Carlos Alcaraz reveals his expectations to play in the Libertadores for Flamengo: "I'm very convinced"

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.

Flamengo made changes to the entry list and added Alex Sandro, Carlos Alcaraz and Gonzalo Plata for the quarter-finals of Libertadores. Rubro-Negro's trio of reinforcements are available for the clash with Peñarol, which starts this Thursday (19), at Maracanã. On the other hand, Michael, injured, will be left out and will only be able to compete in the tournament if Mengão advances.

Conmebol allows three changes in the registration list from the round of 16 to the quarter-finals. Thus, Flamengo sent the document last Thursday (12) to register the new reinforcements in the vacancies of Daniel Cabral and Igor Jesus, traded with Estrela Amadora (POR), and Victor Hugo, who was loaned to Goztepe (TUR).

If Michael was fit to play, the club would need to leave one of the reinforcements out in this phase. However, the player's muscle injury, expected to return for October, made the board's decision easier. Now, he will be able to return to the Libertadores if Flamengo qualifies for the semifinals, when three more changes will be allowed.

With the possible absences of Luiz Araújo and De La Cruz, Gonzalo Plata and Alcaraz could start in the game against Peñarol. Luiz felt pain in his knee during the classic against Vasco and will be re-evaluated, while the Uruguayan midfielder is recovering from a muscle injury and is still a doubt.

Flamengo will seek victory at Maracanã to take advantage of the clash of return, which will take place in Montevideo, on the 26th. The winner of Flamengo x Peñarol will face whoever qualifies between Botafogo and São Paulo .