Jeremy Marquez returns to Estadio Banorte with Cruz Azul, now as a right back

Some reunions just feel different, and this is one of them. Jeremy Marquez returns to Estadio Banorte this coming Saturday, August 22, for matchday 5, but no longer as the midfielder Atlas developed from childhood. He comes back as Cruz Azul's right back, a role he himself hadn't even considered just a few months ago.

Marquez's history with Atlas is no small thing. His first record with Liga MX dates back to 2013, when Atlas registered him for an Under-13 tournament. From there he moved through the U-15, third division, U-17 and U-20 levels, until he made his first division debut on January 11, 2020. And who was that debut against? Cruz Azul, of all teams, the very club that now counts him among its ranks. Soccer sometimes sets up these coincidences without anyone asking for them.

Wearing the Atlas jersey, Marquez played 181 matches, scored 12 goals and added eight assists as a midfielder. Solid numbers, without being spectacular, but there were specific moments when his name stuck in the memory of the Guadalajara faithful.

The quiet contribution to the back-to-back title run

During the campaign that brought back-to-back championships, Marquez managed just two goals and two assists in total, but they came at exactly the right moment. In the second leg of the Apertura 2021 final against Leon, he set up Aldo Rocha's goal that leveled the aggregate score at 3-3 and sent the final to penalty kicks, where Atlas went on to be crowned champion.

For the Clausura 2022, he followed the same script of showing up when he was needed most: just one assist in the regular phase, but two goals in the playoffs, both against Chivas in the first leg of the quarterfinals, a result that pushed Atlas toward the semifinals against Tigres and, eventually, to the title against Pachuca.

From midfielder to right back, a switch nobody saw coming

After leaving Atlas at the end of the Clausura 2025, Marquez joined Cruz Azul as an intended midfield reinforcement. But soccer has its twists: the position he now holds came about almost out of necessity. With Joel Huiqui taking over as Cruz Azul's coach, and with no natural options on the right flank, the coach decided to try him there.

The permanent switch came during the Clausura 2026 playoffs, when Jorge Rodarte's absence due to illness forced Huiqui to shuffle his lineup. He put Marquez at right back, and since then the Atlas academy product hasn't let go of the job, earning a starting role in a position that was never originally his.

And so Jeremy Marquez arrives at this matchup: the kid who grew up in the Atlas youth ranks now returns transformed, defending different colors from a spot on the field he never imagined occupying when he made his debut against this very same opponent, more than five years ago.