Much was expected of Bahia on Tuesday night for the return game of South American playoffs against América de Cali (COL). But after 0-0 on the way, what was seen was a team without alternatives and completely dominated in the field by the Colombians, who with goals from Murillo and Garclés and will face Fluminense in the round of 16.
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The move that most marked the fan negatively and changed the course of the game was the flaws of Ramos Mingo and Marcos Felipe, who generated the first goal of America from Cali, 28 minutes into the first half. In a press conference after the confrontation, coach Rogério Ceni analyzed the play.
“I think the play, like a whole, was an unhappiness.” It starts with Michel’s divide, which I think was a ball more for him. Until that moment we were in control of the play. Then we had possession of the ball. The stadium was quite noisy and there was no communication between Santi [Mingo] and Marcos. It was Santi who retreated the ball to Marcos, and the failure was much more communication, reading than was happening in the game. But regardless of whether I was a goalkeeper or not, this is an analysis that any technician can do, ”he lamented.
Ahead of the scoreboard, America controlled the game and gave a few spaces for Bahia, which did not hit the field even with Rogério Ceni’s changes in the lineup.
– About the front, Cauly made our best 45 minutes against Fortaleza, and Willian José did not gather enough physical conditions to play more than 30 minutes. He spent a few days still because of an ankle twist and still feels a certain discomfort. We brought him because we thought it would be important to the last 30 minutes of the game. We even made the change just before, but to play more time would be very heavy physically. If he were 100%, maybe even the match started.
– In the first half, we didn’t play well. We didn’t have the same energy as the opponent. Of course the team comes from a game sequence, and the last one was very exhausting. But today we don’t compete the way I expected, ”he added.
Another disappointment for Bahia
After the elimination in Libertadores, Bahia had in South America a concrete possibility of arriving in the final and making a historic campaign, after all it was the most expensive team with good pieces in the cast. But the posture against America de Cali put everything to lose and on Tuesday night and disappointed Rogério Ceni.
– Well, I think it’s always hard to get out of a competition. We had already disputed Libertadores, then we came to the South American. We were in four competitions, trying to keep us alive in all, and fight at the top of the Brazilian Championship. We say goodbye to the upset South American, sad, especially for having done a first half below what we can produce.
“Unfortunately, in football, you lose more than it wins, but I think we left this competition very early.” Now we have other games ahead, we need to recover the players and focus on Sunday against Youth, then Brazil Cup – finished.
As quoted by Ceni, Bahia now becomes the key and faces Youth at 6.30 pm on Sunday (Brasília time) at Fonte Nova Arena, for the 17th round of Brasileirão.
