Luan Peres: Santos face ten finals in fight to avoid relegation | OneFootball

Even with the delicate situation in the Brasileirão, Santos opened the doors of CT Rei Pelé for a press conference with Luan Peres. The defender admitted the club’s fight against relegation and explained a controversial statement made after the defeat to Vitória last Monday.

“It’s a very uncomfortable situation, we’ve been in this position [16th] for quite some time. Our start to the championship was really bad; in the first rounds we had five points, we were last or second to last, so we got off to a huge delay at that point in the championship. Later, we started to pick up points, but I think that beginning was a delicate moment for us. Now, we’re scoring more, but we still haven’t managed to get out of this uncomfortable situation. And it seems that when we gain momentum, or come off a win or a draw and it’s time to pull away, we can’t do it, and the opponents win and get closer. Like it was against Vitória, for example. When it’s time to open up a gap, we’re not managing it. We know that our goal until the end of the championship is not to go down. It’s with this feeling that we’ll go until the end, to get the 45 points to stay in Série A,” acknowledged the defender.

As the defender said, Santos is in a delicate situation in Série A. The club lost to Vitória 1-0 in the last round, right at Vila Belmiro, and is now closer to the relegation zone. The team occupies 16th place, with 31 points, the same as Leão, who currently opens the Z4.

(Photo: Thais Bueno/Gazeta Press)

Luan Peres then highlighted the importance of Santos’ remaining matches in Série A. The Alvinegro Praiano will face tough rivals ahead, such as Botafogo, Flamengo, Palmeiras (twice), and Mirassol, but will need to treat every match as a final to avoid relegation.

“Absolutely [if Santos treats the last ten games as finals]. We lost the chance in the last game to open a good gap [from the Z4]. We know the position we put ourselves in after that defeat. Everyone knows our situation. Everyone is aware of it, from the board to the coaching staff and players. It’s up to us to turn this around. We have ten finals ahead, whether away or at home, we have to go in to win and add points, because we have a goal in the championship that must be achieved,” said the defender.

Luan Peres explains controversial statement

After the defeat to Vitória, Luan Peres gave an interview still on the pitch and said he was “fed up” with Santos’ situation in the Brazilian Championship. The team has been inconsistent and seems unable to break away from the bottom positions of the standings.

“It was said in the heat of the moment after the game, but also not at the same time. I’m a bit fed up now too, I didn’t want to be in this situation. It’s Santos’ future and our future at stake. The fans have been going through this for a few years in the championship, they’ve been fed up for quite a while too. That’s what I meant to say. It’s only up to us, we have ten games, we have to turn this around and get points, because that’s not where we should be,” justified the defender.

Luan Peres also took the opportunity to comment on the penalty committed by Gabriel Brazão on Renzo López, which ended up sealing Santos’ defeat by 1-0, right at Vila Belmiro, on Monday. The player admitted the decision was “a bit mistaken,” but defended his teammate.

“That was another mistake, a slightly mistaken decision. It wasn’t a communication error, because the goalkeeper wants to go for that ball, and so does the defender. It’s kind of instinct for both. He wants to play his game, I want to play mine, so it ends up being a slightly mistaken decision. Because of that, a penalty happened. Brazão is a goalkeeper who has already saved us countless times in the championship. It was just a mistake with everyone trying to do their best there,” concluded the number 14.

Luan Peres is one of the leaders of the current Santos squad and has been the main defensive pillar of the team this season, remaining among the starters even with the constant change of coaches. The defender has played 31 matches in 2025, starting 27 of them.

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