Santamaría left the Cruz Azul-Atlas on a stretcher: the spectacular fall that prevented him from continuing | VIDEO

The alarms are on at Atlas by Anderson Santamaría. The Peruvian defender suffered a spectacular fall and was unable to continue the match against Cruz Azul, when there were just over twenty minutes left before the duel for matchday 12 of the Clausura 2022 of Liga MX comes to an end this Saturday.

At minute 69, the defender intercepted the ball in the air and had a strong clash with the striker of the ‘Máquina’, Santiago Giménez, who also had the intention of seizing the ball. At the moment of falling, the member of the “Foxes” apparently injured his right shoulder.

Due to the damage, Santamaría was put on a stretcher and, later, the medical assistance vehicle removed him from the field of play. At 73 minutes, the change finally came. Coach Diego Cocca decided that the Ecuadorian Aníbal Chalá is his replacement.

Blue Cross vs. Atlas: match preview

The ‘Machine’ players are confident that the international break can have a positive effect on the rest of the regular phase of the tournament.

“The break was good. We are going to understand each other for the final stretch, which is the important part. We are professionals, we know what we have to do and how to do it”said goalkeeper Sebastian Jurado on Thursday.

“We know Atlas perfectly. We know why he was champion, they have a great squad. It’s going to be a great game and we’re going for the three points.”, he emphasized. Although Cruz Azul is not doing well in the local tournament, in the CONCACAF Champions League it reached the semifinals and next Tuesday it will face Pumas in the first leg of that bracket.

Atlas comes from winning two of their last three games and with 19 points they are in fourth place, behind Pachuca (25), Tigres (23) and Puebla (22).