Dorival: Corinthians deserved loss, Copa do Brasil will differ | OneFootball

Coach Dorival Júnior assessed that Corinthians fully deserved the 3-0 defeat to Cruzeiro this Sunday, in the 35th round of the Brazilian Championship. Timão was dominated by their rivals from Minas Gerais and finished the match at Mineirão without a single shot on target.

“Cruzeiro deserved the result from the first to the last minute, played a solid, balanced match within their conditions, created chances, on a night when once again we couldn’t find our way. We didn’t have possession, we had the ball for only a few moments in the match, and we faced serious difficulties throughout the entire period,” analyzed Dorival.

This Sunday’s clash was a preview of the Copa do Brasil semifinal, in which Cruzeiro and Corinthians will face off for a spot in the final. According to Dorival, Timão can take some lessons from the defeat, but the coach also called for a different attitude from the team.

“[There are] many lessons and we have to interpret them the right way. And most importantly, we need to have the attitude of a team that truly wants to achieve a better situation in such an important championship, at such a crucial stage, so that we can deserve to fight for a place,” said the coach, who expressed belief in a different scenario in the Copa do Brasil.

“I’m sure the fans trust the team and the scenario will be different, for sure. Let’s wait, and you can ask me again after the two matches,” he added.

Dorival explains changes

Dorival’s choices for the starting lineup, sticking with three center-backs, as well as the substitutions in the second half, drew attention. Raniele, recovered from injury, started in midfield, as did Hugo, who replaced Bidu as the left wing-back. At halftime, Carrillo, André, and Vitinho were brought on.

“Every time you take someone out, the other is always questioned. The other day it was André Ramalho’s return and Tchoca’s absence. Today, the presence of one and the absence of another. It’s a matter of timing, you have to make a choice. We didn’t have the ball, we needed an option with ball possession, that’s why Carrillo. He’s a player who can give us that, and he delivered. I strengthened the sector with André’s presence,” he explained.

“The option with three center-backs and freedom for the full-backs had been working. Today it didn’t, that freedom wasn’t taken advantage of. We didn’t have possession and didn’t create. And worse, when we tried to transition, we made mistakes with passes through the middle and Cruzeiro is very vertical and reached our area very easily. We had to make changes because of that,” he added.

Dorival was also asked about the sending off of José Martínez, the second in the last four games, but he dodged the question. The Venezuelan, who had just returned from suspension against São Paulo, is now suspended again and will not face Botafogo next Sunday.

“It catches everyone’s attention, an isolated play, very hard to imagine what could happen to the player at a moment like that. It was a simple play, there was no contest, it was a simple play, there was no contest. On the contrary, he arrived right after the play. But it’s hard to evaluate from the outside the way we were observing,” the coach concluded.

Standings situation

With this result, Corinthians once again faltered in the Brasileirão and saw their dream of a spot in the Pre-Libertadores become more distant. The Alvinegro sits in tenth place, with 45 points, and can no longer reach the G7. The team is ten points behind Fluminense, currently in seventh place.

Corinthians’ upcoming matches

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