Felipe Teresa celebrates his first goal for Flamengo as a professional: "Very happy"

The Flamengo delegation that embarks this Tuesday afternoon for Montevideo, Uruguay, will have something new: Gabigol returns to the list of related players after missing the last two games due to muscle pain, a consequence of fibrosis during the healing of an injury to his right thigh.

As well as the 12 players spared from the match against Grêmio , Gabigol remained in Rio de Janeiro to complete his recovery and has trained normally with the squad in the last few days. Flamengo will decide next Thursday, at 7pm (Brasília time), at the Campeón del Siglo Stadium, who will advance to the Libertadores semi-final in a duel against Peñarol.

Tite will still define the lineup in training on Wednesday, in Montevideo, but the expectation is that Gabigol will start on the bench. He has been appointed as the replacement for Pedro, who is out for the season due to injury, but is still looking to regain lost space at Flamengo.

Gabigol lost his starting position at the end of the Jorge Sampaoli era, but continued to be an important player for Tite. Since the coach's arrival in October last year, he has acted as a kind of 12th player, being the most used substitute: he participated in 30 of the 66 games. However, in terms of time on the field, it is only the 19th most used (see the table below, according to the 'ge' portal).

Gabigol also appears behind eight other reserves in terms of playing time and, with just three starts in 2024, he is the player of main squad with fewer presences among the starters, alongside Matheus Gonçalves, Victor Hugo (loaned to Göztepe, from Turkey) and Pablo (currently at Botafogo).

After the 3-2 defeat to Grêmio last Sunday, Tite was asked why he had not yet recovered Gabigol in the same way he did with Cebolinha and Luiz Araújo. The coach attributed the difficulties to the attacker's physical problems.

However, it is important to highlight that, in 2024, Gabigol was only in the medical department on two occasions: once in March, when he suffered from muscle pain and lost two games, and the most recent injury to his right thigh, which ruled him out of five matches.

In addition, Gabigol was away for 36 days between March and April, due to a suspension related to an alleged case of fraud in an anti-doping test, and also lost three games in July due to a negotiation with Palmeiras and statements made by his manager.

This year, Gabigol was listed by Tite in 33 matches, playing in 26 of them , with only three as starters. On seven occasions, he did not leave the bench, and is the 24th player on the squad in number of games as a starter. In total, he has played 905 minutes on the field, which places him as the 21st athlete with the most playing time in 2024.

Flamengo ended up being defeated by Grêmio this past Sunday (22), by the score of 3 to 2. However, the confrontation marked a special moment for Felipe Teresa. The striker scored his first professional goal for Mais Querido and the team's second in the game.

In the 44th minute of the second half, Felipe Teresa caught the rebound given by goalkeeper Marchesín, after a beautiful play by Evertton Araújo , which passed four markers. The attacker sent the ball into the back of the net, scoring Flamengo's second goal.

This is not the first The young striker stands out in moments of pressure. This is because Felipe Teresa was the scorer of Mais Querido's title-winning goal against Olympiacos, in the under-20 Intercontinental Cup. 

With the defeat, Mais Querido ended up in fourth place, with just 45 points gained in 27 games. Furthermore, Rubro-Negro completed three games without a win this season.

Now, the Flamengo squad focuses on the big decision against Peñarol, in the Libertadores quarter-finals. Mais Querido returns to the field next Thursday (26), at 7pm, in Uruguay. Remembering that Rubro-Negro needs to reverse the 1-0 score to qualify for the semi-finals.