TO STAY CONNECTED! DESPITE THE VICTORIES, FLAMENGO FINISHED LESS THAN ITS LAST TWO OPPONENTS

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.

The Flamengo made a decision that has raised a lot of criticism among fans and analysts: he gave up the Brasileirão while leading the competition with one game in hand and still spared his main players in the match against São Paulo. This planning, seen as risky by many, could cost the club dearly, with direct implications on the season's performance.

The Brazilian Championship, known for its regularity and the fact that it rewards the most consistent teams throughout the season, competition, requires detailed planning from any team aspiring to the title. Flamengo, to a certain extent, was fulfilling this requirement. The Rio team came to lead the table and had the advantage of one game in hand, which could further consolidate its position at the top of the table. However, despite being in a privileged position, the team chose to spare its main players in the clash against São Paulo, which ended up surprising many who follow the championship closely.

THE CLUB IT HAS BEEN PLAYED IN A SUPERFICIAL MANNER

The decision of Flamengowas interpreted as a partial abandonment of the Brasileirão in favor of knockout competitions. The focus, apparently, was redirected to other tournaments, where the team believes it has a chance of securing titles more directly. However, this strategy has its risks. The knockout stage, unlike a straight points championship, depends a lot on momentary factors, such as injuries, player form and even luck in some cases. This means that betting all your chips on competitions of this type can be dangerous, especially for a team that, until now, is experiencing a phase of instability.

Flamengo, despite having a technically superior team to of many opponents, has shown signs of decline in decisive moments. Recent games have shown a drop in performance, and physical and emotional exhaustion can become a critical factor, even more so in knockout tournaments, where a mistake can be costly.

The decision to spare players against São Paulo and, in a way, giving up the leadership of the Brasileirão raises questions about the club's planning for the season. A team as great as Flamengo, with resources and a high-level squad, should theoretically be able to fight on all fronts. However, the choice to focus on the knockout stages seems to indicate a lack of confidence in the ability to maintain regularity in the Brasileirão.

In a year of unprecedented achievements, the Under-20 Boys from the Nest reached another important milestone in 2024: 100 goals scored in 56 games. An average of 1.76 goals per match. With this offensive power, Flamengo goes to Saquarema, in the Lagos Region, to face Boavista in the first game of the Carioca semifinal. The ball rolls at 2:45 pm, at the Elcyr Rezende stadium, in Bacaxá, broadcast by FlaTV.

The century-old milestone was achieved by the U20s in the first leg of Carioca's quarter-finals against Nova Iguaçu, outside the house. Guilherme and Wallace Yan scored in the victory that practically guaranteed Mengão in the semifinals. The goals are counted from the following competitions in which the category was represented: Copa São Paulo de Futebol Junior, Libertadores, Copa Rio, Brasileirão, Mundial and Carioca.

“It’s great to reach these goals. This means beautiful teamwork. We know how to kill the opportunities we have. And on Saturday you can expect a very competitive team that is much stronger than before. We're going to fight to get to the final” said striker Wallace Yan, top scorer in the category who has played in different roles in attack and has 20 goal contributions.

Check out the general numbers of Mengão's U20s.

56 GAMES

37 WINS

6 DRAWS

13 DEFEATS

100 GOALS FOR

56 GOALS AGAINST

ARTILLERY

10 GOALS - WALLACE YAN;

9 GOALS – ADRIEL;

7 GOALS – IAGO;

6 GOALS - FELIPE TERESA, GUILHERME;

p>

5 GOALS – SHOLA;

4 GOALS - RODRIGUINHO, VICTOR SILVA;

3 GOALS - LORRAN, ZÉ WELINTON;

2 GOALS - DANIEL ROGÉRIO, GUSTTAVO, FELIPE LIMA, MATHEUS GONÇALVES, LUCAS OLIVEIRA, GERMANO, CAIO GARCIA;

1 GOAL - LUCAS SILVA, VICTOR THIAGO, CARBONE, JEAN CARLOS, RAFAEL COUTO, ISAQUE, PEDRO LEMOS, BILL, THIAGO MEDEIROS, PEDRO LEÃO, MENEGATTI, LUIS AUCÉLIO;

ASSISTS

10 PASSES - WALLACE YAN;

6 PASSES – GUILHERME ;

5 PASSES – SHOLA;

4 PASSES – JEAN CARLOS;

3 PASSES – FELIPE LIMA, THIAGO MEDEIROS, DANIEL SALES, FELIPE TERESA;

p>

2 PASSES - VICTOR SILVA, ZÉ WELINTON, LUCYAN, LUIS AUCÉLIO, GERMANO, LORRAN;

1 PASS - CAIO GARCIA, DANIEL ROGÉRIO, MENEGATTI, DA MATA, AINOÃ, IAGO, RODRIGUINHO, GUSTTAVO, GUSTAVO KRUG, PEDRO LEÃO, GERMANO, FELIPE VIEIRA.

In the Carioca U20 Championship, Mengão was led by both Filipe Luís and Raphael Bahia, coach of U20 B. Bahia, In fact, he led the team in more games this year (21 games), and therefore, 40% of the goals scored were with him in the technical area, indicating participation both in the season and in the category's campaign that reached the semi-finals of Carioca.< /p>

Boavista and Flamengo are broadcast exclusively on FlaTV direct from Saquarema, which will be live from 2:15 pm this Saturday (21). Go after them, Mengão!

< /p>