Commanded by the young Brazilian coach Gustavo Leal, Atlético de San Luis reached the top of the Mexican Championship yesterday (30th) morning by beating Pachuca by 2-0, away from home. This was the fourth consecutive victory for the most regular team in Liga MX. Now Atlético de San Luis has 13 points in six rounds and surpasses Chivas in goal difference.
In addition to the consistent campaign, with four wins and a draw in six rounds, the team led by the Brazilian has taken the lead in the games. San Luis is also the owner of the best attack in the competition with 13 goals, an average of more than two goals per game.
“I am very proud of what we are building here. It has been a great pleasure to play and win the way we are doing. Our game idea is something non-negotiable, it’s the way how we understand to be more effective in achieving results”, says Gustavo Leal, who managed the team in its first season, but has known the squad for two years, since he arrived at the club as an assistant to fellow Brazilian André Jardine, now coach of América, also from Mexico.
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“Since the beginning of the year, we have matured as a team and I feel that we are learning every day. It is important that we keep learning”, adds Leal. “We don’t know where we can go, but we know that we have to improve every day. We are not going to put a limit on ourselves”, added the coach, who comes from Fluminense’s youth categories.
The best campaign in the competition had a difficult start until reaching the incredible sequence of four victories. Two of the greatest strengths of Mexican football came in the first rounds: first, the tie against Monterrey (1×1) left good impressions and then the defeat against Chivas (1×3) brought positive points due to the fact that the team had one less player for almost 70 minutes.
🎖 ¡EL MEJOR DT, EL MEJOR PORTERO Y UNO DE LOS MEJORES DEFENSAS DE LA JORNADA! 🇧🇷🇲🇽🇪🇸
Gracias a la contundente victoria sobre @Tuzos, Gustavo Leal, Diego Urtiaga y Unai Bilbao forman parte del once ideal de la jornada 6 de la @LigaBBVAMX. 🥹#ConAlmaPotosina@SporelliOficial pic.twitter.com/2QOzOpYkDt
— Atlético de San Luis (@AtletideSanLuis) August 31, 2023
Then came the triumphs over Querétaro (4 to 1), Puebla (2 to 1), León (3 to 0) and Pachuca (2 to 0). Carioca born in Petrópolis, Gustavo Leal (37) was André Jardine’s assistant coach in the Olympic cycle with the Brazilian National Team and at Atlético de San Luis itself in the last three tournaments, and took charge after Jardine left for América.
In the last three seasons with the Brazilian coaching staff, the club twice reached the Liguilla – the most advanced stage of Liga MX, something hitherto unheard of. In the last edition, he reached the quarterfinals. Atletico Madrid franchise, the team from San Luis de Potosi will have to do a better campaign this season to qualify for the playoffs, since from this tournament, only 10 teams advance, not 12 more.
