Palmeiras stumble again v G6, Abel downplays worries: "Only them?" | OneFootball

The Palmeiras stumbled again against a rival from the current G6 of the Brazilian Championship, but coach Abel Ferreira did not seem bothered by the situation. Last Sunday, Verdão was defeated 2-1 by Mirassol at Campos Maia Stadium, in the 33rd round of the national competition.

"Do we only play against the G6? No, so that's it. What bothers me is the way we played today and how the opponent was much superior to us on all levels. That bothers me. The rest... we don't just play against the G6, G7, G20, G30," said the coach in a press conference.

"This is a test of consistency. The winner is the one who scores the most points, and we'll see at the end who has the most points. For me, it's the same, it's the three points we win against the G6, or G7, or G1. They are the same points we lost against Bahia, for example, and other teams. It's worth three points," Abel added.

Palmeiras will not face any more rivals from the current G6 in this edition of the Brazilian Championship. At the moment, the group includes: Flamengo (runner-up), Cruzeiro (third place), Mirassol (fourth place), Bahia (fifth place), and Botafogo (sixth place).

Up to this 33rd round, therefore, Verdão faced 10 matches against the other top teams on the table. There were six losses, three draws, and only one victory, totaling a 20% success rate. The team scored only six goals and conceded 12, double that amount.

Alviverde suffered two defeats to Bahia (1-0 at Allianz and 1-0 at Fonte Nova), two defeats to Flamengo (2-0 at home and 3-2 at Maracanã), a draw and a defeat against Cruzeiro (0-0 at Allianz and 2-1 at Mineirão), a draw and a defeat to Mirassol (1-1 at Allianz and 2-1 away), as well as a draw and a victory over Botafogo (0-0 at home and 1-0 in Rio).

Against the G4, Palmeiras' performance is even worse. The Alviverde team, which remains very much alive in the title race, has not yet beaten the direct rivals, with four defeats and two draws, having only an 11.1% success rate.

However, coach Abel Ferreira's statement is not entirely wrong. Despite the setbacks against the current G6 opponents, Palmeiras remains the leader of the Brasileirão.

Standings Situation

With the result, Palmeiras remained at the top of the Brazilian Championship but saw Flamengo equal its points. Verdão has 68 points and stays on top due to tiebreaker criteria – it has one more victory than Rubro-Negro, who beat Santos 3-2 in the round.

Palmeiras' Upcoming Matches

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