyrdom. So far, Pedro Caixinha's team has not been able to win in their home after five matches played this season.

Moreover, their numbers at Estadio Azul are alarming: three draws (against Tijuana, Leon, and Puebla), as well as two losses (against Necaxa and Queretaro), resulting in only three out of fifteen possible points. Cruz Azul has only been able to score one goal while receiving four against; furthermore, in the two Copa matches they played, they were unable to secure a victory, losing 3-1 against Puebla and drawing 1-1 against Alebrijes.

For the closing of the tournament, Cruz Azul still has four more matches at their stadium: this Saturday they will host Pachuca in matchday 11; a week later they will be home again, this time against Pumas; in matchday 14 they will receive Lobos BUAP and finally, in the penultimate match (matchday 16), they will welcome Morelia.

A Stranger at Home

And just in the last tournament at Estadio Azul - which will be demolished after Clausura - the celeste team is signing its worst home season. With only three points, they equal the score they had in Apertura 2004 after playing five home games, although the difference is that in that season they had already won one match, but had lost the other four; now they only have three draws and two losses.

Other tournaments in which they had a low score were Clausura 2004 when they had four points in their first five games at Azul, with one win, one draw, and one loss; and Apertura 2016 when they also had a very poor start as hosts by adding four points in five games.

This productivity contrasts radically with the perfect score they achieved in Invierno 1998, Verano 1999, Apertura 2010, and Clausura 2014, when they won their first five matches at Estadio Azul. Today, La Máquina is experiencing its lowest moments at home, just when the place that has been its home since 1996 is living its last weeks.

The People Have Drifted Away

The poor tournament of Cruz Azul has caused people to start staying away from Estadio Azul. In these five matches, it has been evident how the attendance to the stadium in the Noche Buena neighborhood has decreased. For example, for the match in matchday 1 against Tijuana, almost 20 thousand fans attended, representing 60% of the stadium's capacity (which is 33 thousand); in the following two matches, a similar average was maintained, as nearly 19 thousand people attended the match against Leon and over 18 thousand against Necaxa.

However, the poor performance started to be reflected in the match against Puebla, which only had an attendance of 12 thousand fans, and now against Queretaro, only 11 thousand people showed up. These two matches even had the lowest attendance in those weeks in Liga MX.