Ceni rues heavy defeat to Mirassol, says Bahia squad is "exhausted" | OneFootball

Bahia was thrashed by Mirassol last Sunday, with a score of 5 to 1, at the Campos Maia stadium, for the 22nd round of the Brazilian Championship. Coach Rogério Ceni lamented the defeat.

The loss marked the first time that Ceni has conceded five goals in a single match as a coach. The commander explained the strategy used against the opponent.

"It's always difficult. It's the first time in my career as a coach that I have suffered such a large defeat. It was a choice we made to practically repeat the team from the middle back, making the changes more forward. It was something I thought about during the game, and I take responsibility for keeping this team. If we made all the changes against a team as well-fitted as Mirassol, we could suffer a lot and not have the ball. Keeping this part of the construction, I thought that through ball possession we could control and give fewer chances to Mirassol,” he said, in a press conference after the game.

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Alive in three competitions, Bahia ended the month of August with eight games, both for the Brazilian Championship and the Brazil Cup and the Northeast Cup. Ceni stated that the squad is tired, but there is no time for rest.

"We know everyone is exhausted, tired, and needed rest. But there is no such window of opportunity for us. I regret it a lot. It's a painful defeat. It's not easy for a team the size of Bahia to suffer a defeat of 5. It's a sporadic and unnatural thing," he pointed out.

Bahia will have to quickly switch gears. This is because the team takes the field this Wednesday, against Confiança, for the first leg of the Northeast Cup final. The ball rolls at the Batistão Arena, in Aracaju, at 9:30 pm (Brasília time).

"I saw a team with more energy than ours. Unfortunately, we did not find ourselves. Mirassol, with every move they made, created danger. When we ventured to attack, we suffered counterattacks and the team was quite spaced. It's a delicate moment, and we have to try to absorb it in the best possible way. While everyone rests, we have a title dispute this week. We have to focus on this and find a team that has energy to compete in this first away game," he concluded.

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