In the middle of the year, Flamengo faced Bayern Munich in a game with many errors, but with the Brazilian team falling with its head held high. The pride of their fans became a laughing stock on the part of their rivals. The “equal trophy” seemed to me more like envy than anything else. Because five months later, Filipe Luís bet more on prudence than chaos and Flamengo looked into the eyes of the team that dominated Europe in recent months.
He lost, without being defeated. He endured two hours of PSG, preventing the French from making good transitions in the first half. In the final stage, he bet on Pedro taking the opposing defenders out of the area to open space for his teammates until he equalized. He closed the area well in the final minutes and even had chances with Bruno Henrique and Pedro himself.
The Brazilian team had great performances from Varela against Kvaratskhelia and then Barcola, from the Leos without being distracted by the changes in the positions of the attackers, Pulgar and Plata always read Nuno Mendes’ rises well. Afterwards De La Cruz maintained a good level in midfield. Rossi always seemed insecure, the only one who clashed. Arrascaeta had his usual decisive flash and Jorginho was unable to set his usual pace, but only missed one of the 24 passes he tried.
You can’t put an asterisk on the almost red-and-black feat. No “they don’t care about the World Cup” or “PSG played unmotivated”. Filipe Luís said the obvious last week, that the European cares more about the Champions League than the World Cup. But Luís Enrique has an insatiable competitive spirit. Your team played what it has been playing. It is not at the same level it showed until May — but Flamengo is also not at the level it showed months ago. Two great teams played on equal terms.
Flamengo played a very good game technically. Physically, after 76 games this season, they managed to match their strengths against a super intense team. Technically, especially in defense, he was always right. Penalties are a punishment and it is always like that for the loser. Safanov waited for Pedro and then defied logic, placing himself in the center of the goal for the second time in a row. The normal thing is to wait once. Not two.
The doubt about whether it is possible to face the Europeans needs to be taken seriously. It’s not always, but on a case-by-case basis, yes. Flamengo was better able to face PSG than Fluminense would face Manchester City. Botafogo doesn’t even count, because they arrived for their clash last year devastated after the last round of the Brazilian Championship. In 2022, Flamengo itself disappointed and Real Madrid didn’t have to wait. But, in 2021, Palmeiras made Chelsea run until the 120th minute to become champions.
I wrote here in Folha, 15 days ago. about the power of Flamengo and Palmeiras. Clubs that earn more than R$1 billion per year, that know how to spend and that, not surprisingly, are dominating football in Brazil and South America.
We need to put mutts aside. There is a European super elite made up of Bayern, PSG, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool (not the one from recent weeks) and, eventually, Chelsea. Against the rest, I believe it is normal for a good Brazilian team to play well and win. Against this elite, the normal thing is to lose, but Flamengo had the courage to look it in the face and face it.
He lost, as it would be normal to lose, but without being defeated.
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