Ceni admits Bahia fell short in Pré-Libertadores defeat | OneFootball

This Wednesday, Bahia made their debut in the first leg of the second round of the Copa Libertadores preliminary phase with a 1-0 defeat against O’Higgins, away from home, and are now at a disadvantage to reach the next stage. Rogério Ceni, coach of the Tricolor, acknowledged the team’s performance was below expectations in the match, but stated that he believes in their qualification.

“It was a disastrous first half for us. Many players did not play well, we improved in the second half, had control of the game, possession of the ball, but we couldn’t be effective. The 1-0 scoreline is very common in the Copa Libertadores, we have to be prepared to turn it around, we count a lot on our fans and we have to play a better game than this to secure this spot. But we are fully convinced that we will be able to overturn today’s result,” the coach began.

Rogério Ceni justified his choice of Erick to fill in for Everton Ribeiro, who was serving a suspension. The coach also commented on the decision to bring on Caio Alexandre still in the first half, precisely in place of Bahia’s number 7’s substitute.

“I had four options: Erick, Caio, Nestor, and David Martins. Each one has a different playing style. Since we conceded an early goal, they dropped their lines and it became difficult for us. We needed a playmaker. I thought a lot about Caio, but he only trained with me in that role yesterday. Erick started, and when Erick came off, it could have been any other player, it wasn’t a technical issue,” Ceni explained.

Bahia’s next match

Before the second leg of the second round of the Pre-Libertadores, Bahia faces Atlético de Alagoinhas this Saturday at 4 p.m. (Brasília time) for the ninth round of the Campeonato Baiano.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.