Rest! Flamengo squad gets a day off this Sunday

An era has ended. Gabriel Barbosa, known as Gabigol, is out of Flamengo's plans for the rest of the season and should no longer play minutes in Mais Querido's next games. With this, the number 99's time with the Mengão shirt would be over, as his contract ends at the end of this season. The information comes from journalist Venê Casagrande.

According to the journalist, Gabigol has been “shunned” at the club. The striker arrived to train this Saturday (21), but did so separately from the rest of the group. The contractual situation is one of the reasons why the number 99 is no longer in the club's plans. Gabriel Barbosa is unlikely to have his contract renewed at the end of the season.

“The truth is that Gabigol is being left out. Due to the contractual issue, he may no longer play with the Flamengo shirt. The information I have, a club director told me, is that there is a good chance that he will no longer play for Flamengo. He will not renew, the atmosphere is not good, Gabigol is totally unmotivated, even more so after seeing that he is behind Carlinhos in the queue, the atmosphere is terrible”, said Venê Casagrande on his YouTube channel.

< Gabigol is one of the greatest players in Flamengo's history, scoring very important goals, including in all the Libertadores finals in which the club participated with number 99 on the field, which guaranteed two cups in the main competition on the South American continent . Furthermore, Gabriel Barbosa was the competition's top scorer on two occasions, 2019 and 2021.

Gabriel Barbosa's time included 285 games, where he scored 157 goals, which places him in sixth place on the list of greatest top scorers in the club's history. Additionally, he dished out 42 assists. At Flamengo, Gabigol won two Libertadores, two Brazilian Championships, two Super Cups, one Recopa, one Copa do Brasil and four Cariocas.

Flamengo and Grêmio face each other again this Sunday (22) for the Brazilian Championship, in a match that promises to be hot. The recent history between the two teams shows a clear advantage for Flamengo, which wants to maintain its superiority and increase the so-called "freguesia" over its rival from Rio Grande do Sul.

In recent seasons, Flamengo has had the better of most of the clashes against Grêmio, especially in decisive moments. Victories in important competitions, such as Copa do Brasil and Libertadores, strengthened this narrative. Among fans, the term “freguesia” began to be used recurrently to describe Flamengo's sequence of triumphs over the Gauchos.

Grêmio, despite being one of the biggest clubs in Brazilian football , has suffered at the hands of the Rio team, especially in knockout clashes and important games. Since the arrival of Jorge Jesus in 2019, Flamengo has become one of the most feared teams in the country, winning important titles and maintaining regularity at a high level. Grêmio, on the other hand, had ups and downs and was unable to follow the same evolution.

ANOTHER DECISIVE GAME

This Sunday's duel promises to be another chapter in this story. Playing at home, Grêmio will try to reverse their recent record and seek a victory that can serve as redemption. Flamengo , even playing away from home, enters the field confident, knowing that the pressure is more on the opponent's shoulders.

Currently, Flamengo continues to seek to consolidate itself among the top placed teams in the Brasileirão, while the Grêmio struggles to remain competitive. For the Rio team, a victory in the South would be another opportunity to strengthen its dominance over the opponent, in addition to adding three important points in the title race. For Grêmio, beating Flamengo would be the chance to reverse this "parish" and show that it is still capable of competing on equal terms with the giants of national football.