TO AVOID THE BAD PHASE
The squad hasn’t won in five games and is betting on the home advantage to win
Published on November 20, 2024 at 07:18
Tricolor needs to beat Palmeiras to avoid a frustrating end to the year Credit: Rafael Rodrigues/EC Bahia
After just nine days of training, Bahia will return to the field in front of their fans. This Wednesday (20), the Squadron faces Palmeiras, at 6pm, at Fonte Nova, in a duel that ends the crisis in which the Bahian team finds itself in the Brazilian Championship.
Against Alviverde, the mission is to end the season’s winning streak to continue dreaming of a place in the next edition of the Libertadores. Bahia has gone five games without winning and, in the period, has accumulated four defeats and one draw. The consequence of the performance was the exit from the classification zone for the international tournament. The Squadron starts the 34th round in 8th position, with 46 points.
Despite the bad phase, the club clings to the home advantage to find its way back to triumphs. Playing at Fonte Nova, Rogério Ceni’s team is usually strong. In the Brasileirão, the performance as home team is 66.7%.
Furthermore, the tricolor has good reasons to remember the last duel against Palmeiras in Salvador. Last year, the blue, red and white team beat their rival 1-0, at Fonte Nova. Thaciano scored the goal.
Bahia, in fact, has not lost to its opponent at home since 2017, when it lost 4-2, in Series A. Since then, the teams have played six matches, with one Bahian victory and six draws. According to defender Gabriel Xavier, the squad went through good days of work and will enter the field focused on winning the three points.
“We know we owe a lot to the fans and to ourselves. We didn’t play good games, not just in terms of results, but in terms of performance. We are coming from a good week of work to align our weaknesses, play a great game and be able to make that final push”, said the defender.
Gabriel Xavier is back in the team after serving a suspension in the last round. He, however, will not be joined by Kanu, who received his third yellow card and is suspended. David Duarte, Vitor Hugo and Victor Cuesta are fighting for the spot.
By the way, the tricolor defense is also going through a moment of instability. In the last five games, the team conceded 11 goals. An average of 2.2 per match.
“Very difficult, complicated moment. We ended up conceding a lot of goals. But that’s all there is to it. The moment is not good. The results are not good, but it is a global moment for the team. We need to get it right, come together more defensively so that we don’t concede goals and score goals. This part goes through the defensive line. It’s the whole group that will get out of this situation”, added Xavier.
Striker Lucho Rodríguez, who was part of the Uruguay delegation that faced Brazil yesterday at Fonte Nova, is available to Ceni and could be a starter. Midfielder Jean Lucas, who was suspended against Juventude, is also free to play.
While Bahia is aiming for a comeback in the last five games of the Brasileirão, Palmeiras is hoping to defeat Botafogo again and win the competition title. Alviverde is the runner-up, with 64 points, four behind the Cariocas.
Coach Abel Ferreira has at least three absences to form the team: Mayke, Richard Ríos and Estêvão are suspended. Defender Gustavo Gómez, called up by Paraguay, would also be out, but Palmeiras sent a private plane to pick up the player in Bolivia.
