Football Season Guide

Serie A
Brazil
Serie A
2017
Cruzeiro EC
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Cruzeiro EC

In


Luis Caicedo (Def, Independiente), Húdson (Mid, Sao Paulo, on loan), Lucas Silva (Mid, Real Madrid, on loan), Diogo Barbosa (Def, Coimbra, on loan), Willians (Mid, Corinthians, end of loan), Valdivia (Mid, Ciriciuma, end of loan), Thiago Neves (Mid, free agent),

Out


Souza (Mid, Cerezo Osaka), Fabiano (Def, Palmeiras), Willian Farias (Mid, Vitoria), Uillian Correia (Mid, Vitoria, on loan), Paulo André (Def, Atletico Paranaense), Matías Pisano (Mid, Tijuana), Edimar (Def, Sao Paulo, on loan), Gabriel Xavier (Mid, Vitoria, on loan), Diego Renan (Def, Chapecoense), Caio Cézar (Att, Volta Redonda), Neilton (Att, Sao Paulo, on loan), Douglas Grolli (Def, Chapecoense, on loan), Rodrigo Souza (Mid, Nautico), Rafael Silva (Mid, Hatta, on loan), Allano (Mid, Esteril, on loan), Federico Gino (Mid, Santa Cruz, on loan), Alan (GK, Londrina), Joel (Att, Botafogo, on loan), Thiago Carvalho (Def, Aparecidense-GO), Rafael Donato (Def, ABC), Willian (Att, Palmeiras, on loan), Pará (Def, America, on loan), Elisson (GK, Vila Nova), Denílson (Mid, Al-Whada, end of lo

Having won the Brazilian Serie A in 2013 and 2014, Cruzeiro fans can remember what it’s like to challenge for the title and were, therefore, bitterly disappointed with the 12th placed finish of 2016. Before Mano Menezes took over midway through last season, they were even a relegation candidate. Yet the former Brazilian national team coach turned their season around and they finished positively. It was clear that, had he had a pre-season to work with the players and been in charge from the start of the season, he could have secured Copa Libertadores football. In 2017 he will indeed be in charge from the start and the pre-season results have given fans plenty of cause for optimism. Having been able to keep a hold of the majority of their star players and add talents such as Thiago Neves, Hudson and Diego Barbosa, Cruzeiro have done well in the Brazilian Cup so far and in the Copa Sudamericana, while they met expectations by reaching the final of the Mineiro State Championship, where they fell to Atletico Mineiro. All of this points to a rebound season for Cruzeiro, but it remains to be seen just how far they can push the other title favourites. While they boast an impressive starting XI, limited strength in depth may be what costs them, given that they’ll also surely have Copa Sudamericana games deep into the campaign.

Target


The results from pre-season suggest that Cruzeiro really can compete for this year’s title, while they’ll expect a top six finish at the minimum.