The Zorros' Goal: Breaking the Negative Streak

After the painful fall against Chivas, Atlas is already thinking about who will pay for it. After leaving their undefeated streak playing at the Jalisco in 10 months, the rojinegros already want to turn the page and focus purely on their next opponent: Cruz Azul. But just as they lost the good streak, led by José Guadalupe Cruz, they set themselves the goal of breaking another streak, a negative one, that they have been carrying for nine and a half months: not winning away.

In the den, they understand that a victory at the Azul stadium would lessen the pain left by the defeat against their biggest rival, however, La Máquina will be a difficult opponent since they are in need of three points, something they haven't achieved since matchday 1.

"They broke a streak for us, now we want to go to Mexico to break the negative streak that we have."

"There are no easy opponents right now, in Mexican soccer anyone can beat anyone, we have to go and play a good game to get the three points," mentioned defender Luis Reyes.

The match on Saturday in the capital will allow the Zorros to heal and reflect on the mistakes they made in the Tapatío Derby, according to center-back Leiton Jiménez.

"It's going to be a complicated match, Cruz Azul is a great team in Mexican soccer, they have a good roster, we couldn't win (the Derby) and being able to beat Cruz Azul would mean a lot to us, we are going to have a difficult week to reflect and improve in many things, hopefully this weekend can be a different story for Atlas."

Márquez's Absence

The most fundamental point for Chivas to reprimand the Zorros was the midfield. With the captain Rafael Márquez's absence - who will be out for two to three weeks - José Guadalupe Cruz will have to find a player who can do what the Káiser brings to his club, and it will be a headache to replace him, since against Chivas, the rojinegro midfielders were completely overwhelmed. In addition to his on-field qualities, Rafa is the moral leader of the team, a situation that weighed heavily.

"In this match, it was reflected, Rafa is that bastion who knows how to control the times and everything, we lacked a lot, especially in the first half when Chivas came at us with everything and we didn't know how to control it on this field," mentioned Leiton Jiménez after the Tapatío Derby.

The Suspended Players

Three players were suspended by the Disciplinary Commission of the Mexican Football Federation after matchday 6 of the Clausura 2017.

Daniel Arreola, Atlas' defender, was penalized with one game "for receiving a second yellow card in the same match during the Tapatío Derby" against Guadalajara.

Meanwhile, Javier Aquino, midfielder of champion Tigres UANL, will also miss matchday 7 of the Clausura 2017 for the same reason.

A game sanction was also applied to the midfielder of UNAM's Pumas, Jesús Gallardo, "for spoiling a clear opportunity to score a goal for an opponent who is heading towards the opposing goal through a foul punishable by a free kick."

GPE