Filipe Luís explains delay in playing Saúl as Flamengo's midfielder | OneFootball

Announced by Flamengo on July 23, Saúl made his debut as a starter on Sunday (17)

Saúl Ñíguez, one of Flamengo's heavy reinforcements in the second transfer window of 2025, debuted as a midfielder on Sunday (17), in the 3-1 victory over Internacional, for the 20th round of the Brasileirão. After the match, Filipe Luís praised the midfielder's performance and then explained why he chose to use him as a starter and in the 'position of origin' only now.

— Saúl had a great game, an excellent game. When he arrived at Flamengo, he wasn't training with any team and was on vacation. Until he got in physical shape, I tried to give him minutes -, Filipe Luís began in a post-match press conference, before adding:

HOW WAS SAÚL'S GAME IN INTERNACIONAL X FLAMENGO?

After three appearances off the bench, Saúl Ñíguez started among the starters and remained on the field for 90 minutes. During the performance, the number 8 recorded 90% pass completion (57 out of 63), completed two launches, and suffered two fouls, according to data from the 'Sofascore' website.

This Sunday (17), for the first time, Saúl formed a midfielder duo with Jorginho, which represented a novelty in positioning. This is because, in previous games, the midfielder played further forward, occupying the right side of the midfield after entering the games after entering the field.

WHAT IS FLAMENGO'S NEXT GAME?

With Saúl available, Flamengo returns to the field this Wednesday (20). On the occasion, Mengão faces Internacional again, this time in the return of the round of 16 of the Libertadores. Thus, the ball rolls at 9:30 PM (Brasília time), at the Beira-Rio Stadium. As they won the first leg, Rubro-Negro plays for a draw to advance to the quarterfinals.

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