Filipe Luís: Flamengo v Internacional was a near 2025 embarrassment | OneFootball

Filipe Luís admitted that Flamengo played poorly against Internacional

After saying that Flamengo played well in the defeats to Fluminense, São Paulo, and Corinthians, Filipe Luís changed his stance. After the 1-1 draw with Internacional on Wednesday (04), the coach acknowledged that the team performed poorly at Maracanã and compared the red-black performance to the 1-0 victory over Deportivo Táchira (VEN) in the Libertadores of 2025.

— I acknowledge the team's poor game. It reminded me a lot of the game against Táchira, in last year's Libertadores, this back and forth, some actions and pressures at the wrong time, it reminded me a lot of that game. Today it was very evident that the players are lacking a bit physically. As they are not yet physically well, in the way I expect them to be and they are used to playing, they are arriving late to press, the ball is slipping a bit from their feet, and this is also linked to the mental aspect, with wrong decisions — said Filipe Luís.

— You get more tired, think worse, make wrong decisions. From what I know of them, it will still take a little while, but I have no doubt that we are on the right path, the players are already improving and we will come back. These aspects will be corrected, I am sure the pressures will fit, the line will move up together, everything will be in better timing. Today I saw my team very exposed to the point of saying we were closer to defeat than victory — added the coach.

WHY WAS THE GAME AGAINST TÁCHIRA ALMOST A DISASTER?

In the last round of the first phase of last year's Libertadores, Flamengo defeated the already eliminated Deportivo Táchira (VEN) by only 1-0. The Venezuelans, even without motivation, created great goal opportunities. One of them, in the last move of the game, had a spectacular save by Rossi with his feet. If the match had ended in a draw, Mengo would have been eliminated.

WHAT IS THE SIMILARITY BETWEEN FLAMENGO'S GAMES AGAINST INTER AND TÁCHIRA, AFTER ALL?

Just like Táchira last year, Internacional also had good chances to score at Maracanã. The clearest one was with Aguirre, who came face to face with Rossi, but took too long to finish. Rafael Santos Borré was the one who found the net, exploiting a gap in Mengo's defense in a counterattack. Later, Arrascaeta equalized in the second half.

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