FLAXFLU SCHEDULES A MEETING FOR THE LAST TWO COACHES OF THE SELECTION AND THE LAST CHAMPIONS OF THE LIBERTADORES

Tite and Fernando Diniz. The two coaches will be an attraction in their own right at Flamengo x Fluminense this Saturday, at 6:30 pm (Brasília time) at Maracanã, for the 34th round of the Brazilian Championship. The last time they were side by side on the pitch was seven years ago, when they were still on another shelf in the football scene.

Tite was already renowned. He had won 14 of his 15 titles as a coach, including the two biggest: the Conmebol Libertadores and the 2012 Club World Cup with Corinthians. Diniz, in turn, was just beginning his career and was far from his greatest achievements, which were the Campeonato Carioca and the 2023 Libertadores with Fluminense. At that time, there was only one Série A3 for Paulistão and two Copas Paulistas between 2009 and 2010, for Paulista de Jundiaí and the extinct Votoraty-SP.

Now, they face each other again as the last two coaches of the Brazilian Team. Tite held the most coveted position among coaches in the country between 2016 and 2022 and had an impressive 80.2% success rate over six years. During the period, he won the 2019 Copa América, but was marked by failures in the two World Cups he played in, falling in the quarter-finals.

Diniz arrived in the Seleção this year as a CBF bet after his success he had been doing: he was elected the best coach in the Campeonato Carioca and impressed in the Libertadores. He was announced in July as Tite's successor, but for a limited time: until the arrival of the Italian Carlo Ancelotti in mid-2024. In four games with Brazil in the qualifiers, he has a 58.3% success rate.

< The two coaches have faced each other only twice so far, both in the 2016 Campeonato Paulista. In the first confrontation, Tite's Corinthians got the better of them and beat Audax-SP 1-0 at the José Liberatti stadium, in Osasco, for the group stage. But Diniz's team got revenge when they met again in the semi-final: after a 2-2 draw at the Neo Química Arena, Audax-SP won 4-1 on penalties and advanced to decide the title against Santos.

In addition to the duel apart from the coaches, this Saturday's Fla-Flu also brings another coincidence: the last champions of Conmebol Libertadores will meet. Rubro-Negro is the three-time champion of South America and won the tournament in 1981, 2019 and 2022, while Tricolor achieved the unprecedented title in its history this year.

This year, Flamengo and Fluminense have already faced each other six times, with two wins for each side and two draws. Tricolor had an advantage in Carioca, when they were crowned state champions over their rival with an aggregate score of 4-3. Rubro-Negro got revenge in the Copa do Brasil, when they won 2-0 on aggregate and eliminated their rival in the round of 16 end.