Matheus Bidu sorry after Corinthians' Libertadores exit: ‘Very bitter’ | OneFootball

Corinthians’ elimination from the 2026 Conmebol Libertadores left an atmosphere of frustration at Neo Química Arena. After the 1-0 defeat to Estudiantes on Wednesday night (16), Matheus Bidu spoke about the quarterfinal exit, apologized to the fans, and described a devastated dressing room after the result.

Timão took the field after drawing the first leg 1-1 in La Plata, but failed to make the most of home advantage to move on. With the defeat in Itaquera, the Argentine side closed the tie with a 2-1 aggregate score and secured qualification.

When analyzing the performance, Bidu avoided looking for explanations for the elimination and acknowledged the weight of the result. For the left-back, in a competition like the Libertadores, mistakes end up having a direct impact on deciding a knockout tie.

“There’s not much to say. Just apologize. We tried our hardest to get through, it was a very bitter elimination. We know the Libertadores is very complicated, and the team that makes fewer mistakes ends up going through. Unfortunately, today was not a very happy day for us. It’s been a very sad day, a very bitter elimination. All we can do is apologize to everyone who believed in us the whole time.”

Bidu avoids singling anyone out after Memphis play

One of the moments discussed after the match involved Memphis Depay. In the final play of the tie, the No. 10 had the chance to level the score, but failed to convert the penalty.

Asked about what Memphis had said to his teammates after the game, Bidu preferred to share responsibility for the result across the whole squad. The full-back recalled the Dutchman’s importance in other moments and said it would not be right to pin the elimination on one player.

“At this moment, there’s not much to say. All the players, everyone was devastated in the dressing room. Everyone was extremely sad, because we really believed in qualification. As for Memphis, he’s a player who has helped us in many moments, difficult moments. There’s not much to say, because in football we know it’s very complicated, there are many situations. And when you win, everyone wins. When you lose, everyone loses. As I said, the group is united. Today everyone was eliminated. There’s not much to say about one player or another.”

The sense of disappointment also came through when Bidu described how the result was received internally. In addition to thanking the fans for their support from the stands, the player called the defeat a night he would like to leave behind.

“We know this is an elimination that weighs heavily. We really believed in a possible qualification. As I said, everyone is very sad, there’s not much to say at this moment. Thank the fans for their support, they helped us until the end, and apologize to them, because it wasn’t the way we imagined, bringing joy to everyone.

It wasn’t the qualification we wanted. As I said, it’s a very sad night, a night to try to erase from memory, as difficult as that may be. Now it’s about getting our heads straight and continuing to work. We know we have the Brazilian league ahead of us, we have to face the Brazilian league. We know we are also going through a very difficult situation, with some defeats. Now we need to find the path to victory again.”

Full-back clarifies statement about the squad’s ‘credit’

Bidu was also reminded of an earlier statement in which he mentioned the achievements of the current group while speaking about the fans’ criticism. This time, the full-back said his words ended up being misinterpreted and rejected the idea that previous results give players any permanent credit.

“I think, regarding that, there’s not much to say. Maybe at that moment I spoke in a way that was a bit misunderstood. I think we never have any credit. Every day we work to bring the fans a lot of joy, a lot of victories. Today is the moment to apologize to all the fans, to thank them for their support, and ask them to keep believing, no matter how difficult this moment is, no matter how sad it is, to keep believing in us, because we will always try to give everything, to give ourselves on the pitch to bring joy to all of them.”

Corinthians must respond in the Brazilian Championship

The Libertadores exit increases the need for Corinthians to recover immediately in the Brazilian Championship. The club is going through a poor run in the national competition and sits in 13th place with 32 points after 27 rounds. There have been eight wins, eight draws and 11 defeats, as well as 28 goals scored and 29 conceded.

Bidu acknowledged how difficult the moment is and said the squad will have little time to absorb the elimination. The next match is already on Sunday (20), against Fluminense.

“We know we’re going through a very difficult moment in the Brazilian league. Today’s elimination was a very heavy, very sad elimination, but I think there’s not much to say. It’s about getting our heads straight, trying to forget what happened tonight, as difficult as that may be. On Sunday we already have an extremely important game. We’re going through a very difficult moment in the Brazilian league, but we’re going to try to bounce back, try to bring victories and joy to the fans.”

Bidu admits Corinthians is ‘owing’ at home

Finally, the full-back was asked about Corinthians’ recent results at Neo Química Arena and the difficulty in turning the fans’ support into an on-field advantage.

Bidu acknowledged that playing at home has historically been one of the club’s strengths. According to the player, wearing the Corinthians shirt naturally brings pressure, regardless of where the match is played, but the team has not been able to deliver the response expected in front of the Fiel.

“We know Corinthians’ strong point has always been home matches. As for the pressure, playing for Corinthians is already pressure, regardless of whether it’s at home or away. We strongly believe that the 4×4 is very strong, it’s a very strong point of Corinthians, but unfortunately we weren’t able to give the return we should have. We owe a little, we’re very frustrated by today’s elimination, very sad. All we can do is apologize, apologize to the fans and once again ask them to keep believing in us. No matter how hard tonight is, today’s elimination, we will try to put this elimination behind us and focus on the Brazilian league, because we know we are going through a very delicate moment.”

With Libertadores no longer on the schedule, Corinthians now turns its attention to the Brazilian league before the FIFA international break. Alvinegro hosts Fluminense next Sunday at 4 p.m. (Brasília time), again at Neo Química Arena, for the 28th round, looking to stop the negative run and get back to winning this season.

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