At the Monumental Stadium in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Cruzeiro beat Barcelona 1-0 on Tuesday (7) in their opening match of the 2026 Conmebol Libertadores.
Back in the continental tournament after seven years, Raposa had to withstand the pressure from the Ecuadorian fans, who packed the stadium.
Highlights coming up shortly
With the ball rolling, Cruzeiro, while not troubled in defense, also created very little.
The best chance of the first half was a good effort from Christian, but it was saved by the goalkeeper.
After the break, however, in less than 10 minutes, Cabuloso opened the scoring through Matheus Pereira, who rose unmarked to head in a cross from the right.
Relying on relentless pressure, Barcelona de Guayaquil began pushing in the final minutes, but without creating any major danger for the goal defended by Matheus Cunha.
Cruzeiro, in turn, had the chance to extend the lead in stoppage time, but Chico da Costa missed all alone RIGHT UNDER THE CROSSBAR.
๐ฆ Standings
With the win in their opener, Cruzeiro lead Group D with three points.
Boca Juniors are beating Universidad Católica, also by 1-0, and could share the top spot with the team from Minas Gerais.
Raposa return to action next Sunday (12), when they host RB Bragantino at Mineirão in the 11th round of the Brasileirão.
In the Libertadores, Cruzeiro still have the following first-phase matches: Universidad Católica on 15/04 at Mineirão, Boca Juniors on 28/04 at Mineirão, Católica again on 06/05 in Chile, Boca once more at La Bombonera on 19/05, and Barcelona de Guayaquil on 28/05 at Mineirão.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in ๐ง๐ท here.
