Defined opponent: Flamengo x Vasco will make the Carioca U20 final

Flamengo finalizes preparation for the clash against Athletico-PR this Saturday (28), aiming for the match this Sunday (29), valid for the 28th round of the Brazilian Championship. To date, around 17,000 tickets have been sold for the first game after elimination in the Libertadores.

No sector of Maracanã has sold out so far, and the South sector remains closed. The expectation is that between 30 and 40 thousand fans will attend the stadium to watch another Flamengo duel in the Brasileirão. Tickets are still on sale on the official website (flamengo.superingresso.com.br), with prices varying between R$35 and R$400.

The low demand for tickets is largely due to the current negative moment of Tite's team. In the last ten games, Flamengo has accumulated five defeats, three wins and two draws. Furthermore, the elimination of the Libertadores, last Thursday (26), after a 1-0 aggregate defeat to Peñarol (URU), contributed to the fans' discouragement.

Flamengo will have six confirmed absences for the match against Athletico-PR. Carlinhos is suspended due to the red card received in the last round against Grêmio, for attacking defender Kannemann. Furthermore, Pedro, Everton Cebolinha, Matías Viña, Michael and Luiz Araújo are under the care of the Medical Department.

THE GAME

Flamengo and Athletico-PR face each other this Sunday (29 ), at 8pm (Brasília time), at Maracanã, for the 28th round of the Brazilian Championship.

Just like last year, Flamengo is on track to repeat a season of frustration and lack of relevant titles, the result of mismatches in the strategies adopted on the field and off it. The defeat in the quarter-finals of the Libertadores, yesterday, against Peñarol (Uruguay), once again highlighted the poor work of Tite and his coaching staff. All marked by disastrous errors of route led by the board of Rodolfo Landim, Marcos Braz and company, in the midst of a tumultuous calendar of games and an unusual number of injuries in the squad.

Increasingly closer to a new square one in the coaching position, as there is no indication that Tite will have his contract renewed, the red-black player can only close 2024 with the Campeonato Carioca title, something derisory for the expectations generated by one of the most powerful squads in South America. From now on, GLOBO explains why this season turned into a disaster.

In the scenario of Brazilian coaches, Tite still presents himself as the best name, and is accompanied by a vast committee and well divided among competent people. However, it didn't fit into Flamengo. The work that began in October 2023 had the mission of organizing the squad and guaranteeing a place in the Libertadores. For this year, the idea was to evolve red-black football and make national and international achievements natural. At the same time, the Gaucho's six-year stint with the national team changed his football profile.

Before proposing more aggressive football, see Corinthians, Tite is looking for more of a positional game these days. Again, Flamengo's squad did not appear to be the most adept at this. Since the unforgettable 2019 season, the pillars of this team, such as Arrascaeta, Gerson, Bruno Henrique and even Gabigol, have worked in a more mobile scheme. Far from this characteristic, offensive sterility prevails, in addition to defensive fragility that has never been resolved.

In a calendar that can border on 70 or 80 games in Brazil, teams that set out to go far in all competitions are ironically punished with the wear and tear of their players. But this is a reality far from a solution, requiring a choice of priorities, and Flamengo chose to "embrace the world". After not winning anything in 2023, they wanted to start the new season with all their strength, and won Carioca absolutely.

The least demanding competition of the year, however, gave the wrong impression. Meanwhile, the club undermined its campaign in the Libertadores group stage, finishing in second place and always needing to decide away from home in the knockout stages. Already in the midst of the Brazilian Championship, in which the club is fourth, 11 points behind leader Botafogo, it is preferred to save money to focus on knockout competitions, a policy that has been in place since 2021 and was only successful in the following season. Now, virtually only the Copa do Brasil remains — semi-final against Corinthians.

This season also brought an extra challenge: the Copa América, which removed five players (Arrascaeta, De La Cruz, Viña, Varela and Pulgar) from Flamengo from various mid-year commitments, as the CBF did not stop its calendar in the middle of the dispute. Although the team performed well during the period, the physical part was taken to the extreme, with the remaining players needing to make extra efforts. To conclude, those called up returned, but also in a fragile situation and the team "crumbled".

The imponderable factor also helps explain a season that follows the script of failure. The main one: losing Pedro, the team's top scorer, for the rest of the year, due to a serious knee injury in a training session with the Brazilian team. Important names, such as Everton Cebolinha and Matías Viña, were also permanently injured. Injuries in the red and black team appear excessively in 2024.

It is worth noting that the spate of recurring muscular problems is also due to Flamengo's inability to choose their priorities. If all athletes play on all fronts, the bill will arrive at some point. In April, Diogo Dantas' blog reported that Tite's rotation at Flamengo was more concerned with performance than injuries. In the end, so many physical problems make it impossible to maintain a standard of play that meets expectations.

Chasing losses only when they already appear is one of the red-black management's most serious mistakes. There is no shortage of money for the club with the highest revenue in South America, which made Argentine Carlos Alcaraz its biggest signing of all time. The mid-year package still had Michael (injured), Alex Sandro and Gonzalo Plata, but bringing them in at the last minute still had little effect and revealed the lack of planning, while the opponents did it in an organized manner. Yesterday, Alcaraz didn't even step on the field in Uruguay.

The Flamengo boys take the field at 2:30 pm this Thursday, for the second match of the semi-final of the Carioca Under-20 Championship. The red and black team is trying for another final in its trajectory of victories and titles. Watch the match live and with images directly from the link below: