Piquerez: Palmeiras’ year “positive” despite Libertadores loss | OneFootball

Last Saturday, Palmeiras lost 1-0 to Flamengo and ended up as the runner-up in the Libertadores. The Verdão also finished second in the Paulistão and is virtually expected to miss out on the Brazilian title. Even with everything pointing to the first trophyless season since 2019, the full-back Piquerez described the season as "positive".

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The Uruguayan says he "understands" the fans' frustration but believes that the Libertadores final was a reflection of the last month and not the entire season. Palmeiras hasn't won in six games (Mirassol, Santos, Vitória, Fluminense, Grêmio, and Flamengo).

"It's sad, I'm upset. It's a feeling of defeat... of suffering. This is a reflection of the last month, not the whole year... If you see what we did throughout the year, it's positive. We practically reached three finals out of five championships. But, obviously, the fans see it as a failure because we didn't win a title. But we do a deeper analysis and we did many good things," said the full-back in an interview with ESPN.

Better Days Will Come

Following the positive line, Piquerez emphasized Palmeiras' promising squad. With almost R$ 700 million spent this season, the green squad mixes experienced players and promising youngsters.

"We have a new squad, we are building a new team this year. We competed in all competitions this year and the victories didn't come," he concluded.

The Uruguayan has been with Palmeiras since 2021, was part of the Libertadores-winning team in 2021, precisely against Flamengo, and already has eight trophies as a Verdão player. Besides him, only Weverton and Gustavo Gómez were in the decision four seasons ago.

Moving Forward

Verdão now picks up the pieces and tries to reposition itself in the race for the Brazilian Championship title. Abel Ferreira's team occupies the second position on the table with 70 points, five less than the leader Flamengo, with two rounds remaining in the competition.

Next Palmeiras Match

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