Lucas Gonçalves hails Atlético’s response, eyes América derby

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·15 février 2026

Lucas Gonçalves hails Atlético’s response, eyes América derby

After the 7-2 thrashing of Itabirito in Nova Lima on Saturday night (14th), assistant coach Lucas Gonçalves highlighted Atlético Mineiro’s attitude and valued the team’s qualification for the semifinals of the Campeonato Mineiro.

With this result, Galo finished the first phase at the top of Group A and will face América Mineiro, the leader of Group B. On the other side of the bracket, Cruzeiro and Pouso Alegre FC will compete for the other spot in the final.

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“We knew it was decisive”

Lucas began the interview by emphasizing the importance of the match for the continuation of the State Championship and revealed that the team had little time to prepare before the clash.

A match we knew would be very decisive, we needed the win to qualify. Even depending on other results, we knew that if we did our part, we’d leave the rest to our opponents, something we couldn’t control. We had little time to prepare for this match, just one training session, but we managed to make some adjustments to our strategy. We needed to have an offensive team, but with a lot of balance.

Atlético showed an aggressive attitude from the start and built the rout in the first half, securing their spot with authority.

Strategic changes in the starting lineup and board’s confidence

Asked about the changes in the starting lineup, the assistant explained that the choices were made specifically with the opponent’s characteristics and the expected type of match in mind:

It was more of a strategic issue. In the starting eleven, we try to look at various aspects that will define it, including the opponent, the type of match, and what we’re aiming for. It was a match with a bit more dueling, and Vitor Hugo (defender) has that virtue of dueling well, as well as being strong in the air, and I think he fulfilled that role well.

Regarding Gustavo Scarpa’s inclusion among the starters, Lucas reinforced the midfielder’s current form and his importance in set pieces: “As for Scarpa’s inclusion, he had been training well, coming on well in games, and besides his set-piece ability and finishing, he even managed to score a goal. Everything was thought out exclusively for this match.”

Lucas Gonçalves also commented on taking charge of the team as interim coach once again, after Jorge Sampaoli’s departure, and thanked the board for their trust: “Regarding taking charge of the team (on an interim basis), it wasn’t the first time. Including today, that’s now 9 matches. This shows the board’s confidence in an important project that Galo is developing, with planning, direction, and a clear path. Whenever there’s a deviation along the way, it’s good to have this trust to step in and get results back on track.”

Next challenge

Qualified and riding high after the rout, Atlético now focuses on the derby against América, with a spot in the Mineiro final at stake. Before that, Galo will only return to the pitch on February 25th, when they face Grêmio in Porto Alegre, for the 4th round of the Campeonato Brasileiro.

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