Abel Ferreira rues Palmeiras draw: ‘We gave away two goals’

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·29 January 2026

Abel Ferreira rues Palmeiras draw: ‘We gave away two goals’

Palmeiras kicked off the Brazilian Championship with a 2-2 draw against Atlético-MG on Wednesday night (28th), at Arena MRV, in Belo Horizonte-MG. After the match, Abel Ferreira commented on the defensive mistakes that led to the opponent’s two goals.

– We were more dangerous. The opponent deserves credit, they are organized, were fortunate with their goals, but we made mistakes, we conceded two goals.

Abel also complained about Palmeiras’ attacking power and the missed chances in the second half, before conceding the second goal. Despite that, he liked that the team reached the final third of the pitch.

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– Before conceding the goal that turned the game, we had two clear chances and I liked that we brought the ball to the final third. I think our opponent was fortunate and we weren’t as much.

The match opened the 2026 Brazilian Championship. In Abel’s view, even with the tournament starting earlier in 2026, the quality shown was good. He emphasized that in the Brasileirão, even the champion drops a lot of points.

– Brazilian teams are competitive and skilled, it’s the championship where the champion loses the most points. But it was an exciting game, though not so much for the coach.

The Portuguese coach also spoke about the Brazilian Football Confederation announcing the creation of a program to formalize referees’ employment contracts. The idea is that the proposal will initially apply to Série A Brazilian Championship matches. According to the organization, 72 professionals will have contracts lasting one year: 20 main referees, 40 assistants, and 12 VAR referees.

– More than just criticizing what is or isn’t done, now we see that the CBF wants to professionalize referees. Of course, this is a process, it’s an evaluation, and I hope it will be ongoing. That in four to five years we can improve. The people who have the power to decide seem to want to do it.

What now?

Palmeiras returns to the field for the Brazilian Championship next Wednesday (4th), at 9:30 p.m. (Brasília time) at Allianz Parque, for the second round of the national competition. Before that, they return to the pitch on Sunday (1st), at 8:30 p.m., against Botafogo-SP, for the sixth round of the first phase of the Paulista Championship.