Botafogo stumbles and the advantage for Flamengo is 12 points; Check out the Brasileirão table

Flamengo beat Juventude 2-0 last Sunday (14), at Alfredo Jaconi, for the Brazilian Championship, and ended a 28-year winless streak in Caxias do Sul. Arrascaeta opened the scoring and Emerson Royal closed the score, scoring his first goal for the club .

Emerson Royal reveals Filipe Luís's request at Flamengo: "Filipe wants me to be sharp, exploring my physical strength"

After the match, the full-back revealed a conversation with coach Filipe Luís, who advised him on attacking positioning: "I received criticism when I played injured because I couldn't give my best. But I wanted to stay on the field to help Flamengo . Filipe explained to me what he wanted from me: to get to the far post. I even asked my teammates to watch me during that movement," Royal said.

RETURN AS HOLDER

It was the full-back's first game since returning from injury. Royal had sprained his left ankle on August 13 against Internacional in the Copa Libertadores. Since then, he had only played a few minutes in the draw with Grêmio at Maracanã.

According to the player, Filipe Luís asked him to play differently than he was used to in his career: "At Tottenham, I played as a defensive midfielder, on the inside. But Filipe wants me to be sharp, exploiting my physical strength, passing, and crossing. He knows my ability to support, and that can really help the team ."

DISPUTE FOR POSITION

Signed in July for €9 million (approximately R$58 million) from Milan, Emerson Royal is competing for a spot with Varela, who was rested against Juventude due to a groin injury. " Big teams are like that; they always have top-notch players . Varela has a lot of quality, and so do I. The competition is healthy, we work hard, and the choice is Filipe's," said the full-back.

NEXT COMMITMENTS

On Thursday (18), Flamengo faces Estudiantes in the Libertadores (quarter-finals, first leg), at 9:30 pm, at Maracanã . The Most Beloved only returns to the field for the Brasileirão on Sunday (21), against Vasco, also at the sacred temple.

FlaBasquete has an international challenge ahead in the FIBA Intercontinental Club Cup , considered the basketball world championship. The red-black team debuts this Thursday (18) against NBA G League United, from the USA, at 6 am (Brasília time).

On September 19th, also at 6 am, Flamengo faces the Illawarra Hawks of Australia , with decisive matches scheduled for the weekend. All matches will be broadcast exclusively on Flamengo TV , bringing every play of the competition directly to the red-and-black nation.

BROADCAST AND COMMENTARY TEAM

João Guilherme will be the narrator, with commentary from Flamengo basketball legend Duda Machado. Emerson Santos, also known as Emershow, will be reporting from the courts in Singapore .

TEAM PREPARATION AND EXPECTATIONS

Under the command of Sérgio Hernández, known as "Oveja," Flamengo held a training camp in Spain, facing local teams. The coach highlighted the club's confidence and structure: " We are very happy and excited to represent the continent in a competition of this magnitude. We want to put Flamengo at the top of the world – where it should always be ," stated Oveja.

FLAMENGO'S HISTORY IN THE CLUB WORLD CUP

Flamengo has already won the world title on two occasions: 2014: Victory over Maccabi Haifa (Israel), 90 to 77, at Maracanãzinho, with highlights for Marcelinho Machado, Marquinhos, Laprovittola and Olivinha . 2022: Two-time championship in Egypt, beating Hereda San Pablo Burgos (Spain), with Yago, Olivinha and Luke Martínez leading the team.

Flamengo held a training session at Ninho do Urubu on Wednesday afternoon (17) with the entire squad on the field. However, Pulgar, Jorginho and Alex Sandro are still doing specific work and will not be available for the game on Thursday (18), at 9:30 pm, at Maracanã, for the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores.

Chilean midfielder Erick Pulgar has returned to action on the pitch, but still needs at least two weeks to be cleared for the final phase of physical conditioning. He is recovering from a fracture in the fifth metatarsal of his right foot, suffered in June.

FLAMENGO'S LOSINGS

Jorginho and Alex Sandro are also out of the squad . The Italian-Brazilian midfielder is treating a muscle swelling in his left thigh and is undergoing transition activities supervised by physiotherapists. The left-back, meanwhile, continues to recover from a left calf injury.

Without the trio, Flamengo should enter the field with: Rossi; Varela (or Emerson Royal), Léo Ortiz, Léo Pereira and Ayrton Lucas; De la Cruz (or Allan), Saúl and Arrascaeta; Gonzalo Plata, Bruno Henrique (or Pedro) and Samuel Lino.

STUDENTS IN THE LIBERTADORES

On the other side, coach Eduardo Domínguez projects a balanced match and highlighted Estudiantes' confidence in achieving a good result away from home. The Argentine team had a solid campaign in the group stage, eliminating Cerro Porteño in the round of 16 , and has three away wins, losing only to Botafogo .