THREATENED? PALMEIRAS DIRECTOR TALKS ABOUT FLAMENGO ATTACKER: "WE WILL ALWAYS BE MONITORING THE SITUATION"

The Peñarol (URU) team was excited from the beginning of the trip to Rio de Janeiro, where they will face Flamengo, in the quarter-finals of the Libertadores. In addition to cheering the players on the flight towards the 'Marvelous City', the Uruguayans posted a montage of Christ the Redeemer with the club's flag.

As soon as they landed on Rio de Janeiro soil, the Uruguayan club published an image of a of the city's main tourist attractions. In addition to the photo, the team wrote the following message: “Peñarol em Rio”, alluding to Rock In Rio. Afterwards, a video showing the arrival of the athletes at Galeão Airport was also published.

Peñarol reached the quarterfinals of the Libertadores after beating The Strongest (BOL) in the round of 16. In the first game, the Uruguayan team defeated their opponent 4-0. On the way back, the Bolivian team even won by a score of 1-0, however, it was not enough to take away the classification of Diego Aguirre's men.

Before the game against Flamengo, Peñarol played in the Championship Uruguayan. On Saturday (14), Rubro-Negro's opponent beat Rampla (URU), by a score of 4 to 0. Given this situation, they remained undefeated in the national tournament.

Flamengo is coming off a bitter draw with Vasco on Sunday (15), however, they will have reinforcements for this Thursday's duel (19). Recovered from a thigh injury, De La Cruz is back in the team. In addition to the Uruguayan, Alex Sandro, Alcaraz and Gonzalo Plata were registered in the competition and, as a result, will be included in the clash.

Last Tuesday, the candidate for re-election for mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, denied the journalist Ancelmo Gois, from Globo. In a post on Instagram, the mayor informed that the city hall will be responsible for removing the megastructure on the gas meter site, different from what was reported. Furthermore, he guaranteed that Flamengo will have its new stadium, with the best conditions and security.

The news published by Ancelmo informs that Flamengo would have to pay R$100 million to remove a large gas structure present on land acquired by the club, which is owned by CEG and CEG-Rio, which are companies that are part of the gas concessionaire Naturgy.

According to the article, the companies were informed that Flamengo is the responsible for bearing the expenses, as provided for in one of the annexes to the land purchase and transfer contract. The clause, however, does not have a specified limit.

Paes stated that the values ​​for the transfer of the structure are different from what was pointed out in the article by Ancelmo Gois. Furthermore, it exempted Flamengo from any responsibility, and that the city hall has been planning to remove it for years.

“They are making me defend @flamengo more than I would like: let it be clear that this is not the The cost of this transfer and when it happens will be the responsibility of the city of Rio, which knows that this structure cannot be in an area that is already receiving so many residential buildings. It's been in our plans for a long time! Flamengo will have its new stadium there in the gasometer with all the quality and safety that the region demands and deserves. Period!”, published the mayor.

The situation at Flamengo is not the best. This Monday (16), the club released the news about Luiz Araújo's injury. During the game against Vasco, the athlete suffered a blow to his right knee and will need to undergo arthroscopy. With this, newcomer Gonzalo Plata becomes a fundamental piece for coach Tite.

This is because, with Pedro's injury, Bruno Henrique has been used as Mengão's center forward. In addition to him, Cebolinha will no longer play for Flamengo in 2024, and Luiz Araújo should be sidelined for one to two months. To top it off, Michael is also absent from Rubro-Negro and should only return to the field in mid-October.

In this way, Gonzalo Plata is the only player on the professional squad with speed as his main characteristic, as Bruno Henrique has been used as a center forward by coach Tite. For the next matches, Mais Querido can use youth players who perform this role, such as the Nigerian Shola.

With the injury to Luiz Araújo, Gonzalo Plata's starting role in the match against Peñarol (URU), this Thursday (19), is practically guaranteed. For the first leg of the Libertadores quarter-finals, Flamengo also signed up Alex Sandro and Carlos Alcaraz, who could debut in the competition. It is worth remembering that Michael, with a muscle injury in his right thigh, will only be able to play if Mengo advances to the semi-finals.

With Gonzalo Plata available, Flamengo and Peñarol face each other this Thursday (19), at Maracanã, at 7pm (Brasília time), in the first leg of the Libertadores quarter-finals. The return duel is scheduled for September 26th, at the Campeón del Siglo Stadium, in Montevideo.