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Flamengo officially announced the departure of assistant coach Daniel Alegria on Monday afternoon (12). The professional, who was part of the committee led by Filipe Luís since the former full-back's promotion to the main team, was dismissed from his position . In a statement , the club thanked him for his dedication and wished him success in the next steps of his career.

Alegria began his professional football career with distinction when he joined the coaching staff of América-RN in the 2020 Campeonato Potiguar. At the time, he worked with coach Roberto Fernandes and Leandro Sena, who would later take over the team. His time in the coaching staff ended after a setback against ABC, but it served as a platform for new challenges in the assistant's career.

TRAJECTORY AT FLAMENGO

Arriving at Flamengo in July 2021, Daniel Alegria took on a role in the youth teams , collaborating with Filipe Luís, who had just started working with him. Together, they led the under-17 team, focusing on developing young talent. With Filipe's promotion to the professional team in 2024, Alegria began working directly with the main squad, being responsible for training set pieces.

The assistant's departure comes on the eve of a decisive match. Mais Querido is preparing to face LDU, from Ecuador, this Thursday (15), in the fifth round of the group stage of the Libertadores. The match is scheduled for 9:30 pm (Brasília time), at Maracanã , with live broadcast on the Premiere channel. There is still no definition about who will take over the role left by Alegria.

FLAMENGO PREPARATION

Flamengo 's board of directors continues to make internal adjustments to the coaching staff, aiming to ensure solidity for the rest of the season. Daniel Alegria's departure marks the end of a cycle that began at the youth level and has been consolidated in the professional ranks. While the club is looking for a new name for the sector, Filipe Luís continues to lead the team, with full focus on the challenges of the Libertadores.

At 40 years old, referee Andrés Rojas will be taking charge of a Flamengo match for the fourth time in his career. Rojas has already been involved in important matches for the club in continental tournaments, with performances without major negative repercussions so far. The Colombian's history with Flamengo includes three matches. Two of them took place in the group stages of the Libertadores itself: the 2-2 draw with Unión La Calera, in Chile, in 2021, and the 4-0 rout over Aucas, at Maracanã, in 2023.

AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE

The other duel dates back to the 2017 Copa Sudamericana, when Rubro-Negro beat Palestino 5-0, also in Rio. Despite his name still being little known among fans, Rojas is a frequent fixture on Conmebol's roster. In this 2025 Libertadores, he has already refereed three matches: Universidad de Chile x Estudiantes, Alianza Lima x Talleres and Palmeiras x Cerro Porteño.

Among these games, only the duel between Peru and Argentina, won by Alianza 3-2, had a more controversial plot, but without major complaints regarding the refereeing. At Maracanã, the Colombian team will once again face a Flamengo team looking to assert itself in the continental tournament. The team led by Filipe Luis will try to confirm its place in the knockout stages with a victory against LDU, its direct rival for the group's leadership.

ALL OK IN ARBITRATION

Conmebol also announced the other members of the refereeing team. Miguel Roldán and Mary Blanco, also from Colombia, will be the assistants. Diego Ulloa will be the fourth referee for the match. Heider Castro, also from Colombia, will be responsible for the VAR. He will be joined by Mauricio Perez as AVAR (video assistant). Choosing a quintet from the same country is common practice in the competition.

Despite his familiarity with Flamengo , Rojas has never refereed a knockout match for the club, which reduces the scope for external pressure. Even so, the presence of a foreign referee always raises some kind of concern from the board. Internally, the club has not expressed concern about the schedule, but it closely monitors Conmebol's decisions. Rubro-Negro understands that, in decisive games, any detail can be decisive for the course of the match.

Flamengo has a new reason to sound the alarm in the decisive stretch of the season. An absolute starter under Filipe Luís, midfielder Erick Pulgar has had a muscle injury confirmed in his right thigh and will be absent from the Rubro-Negro's next matches. Pulgar felt pain in the first half of the victory over Bahia, last Saturday (10), at Maracanã, and underwent tests on Sunday (11).

The diagnosis indicated an injury to the posterior muscle of his right thigh. As a result, the player is out of the games against LDU, in the Libertadores, and Botafogo, in the Brasileirão. The medical department is working cautiously to have the Chilean available for the last round of the group stage of the Libertadores, against Deportivo Táchira, scheduled for the 28th of this month. However, there is no intention of rushing his return and taking unnecessary risks.

CAST PRIORITY

The priority at this time is to ensure that Pulgar is fully fit for the Super Club World Cup, in June 2025, in the United States. The competition, which brings together the main continental champions of recent years, is treated as strategic by the club. In the duel against Bahia, Pulgar was a starter, but left the field in the 38th minute of the first half. The number 5 tried to continue on the field after the first sign of discomfort, but quickly signaled to the bench and was substituted.

Pulgar's injury also raises an alarm regarding the squad's situation. Another defensive midfielder, Allan , was also substituted in the first half of the weekend's match. The player felt pain in his right thigh after a tackle in midfield and fell on top of the ball. Like Pulgar, Allan also suffered a muscle injury in the posterior region of his thigh. The club has not yet announced an official date for the number 21's return, but the initial expectation is that he will also be out of the team's upcoming games.

DANGEROUS SITUATION IN THE SEASON

The situation significantly reduces coach Filipe Luís' options for defensive midfielders, who already had Gerson out, recently released due to physical fatigue. The number 8 was rested in the second half against Bahia. Without Pulgar and Allan, Filipe will have to look for internal alternatives to set up the midfield against LDU, in a decisive duel for the Libertadores. Evertton Araujo and Léo Ortiz are the main candidates for the position. The defender, in fact, has been tested as a defensive midfielder on other occasions this season.