Keeping an eye on their rival: Corinthians must bring maximum strength to the classic before taking on Flamengo

Last Thursday (26), Flamengo played out a goalless draw with Peñarol, in Uruguay, and was eliminated from the Libertadores. In this sense, the drop in the competition only erased a problem that Tite has been dealing with since Pedro's injury: the lack of definition in the offensive sector.

The number 9 was injured on September 6th, during training with the Brazilian team on the last FIFA Date. Since then, Rubro-Negro has played without its top scorer in five matches: one win, two draws and two defeats. In the first game with the absence, against Bahia, for the Copa do Brasil, Tite opted for a 4-2-3-1, with Gerson, Arrascaeta and Luiz Araújo in the line of three, and Bruno Henrique as a center forward. Thus, Flamengo achieved its only victory without Pedro.

Against Vasco, the coach repeated the scheme, however, Gonzalo Plata came on and Arrascaeta was left out of the starting team. But Tite's idea didn't last long. Luiz Araújo was injured in the first half and became another striker to join the medical department. With that, shirt 14 took his place. The substitution didn't work, and in the second half, Tite called on Gabigol to replace the Uruguayan. The team did not respond to the changes, and ended up taking the draw in the final minutes.

Without Pedro and Luiz Araújo in attack, Tite maintained the scheme with Arrascaeta replacing the number 7 in the first leg against Peñarol. With Gerson, Arrascaeta and Gonzalo Plata in the line of three, with Bruno Henrique forward. The Uruguayan team opened the scoring early in the match and from then on preferred to rely on counterattacks, while Flamengo found it difficult to create chances. In the second half, Tite opted for Carlinhos instead of Gonzalo Plata, but it also had no effect.

In the defeat to Grêmio, for the first time, Tite changed the formation and entered with the reserve team. The coach opted for a 4-4-2 formation with Carlinhos and Lorran up front. Carlinhos was sent off in the second half, and young striker Felipe Teresa came on for Alcaraz to score.

Finally, in last Thursday's match, the coach repeated the formation from the first game, and Again, the team felt able to create and reach the opponent's area with precision. Bruno Henrique was unable to convert the opportunities, and Gonzalo Plata, despite being a speed option, fails in his decision making.

Carlinhos becomes a more frequent option for Gabigol, who despite some appearing as second-half option, he is the striker with the fewest minutes played in Tite's squad.

Frequent injuries have been a real headache for Tite, and the reinforcements of this transfer window have not yet been able to match the needs of the cast until then. Currently, Flamengo has five players in the medical department, four of them are attackers: Pedro, Everton Cebolinha, Viña, Michael and Luiz Araújo.

If the squad's substitutes do not respond up to the mark, an option for the commander is to invest in young people at the base. Matheus Gonçalves and Felipe Teresa scored in the match against Grêmio and could be a solution in the offensive sector.

The Libertadores quarter-finals brought ESPN channels an audience of more than 3 million viewers on pay TV. Disney's sports broadcaster exclusively broadcast Flamengo's elimination against Peñarol-URU, and also the Brazilian clash between São Paulo and Botafogo, classified as Botafogo, the latter shared with TV Globo, which aired free to air.

According to data obtained by the column, ESPN had almost 2 million viewers in yesterday's game between Peñarol and Flamengo, which ended in a goalless draw, which guaranteed the Uruguayan team's classification for the next phase. It was the biggest audience of the year on the channel and also a total lead among paid channels, with a 2000% advantage over second place.

Libertadores already has a reach of more than 7 million people on its channels ESPN from the first stages, and in the semi-final the games broadcast will be between Atlético-MG and River Plate, exclusively on ESPN and Disney+, scheduled for two Tuesdays, October 22nd and 29th, both at 9:30 pm (Brasília time) .

The games between Peñarol and Botafogo will be shown on TV Globo and Paramount+ on the following Wednesdays, 23rd and 30th, also at 9:30 pm. The final, on November 30th, will be broadcast live on TV Globo, ESPN and Disney+.

Flamengo's early elimination from the Libertadores caused a series of damages to the club. In addition to postponing the tetra's dream, Rubro-Negro also faced financial difficulties. Among the sporting goals established for the season was the objective of reaching the Libertadores semi-final.

The expectation was also to finish, at least, in second place in the Brasileirão. Currently, with one game in hand, Flamengo is 11 points behind leader Botafogo and eight behind vice-leader Palmeiras. To mitigate the financial loss, it is crucial that Flamengo reaches the final of the Copa do Brasil, the only competition in which the club has met its sporting goals so far.

In the program “Finanças do Esporte”, the journalist Rodrigo Mattos, from UOL, detailed Flamengo's possibilities for gains and losses this season.

“If it reaches the final (of the Copa do Brasil), it makes up for what happened in the Libertadores, it even surpasses it. But I would need this classification for the final. Otherwise, you have to make compensation, sell a little more player because it's an impact of R$12.5 million, plus the box office that you also estimate. Flamengo in the Libertadores semi-final is worth R$4 or 5 million in revenue”, said Rodrigo.

Flamengo raised less than Fluminense and São Paulo in the Libertadores

< With the elimination against Peñarol, Flamengo stopped collecting R$12.5 million. If he had become champion, the total prize pool in the competition would have reached R$137.5 million. Thus, the search for the third consecutive final of the Copa do Brasil becomes even more crucial, as the club would receive R$31.5 million. If they won the title, this amount could rise to R$73.5 million.

Having played one less match than their competitors, Flamengo ended their participation in the Libertadores with R$37.7 million in revenue, while Fluminense and São Paulo raised R$39.5 million each.