Palmeiras tries to break negative series before Libertadores final

With less than a week to go before the Copa Libertadores final, the Palmeiras fan doesn’t think about anything other than the confrontation with Flamengo, in Montevideo, on the 27th.

Before that, however, the team alviverde has another commitment for the Brazilian Championship, this Tuesday (23), against Atlético-MG, which is very close to confirming the title at Nacional, the second in its history.

Focused on the continental decision and with the Brazilian in the hands of the club from Minas Gerais, Palmeiras will at least have the opportunity to break a bad series before the final in Uruguay.

The team comes from three consecutive defeats (Fluminense, São Paulo and Fortaleza). The duel in which they will try to avoid a fourth straight defeat will be at 9.30 pm, at Allianz Parque – Premiere broadcasts.

After the match against the leader of the Brazilian Championship, the Alviverde delegation leaves for Uruguay, on Wednesday (24th), at 15:00.

Interestingly, last season, the team led by Abel Ferreira also reached the final of the continental tournament amid a bad series. Before overcoming Santos, at Maracanã, by 1-0, they had gone three matches without a win, all for Nacional — there were two defeats (Flamengo and Ceará) and a draw (Vasco).

The duel with the Rio team was the last before the decisive derby at Libertadores. And on that occasion, the Portuguese coach sent to the field, on January 26, four days to face Santos, an entirely reserve team.

In front of Atlético-MG, the commander will use the same option. Although he does not confirm his lineups in advance, he made this clear in recent games, including being widely criticized for that decision, especially after the defeat by São Paulo, 2-0, at Allianz Parque.

In the last round, he also saved a series of holders in the setback against Fortaleza (1-0), but he did not receive as much criticism as after the derby. The Portuguese, however, is convinced of his decisions.

“I don’t do miracles, there’s no magic with the way it’s organized and the calendar done. I’m paid to make decisions and I take responsibility for my decisions. We have a plan and we’ll stick to it, no matter what.” , he stated.

If they manage to take Palmeiras to the third Libertadores championship, there will certainly be few fans who will remember the current negative series. That’s why Abel bets all the chips he has against Flamengo.

With this Tuesday’s opponent with the head in the decision, Atlético-MG will be able to take the last steps towards the Brazilian title, which can be confirmed mathematically on Sunday (28), against Fluminense.

For this, in addition to beating the Palmeirenses and the team from Rio de Janeiro, they need to root for Flamengo, the runner-up, not to defeat Grêmio, this Tuesday (23). Thus, the Atleticanos would add 80 points after the game with the tricolor from Rio, while the team from Gávea could only reach 79 with the remaining games.