PEDRO'S RETROSPECT AGAINST BOAVISTA, RISES UP FOR THIS TUESDAY'S FLAMENGO DUEL AT MARACANÃ

Flamengo's performances have divided the opinions of fans and journalists. After Rubro-Negro's 1-1 draw with Vasco, last Sunday (15), former player and commentator Walter Casagrande spared no criticism of the team led by Tite.

— Everything we said of doubt about whether Flamengo will win or not is Flamengo's own responsibility, not because the others are better – only Botafogo, which is the best in the Brazilian Championship and perhaps in South America. But in relation to the other teams, the doubt about Flamengo is because of himself -, he began.

— Not because of the casting, because of the cast. You look and think: ‘This team isn’t going far’. He looks again and sees nothing. Every day you see Flamengo play, it's worse than before. I rule out Flamengo (in the Brazilian Championship) a little. (…) There's no point in playing well and getting a draw at the end -, he concluded, in participation in the program 'Fim de Papo', on UOL.

It is worth noting that Flamengo won just one of the last six games in the Brasileirão. In this period, there were three defeats, two draws and only one positive result. In other words, five points won out of a possible 18. With a draw with Vasco in the 26th round, Rubro-Negro saw Botafogo and Palmeiras beat Corinthians and Criciúma, respectively. In this way, the first two placed in the Brazilian Championship 'stretched' ahead.

Flamengo, however, still has one game less in relation to the first three placed in the national tournament table (Botafogo, Palmeiras and Fortaleza). In short, Tite's men are in the G-4 of the Brasileirão and still have a mathematical chance of winning the title.

In addition, Rubro-Negro is classified in the semi-finals of the Copa do Brasil, where they will face Corinthians. Finally, the Libertadores quarterfinals are ahead. This Thursday (19), in fact, the red and black team receives Peñarol (URU), in a duel for the continental competition. The ball rolls at 7pm (Brasília time), at Maracanã

O Flamengo faces Grêmio in the next Sunday (22), for the 27th round of the Brasileirão. With an eye on the game with Mais Querido, the team from Rio Grande do Sul has already started preparing for the match and will have five training sessions throughout the week.
CHECK OUT GÊMIO'S SCHEDULE

Tuesday- fair – training at 10am

Wednesday – training at 3:30pm

Thursday – training at 10am

Friday – training at 10am

Saturday – training at 10am

It's worth remembering that Grêmio is only playing the Brasileirão. This is because the team from Rio Grande do Sul was eliminated from the Libertadores, by Fluminense and from the Copa do Brasil, by Corinthians.

Flamengo will have a commitment before facing Grêmio . The Mais Querido faces Peñarol, on Thursday (19), in the quarter-finals of the Libertadores. The red and black squad will have two more training sessions before the clash.

So, Flamengo and Grêmio face each other this coming Sunday (22), in a game valid for the 27th round of the Brasileirão. The clash will start at 6:30 pm, in Porto Alegre.

After the break due to the FIFA Date, Flamengo returns to the pitch this Thursday (12) to face Bahia, in a match valid for the second leg of the quarter-finals of the Copa do Brasil. For the duel, Rubro-Negro will have Gabigol, who is recovered from injury and available for the match. With Pedro out of the season, the expectation is that the number 99 will take on the role of main reference in the team's attack.

Gabigol has impressive numbers in the Copa do Brasil, a tournament in which Flamengo is four-time champion. In 57 matches played in the competition, Gabriel Barbosa has already found the net 30 times. The striker was champion in 2022 and top scorer of the tournament on three occasions (2014, 2015 and 2018), all when he was still playing for Santos.

Among active players, Gabi is the highest scorer in the history of the World Cup from Brazil. In the general ranking, he occupies third place among the competition's top scorers. Check out the top 10:

1. Fred: 37 goals (56 games)

2. Romário: 36 goals (46 games)

3. Gabigol: 30 goals (57 games)

4. Viola: 29 goals (44 games)

5. Oséas: 28 goals (53 games)

6. Paulo Nunes: 28 goals (58 games)

7. Dodô: 26 goals (55 games)

8. Léo Gamalho: 25 goals (39 games)

9. Luís Fabiano: 25 goals (37 games)

10. Evair: 24 goals (36 games)

In addition to his prominence in the Copa do Brasil, Gabigol shines even brighter in the Copa Libertadores. He is the greatest Brazilian goalscorer in the history of the continental competition. In 58 matches, the striker scored 31 goals, including all of Flamengo's goals in the last three tournament finals. Gabi was responsible for the two goals of the historic turnaround in 2019, he scored in the defeat to Palmeiras in 2021 and scored the decisive goal in 2022, which gave Rubro-Negro their third title against Athletico-PR.

Since 2019, Gabigol is also the player who scored the most goals in the Brasileirão, with 69 goals. His Flamengo teammate, Pedro, occupies second place, with 60 goals in the same period.

With Gabigol's return, will he continue to write another chapter in his success story for Flamengo? The answer will begin to be given this Thursday, at 9:45 pm, at Maracanã.