Tite explains Gabigol's absence at the start of the game for Flamengo - check it out

The Flamengo did not clear the scoreboard in the draw with Peñarol at the Campeón del Siglo stadium, on Thursday night and was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Conmebol Libertadores. In a press conference after the match, Tite was asked about the promise made after the first game, that the team would score goals in Uruguay, and which was not fulfilled.

"I did imagine, that with half of opportunities, but it didn't happen. It created a big number too. There were some important details: the good performance of the goalkeeper again and our precision in some moments to speed up the process. ", said the coach.

Asked about the reason for a qualified coach not being able to make an also qualified squad play better, Tite cited several points in the context, but pointed out as the main one the loss of Pedro, who had been Brazil's top scorer in 2024 and was seriously injured in the national team:

"We have to look at a very broad context. There were moments: we arrived to qualify for the Libertadores directly, and we did. Being Rio de Janeiro champion, we can compete in all three competitions, because Flamengo has that need. Then, we had a series of players called up to the National Team, there was the Brazilian Championship... This is the first "no" of the objectives. The most important of the objectives, I agree (Libertadores). But it also had a calendar with a series of difficulties that we had. The biggest of them, I say again, for shaping the team, was Pedro: the player in the area, the infiltrator, with his characteristics, I'm not talking about demeriting the others. The offensive structure was a little lost, we tried with BH, the return of Gabi, Carlinhos... In the final product, it didn't do what it should have done."

With the draw, Flamengo falls into the Libertadores and postpones Tetra's dream of the competition. However, they will need to turn the key to the two remaining competitions of the season: Copa do Brasil and Brasileirão. For the national championship, the red and black team will face Athlético-PR, next Sunday, at 8:30 pm, at Maracanã.

In Montevideo, Flamengo was unable to reverse the result and was left in a 0-0 draw with Peñarol. Therefore, they are eliminated from the Copa Conmebol Libertadores, the first fall that Tite's team suffers in 2024. Shortly after the end of the match, defender Fabrício Bruno appeared dejected, apologized to the red and black fans and defined that the objective now is to win the remaining titles.

“We did great, we set a great pace, but unfortunately we didn't get the goal. It's about apologizing to the fans and moving forward with the season to win titles. It's difficult, Peñarol's team knows how to defend itself, Aguirre's teams are like that. Now we have to apologize to the fans”, said the defender.

With the elimination, Flamengo stops facing Botafogo in a possible semi-final and concentrates its forces on the Copa do Brasil, where it is in the semi-final and will have the Corinthians as opponent. Flamengo's next challenge is in the Brazilian Championship. This is because the red and black team faces Athlético-PR, next Sunday, at 8:30 pm, at Maracanã.

Flamengo faces a historic challenge when they fail to win the first game of a Libertadores knockout stage acting as home team. Throughout its participation in the tournament, the Rio club was eliminated every time it left the field in the first game, at home, without a victory.

This scenario began to emerge in 1993, when Flamengo faced São Paulo. On that occasion, the red-black team hosted Tricolor at Maracanã and were unable to do their homework, drawing 1-1. In the return match, played at Morumbi, Flamengo ended up defeated 2-0, bidding farewell to the tournament. at that stage.

After a long period without new eliminations in this situation, history repeated itself in 2010. The opponent at the time was the Universidad de Chile (LaU). Flamengo, then with a squad that generated great expectations, hosted the Chilean team at Maracanã and suffered a 3-2 defeat, complicating their chances of qualifying. In the second leg, in Santiago, they even won 2-1, but the result was not enough to reverse the disadvantage from the first game. Once again, the team fell by the wayside.

In 2018, it was Cruzeiro's turn to cross the path of Flamengo. In the round of 16 clash, Rubro-Negro was surprised at Maracanã, losing 2-0 to the team from Minas Gerais. Again, the mission proved arduous. In the second game, at Mineirão, Flamengo even looked for a goal and won 1-0, but the advantage built by Cruzeiro in the first duel guaranteed the Minas Gerais classification.

The last chapter of this negative retrospective occurred in 2024 edition, when Flamengo faced Peñarol. Once again, the Rio club failed to secure a positive result at Maracanã. The match ended with a 2-1 defeat. In Uruguay, history repeated itself: Flamengo fought, but were unable to reverse the score and were defeated 1-0, ending their campaign in the tournament.

These eliminations show a pattern that has become a true "ghost" for the team in Libertadores eliminatory clashes. The lack of a victory in the first leg at home ends up putting extra pressure on the squad, which needs to seek a positive result away from home. Although Flamengo has the players and structure to overcome these challenges, its history works against it, highlighting the difficulty of reversing disadvantages in high-level competitions.