Arão: Santos must focus on derby, Neymar’s anger is water under bridge | OneFootball

Going through one of the most delicate phases of the season, Santos heads into the derby against Palmeiras under pressure due to the fight against relegation. The 3-2 defeat to Flamengo last Sunday kept the team in 17th place, with 33 points, two behind the first club outside the relegation zone. It’s now five games without a win, with two draws and three losses, further increasing the tension within the squad.

In this context, Willian Arão emphasized that the team needs to avoid letting their position in the table affect their performance on the field. The midfielder stated that, although he has never been directly involved in a relegation battle before, he sees a clear path to react: focus exclusively on the immediate result.

“I’ve never experienced this in my career, but moments of pressure require one thing: not thinking about the consequences. It’s not about dwelling on our position in the table, but about winning the game. When you play a final, many freeze up because they think too much about the final. Here it’s the same. We can’t think about relegation itself. If we win, we’ll naturally get out of this situation,” he said.

Arão also commented on the episode involving Neymar, who left the field upset after being substituted against Flamengo. The number 10 started the match after being rested at Allianz Parque, but was taken off in the 40th minute of the second half, kicked a cup of water on the bench, and went straight to the locker room, while Santos reacted and scored two goals without him on the pitch.

According to the midfielder, the locker room was not bothered by the star’s reaction: “That’s water under the bridge. Everyone reacts in their own way. No one was bothered, no one felt offended. No one likes being substituted. Now, we can’t focus on details like that. We have to think about Palmeiras and what we need to do to win,” he continued.

With the urgent need to pick up points to get out of the relegation zone, Arão reinforced that Santos cannot let external factors disrupt their preparation: “We can only think about Palmeiras and how we’re going to play to win the match,” he concluded.

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