Sampaoli rues defeat, worried by goals before Sul-Americana final | OneFootball

In the last match before the Copa Sudamericana final against Lanús-ARG, Atlético-MG was defeated by RB Bragantino 2-0 this Sunday at the Cícero de Souza Marques Stadium, in a match brought forward from the 37th round of the Brazilian Championship. Coach Jorge Sampaoli lamented the setback and expressed great concern about the defensive sector.

“We talked about this, that the team had previously fixed a lot in the defensive sector and was lacking offensively. Without Alan Franco (with the Ecuador national team), who gives us more containment, the team felt it a bit in defense. That’s what we have to fix this week. We’ll try to improve some actions that, certainly, before the final, we need to correct,” said Sampaoli in the post-match press conference.

Even Match

Next, in Sampaoli’s view, the game was balanced with chances for both sides. However, after conceding the goal, things got complicated for Galo.

“The first half was even. We also had clear chances in the second half before we conceded the goal. Then, they (Bragantino) came right after and scored. The match started to get complicated after we were down a player. If we had scored first, we would have had a great chance to win,” said Sampaoli.

With the defeat, Atlético-MG remained at 44 points after 34 matches, occupying tenth place in the Brazilian Championship standings. The grand final of the Copa Sudamericana, against Lanús, is this Saturday (22), at 5 p.m. (Brasília time), in Asunción, Paraguay.

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