Palmeiras: Abel Ferreira faces dilemma before decider against Santos | OneFootball

Palmeiras is turning its attention to the Copa do Brasil this week in a scenario that has already become familiar this season. In the previous two knockout ties in which they built a significant advantage at home, Verdão won the first leg by 3-0, and Abel Ferreira chose to rest some of his starters in the return match.

Palmeiras beat Santos 3-0 in the first leg of the quarterfinals on the 26th, and head to Vila Belmiro able to manage that advantage. Flaco López scored twice, and Andreas Pereira added the other goal.

Brasileirão changes the context

On Sunday (30), Palmeiras drew 1-1 with Mirassol away from home in the 25th round. Eduardo opened the scoring for the home side, and Maurício equalized for Verdão.

The result kept Palmeiras at the top of the table with 52 points, but cut their lead over Flamengo to four points.

Flamengo, meanwhile, beat Botafogo 3-0 at the Maracanã and moved up to 48 points. In addition to closing the gap, Flamengo also have a game in hand against Mirassol themselves, scheduled for this Wednesday (2). A win could leave the Rio side just one point behind Palmeiras.

Abel has already indicated he does not intend to simply rest players

Even before the draw against Mirassol, Abel Ferreira had made it clear that the advantage built against Santos would not necessarily mean a rotated lineup.

After the 3-0 win in the first leg, the coach said he did not intend to rest starters just because of the scoreline and stressed the need to compete in every tournament at full strength.

Absences increase the problem

Palmeiras are dealing with a number of absences at the moment. After the win over Santos, Jhon Arias and Piquerez were diagnosed with muscle injuries and became unavailable. Gustavo Gómez, who had left the derby as a precaution, was not found to have any injury.

Arias, in fact, was rested against Mirassol, while Felipe Anderson started in his place. In addition to the injured players, Abel also has to manage the fitness of players who have been piling up minutes during a demanding run of matches.

Palmeiras could have reinforcements in the coming matches

The main news from training this Monday (31) was the presence of three players who returned to work with the squad again: center-back Alexander Barboza, left-back Joaquín Piquerez, and attacking midfielder Jhon Arias.

Barboza had been rested for the match against Mirassol due to a foot injury. Piquerez, meanwhile, was recovering from swelling in his right thigh, while Arias is being treated for a minor injury to his right thigh.

Rotate the squad or keep the main players?

With a three-goal advantage, Palmeiras have room to rest the more fatigued players and give opportunities to those who have been playing less. At the same time, an elimination that now seems unlikely could completely change the assessment of any decision made by Abel.

The coach has used this strategy before in the Copa do Brasil: build a comfortable lead at home and, in the return leg, manage minutes and make changes to the team. This time, however, there is an added factor: the Brasileirão title race has tightened up. With Flamengo getting closer and closer and still having a game in hand, every round has taken on even more “weight” in the fight for the title.

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