"It's about apologizing to the fans and moving on", says Fabrício Bruno after elimination in the Libertadores

Flamengo faces a historic challenge when they fail to win the first game of a Libertadores knockout stage acting as home team. Throughout its participation in the tournament, the Rio club was eliminated every time it left the field in the first game, at home, without a victory.

This scenario began to emerge in 1993, when Flamengo faced São Paulo. On that occasion, the red-black team hosted Tricolor at Maracanã and were unable to do their homework, drawing 1-1. In the return match, played at Morumbi, Flamengo ended up defeated 2-0, bidding farewell to the tournament. at that stage.

After a long period without new eliminations in this situation, history repeated itself in 2010. The opponent at the time was the Universidad de Chile (LaU). Flamengo, then with a squad that generated great expectations, hosted the Chilean team at Maracanã and suffered a 3-2 defeat, complicating their chances of qualifying. In the second leg, in Santiago, they even won 2-1, but the result was not enough to reverse the disadvantage from the first game. Once again, the team fell by the wayside.

In 2018, it was Cruzeiro's turn to cross the path of Flamengo. In the round of 16 clash, Rubro-Negro was surprised at Maracanã, losing 2-0 to the team from Minas Gerais. Again, the mission proved arduous. In the second game, at Mineirão, Flamengo even looked for a goal and won 1-0, but the advantage built by Cruzeiro in the first duel guaranteed the Minas Gerais classification.

The last chapter of this negative retrospective occurred in 2024 edition, when Flamengo faced Peñarol. Once again, the Rio club failed to secure a positive result at Maracanã. The match ended with a 2-1 defeat. In Uruguay, history repeated itself: Flamengo fought, but were unable to reverse the score and were defeated 1-0, ending their campaign in the tournament.

These eliminations show a pattern that has become a true "ghost" for the team in Libertadores eliminatory clashes. The lack of a victory in the first leg at home ends up putting extra pressure on the squad, which needs to seek a positive result away from home. Although Flamengo has the players and structure to overcome these challenges, its history works against it, highlighting the difficulty of reversing disadvantages in high-level competitions.

Flamengo's Under-17 team went to Xerém to face Fluminense and lost the match 2-0 in the second leg of the Brazilian Under-17 Championship, this Thursday afternoon (26). In the first game, the two teams drew 1-1. Now, Rubro-Negro will face Sampaio Correa next Saturday (28) at 1 pm, in Gávea, for the Campeonato Carioca. 

In the first play of the match, Kaio Nobrega hit a beautiful shot from outside the area, the goalkeeper hit it at the foot of Douglas Telles who pushed it towards the goal, but was in an irregular position. Fluminense opened the scoring in the 18th minute, with an escape on the left.

Flamengo looked for a draw with Johnny, who went up to attack, gave a pen and crossed for Douglas Telles to volley into the defense. of the goalkeeper. However, in another counterattack, this time on the right, the home team made it 2-0.

In the last play of the first half, Luiz Phellipe stole the ball in attack and crossed for Joshua to head and almost start. the Red-Black reaction. On the way back from the break, Douglas Telles risked a good shot from outside the area, but the goalkeeper connected.

In the 37th minute, Douglas Telles again made a good individual play on the left and crossed for Giovanni, who finished and got it. a corner for Rubro-Negro. In the next move, Giovanni drove from the left and finished dangerously into the opponent's goal. End of game: 2-0 for Fluminense.

Flamengo will take to the field to face Sampaio Correa next Saturday (28), in Gávea at 1pm, for the Cup Guanabara.

Léo Nannnetti; Wanderson (Guilherme), Pedro Johnny and Luiz Phellipe (Italo); Lucas Vieira (Jhefinho), Kaio Nobrega (Pablo) and Joshua; Douglas Telles, Lipão (Kaio Gomes) and Alan Santos (Giovanni)

Gustavo Félix; Kaio Borges (Arthur Ryan), Gorgulho, Rodrigo Bringel and Vagno; Wallace Davi, Gabriel Renan (Arthur Henrique) and Tauan; Isaque, Matheus Reis and Keven Samuel (Robson Alex)

Fluminense 2 x 0 Flamengo – Second leg of the quarter-finals of the Brazilian Under-17 Championship

Location: Marcelo Vieira Stadium, Xerém

Date and time: 26/09/2024 at 3pm

Arbitration: Júlio César de Oliveira, Victor Camões de Abreu and Marcelo Araujo Omisso

Goals: Gabriel Renan (FLU), Keven Samuel (FLU)

Léo Ortiz is one of the new additions to Dorival Júnior's pre-call for October's FIFA Date. As happened in September, the CBF will use the maximum period of ten days to announce the 23 players who will defend the Seleção against Chile and Peru. However, the preliminary list was already sent to the clubs last Friday. At Flamengo, in addition to Ortiz, there are Fabrício Bruno, Ayrton Lucas and Gerson.

Improvised as a midfielder, Léo Ortiz has been one of Flamengo's highlights in this second half of the year, earning the admiration of the fans. However, in the match against Peñarol, Ortiz was passed over by Tite and started on the bench.

Interestingly, it was Flamengo's current coach who gave Ortiz his first opportunities in the national team. In 2021, the defender was called up for the Copa América, in which Brazil finished as runner-up.

If Ortiz is a surprise, the other three red-and-black players are already household names. Fabrício Bruno and Gerson were in the September squad, and Ayrton Lucas was called up by Dorival Júnior in March.

FIFA regulations allow the 23 players to be defined up to ten days before the presentation, but the clubs that have pre-summoned athletes must be informed 15 days in advance. Therefore, the CBF already notified the clubs on Friday.

Dorival Júnior's official call-up will be announced on September 27th, at the CBF headquarters, in Rio de Janeiro. The players will perform on October 7th, in São Paulo, where they will train at CT Joaquim Grava, from Corinthians, until the 9th, when they will head to Santiago.

Brazil will face Chile away from home in the on October 10th and, on the 15th, they will face Peru at the Mané Garrincha Stadium, in Brasília. Currently, with ten points, the Seleção occupies fifth place in the Qualifiers.