More than 200 days without losing and fighting for the Cup and League 1 I bet you: The ‘U’ and how they built their historic undefeated record

Guided by the advice of Gregorio Pérez, the Uruguayan who marked the path of the ‘U’ despite his two brief periods (2019-20 and 2021) due to health issues, administrator Jean Ferrari and sports manager Manuel Barreto went to look for to Jorge Fossati. The creams needed a leader, an “Old Fox” with a thousand battles behind him. The complicated situation required it. “When we arrived first we had to recover them, they were beaten,” confessed the now Peru coach in an interview with DT after winning the cream team champion against Alianza Lima, its classic rival.

To explain how Universitario got to where it is today, it is necessary to mention Fossati. It all started with him. The 3-5-2 that he implemented, no one else took it out and probably no one dares to do it. He gave priority to Corzo as a stopper, promoted Piero Quispe (today in Pumas de México) and revived Andy Polo’s career as a winger. The ‘U’ then began to taste more joy than sadness. Before their streak began, on August 19 with a 1-1 draw against Deportivo Garcilaso at the Monumental, the meringues had achieved 19 wins in 31 games. That is to say, something was being done right.

On Saturday, August 19, they started undefeated. A 1-1 at home that was questioned by the fan. The following week, a 2-2 against Atlético Grau in Piura was, for Fossati, the breaking point. The Uruguayan felt a hunch about what was going to happen at the end of the season. “One day we were returning on the bus to the hotel. It had been the game against Grau (2-2 away), there. We left the hotel and it turns out that the streets were closed. Terrible sun at that time, those things that still don’t close me in on the tournament. We had about two hours to get there. It was a complex match all around. So, when we returned on the bus, I don’t remember who it was with, but with Adrián (Gilabert) for sure, Jean (Ferrari) also and Manuel (Barreto). I asked, how many dates are left? Seven, that’s 21 points. And… -I told them- we are going to make 18 to 20 points. And we are going to be champions,” he told DT.

With Fossati, the ‘U’ had eleven games without losing: six wins and five draws. Then he gave the baton to Fabián Bustos before agreeing to take the reins of the Peruvian team which, coincidences of life, is in almost the same situation that the cream team was in before his arrival.

Bustos arrived to guide

His first message was clear: “If the line of three is the best, we will continue,” he declared the day he was presented as coach. Fabián Bustos, a 54-year-old native of Córdoba, two-time champion in Ecuador and semi-finalist of the 2021 Copa Libertadores, knew from the beginning that if he arrived at Universitario he would continue to follow the path already laid out by Fossati.

There was a relationship with Bustos before his arrival. And that is what the ‘U’ always sought: not to break the ties already built, not to touch the project already structured. Edgardo Adinolfi, Gregorio Pérez’s technical assistant in the two stages that the Uruguayan had, works today with Fabián. It was he who gave him all the necessary references about the club, its greatness, its culture, its fans… everything.

The ‘U’ of Bustos is not that of Fossati, but it maintains the bases. In fact, there are only three changes compared to the team that won last year’s championship. The first is in the goal: after Carvallo left for Vallejo, the Uruguayan Sebastián Britos largely occupies the position. Later, Segundo Portocarrero, a player requested by the Argentine coach, won the position over Nelson Cabanillas. Third is the still doubt of who is the ideal replacement for Piero Quispe in the middle. It has been Christofer Gonzales, Jairo Concha and Ureña played against Junior, but more for tactical reasons.

With the Córdoba player, the creams have eight wins and four draws, 17 goals for and only four against. They have the most solid defense of an Apertura Tournament in which they are in second place with 24 points, one less than the leader Cristal; and in the Libertadores they came back 1-0 in their debut against LDU, the current champion of Ecuador and the Copa Sudamericana, and this Tuesday they tied 1-1 with Junior in Barranquilla, a team that has just defeated the Brazilian Botafogo at home .

Universitario has been doing things well with Ferrari management. Both institutionally and in sports. Finding three coaches of almost the same type, with experience and pragmatism, is a plus point and the basis of this undefeated record that they will seek to continue extending in the coming games.