Flamengo squad reintroduces itself after time off and focuses on the Copa do Brasil

Tite defined Flamengo and announced the 11 starters who will face Peñarol, this Thursday, at Maracanã, at 7pm. De la Cruz returns to the starting lineup in place of Léo Ortiz, and Alex Sandro and Plata were retained. The duel with the Uruguayans is the first between the teams in the quarter-finals of the Copa Conmebol Libertadores. Follow the Red and Black lineup:Rossi, Varela, Fabrício Bruno, Léo Pereira and Alex Sandro; Pulgar, De la Cruz, Gerson and Arrascaeta; Plata and Bruno Henrique.

Alex Sandro and Plata, debutants in last Sunday's classic, remain in the team after having good performances in the draw against Vasco. Gabigol is now out of the relationship due to fibrosis in the posterior muscle of his right thigh. Flamengo, in a statement, reported that the athlete did not suffer any injury in the region. Check it out:

"The Clube de Regatas do Flamengo informs that the athlete Gabriel Barbosa underwent tests that did not diagnose an injury to the posterior muscle of his right thigh. However, the Technical Committee opted for precaution and did not list him for the duel against Peñarol due to fibrosis in the region. Gabi is handed over to physiotherapists and physical trainers for the series of decisive games of the season."

Flamengo faces Peñarol (URU) in the first game of the CONMEBOL Libertadores quarter-finals and, here, you can watch the broadcast, live, with 2h30 of pre-game, interviews, the team's arrival at Maracanã and everything more.

Follow the match live here:

Flamengo faces the first leg of the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores da América this Thursday. The opponent will be Peñarol from Uruguay and the match will take place at Maracanã, at 7pm (Brasília time). However, the directors participated in a dinner last night (Wednesday).

Directors from Flamengo and Peñarol met at the traditional dinner on the eve of clashes in the Conmebol Libertadores. Rubro-Negro was represented at the meeting by the vice-president of the Presidency's Office and Member of the Football Council, Diogo Lemos, by the vice-president of External Relations, Gony Arruda, and by the executive director of football, Bruno Spindel. 

In the match against Peñarol, Rubro-Negro will have the return of Arrascaeta in the starting lineup. Fla's number 14 started on the bench against Vasco, but replaced Luiz Araújo, who was injured. Meanwhile, De La Cruz also returns to the starting 11 after recovering from injury. Finally, Gonzalo Plata and Alex Sandro had good performances against Vasco and should be kept for the match.

Just like Flamengo , the Peñarol (URU) squad also finished its preparation this Wednesday (18), focusing on the Libertadores clash. The Uruguayans used Botafogo's CT for the last training session before the game at Maracanã. It is worth noting that Peñarol’s training was “closed doors”. In other words, the press was unable to follow the activities carried out by coach Diego Aguirre.