Leonardo Jardim reveals why he vetoed De La Cruz v Flamengo | OneFootball

Flamengo and Athletico-PR drew 1-1 in the absence of Nicolás De La Cruz

Nicolás De La Cruz was left out of another Flamengo match this Sunday (17). As a result, Leonardo Jardim explained the Uruguayan’s absence from Flamengo’s last two matches after the 1-1 draw with Athletico-PR on the synthetic turf at Arena da Baixada.

— De La Cruz, considering the kind of game Vitória plays, I already had to take him off at halftime at the Maracanã because Vitória plays with direct long balls. And our De La Cruz is not a player with those characteristics. He is a player who needs to have the ball, and he struggled. That’s why I took him off at halftime in the first game. In this match, I wasn’t going to make that mistake -, he said, and added:

— Our bet, since we were behind, was to use more of Pedro and Bruno (Henrique), so we could be more aggressive in the central area. We had I don’t know how many long balls, created several chances, but ended up not finishing them. It’s not a personal issue with De La Cruz, but a matter of strategy. The two holding midfielders, Jorginho and Evertton, were doing well in the match (against Vitória), and that was our decision -, Jardim said in a press conference.

Where is De La Cruz?

The Most Beloved has played 33 matches this season. Of that total, the Uruguayan midfielder has featured in 17. The midfielder’s last appearance came in the 15th round against Grêmio. On that occasion, the player was on the field for only three minutes.

How did Flamengo draw with Athletico-PR?

In the absence of De La Cruz, Mendoza opened the scoring with a cross-shot that got past Rossi in the first half. In the second half, however, Fla equalized thanks to the speed of Bruno Henrique, who set up Pedro to find the net.

What is Flamengo’s next match?

Before Palmeiras, however, Flamengo hosts Estudiantes (ARG) at the Maracanã on Wednesday (20). The ball starts rolling at 9:30 PM (Brasília time) for the fifth round of Group A of the Libertadores.

Therefore, Coluna do Fla will bring all the details of the match through YouTube, the website, and social media. The broadcast of the match, however, will be on Globo (free-to-air), ESPN (pay TV), and Disney+ (streaming).

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