Abel: Palmeiras "suffered" in Mirassol win, slams "inhumane" schedule | OneFootball

The final whistle at Allianz Parque was a relief for Abel Ferreira, who led Palmeiras to a 1-0 victory over Mirassol on Sunday night, in the sixth round of the Brazilian Championship. The coach celebrated the result and the team's effort but said that the team "suffered a lot" to secure the three points in their home debut of the season.

The coach took the opportunity to criticize the Brazilian football calendar by comparing his team's weariness throughout the game with that of Mirassol. Abel highlighted the difference in the number of games played by the two teams over a 30-day period.

"You can bring Messi, Ronaldo, the best in the world and do what we do here with the players. It's not just Palmeiras. It's for the good of Brazilian football. Because Palmeiras reached the final, while we were playing the final, other teams were resting, preparing the players, recovering the team and the injured. How many injuries did we have after the final game? And how many were affected?" he questioned.

"It's inhumane what they do here (in Brazil) with the players. Do you know how many games Mirassol played in the last 30 days? Three, and Palmeiras, eight, and the last ones on unbelievable fields. Do you know the difference between Brazilian grass and European grass? It's slow. The grass is slow, the players don't recover and play unevenly. There's a light and fresh team, with three games in 30 days, and another team with good players, better ones. No matter how much you want to push this cart, it doesn't work," he declared.

In their debut at Allianz Parque in 2026, Palmeiras scored the first goal at the venue, with Flaco López. The Argentine took advantage of Mauricio's opportunity at 25 minutes into the first half and found the back of Walter's net. Abel commented on the importance of taking the lead to avoid greater suffering.

"It's a good thing we scored first. Otherwise, I believe we would have had a lot of difficulties. It's a team we know well and they expose themselves a lot. It was a shame we didn't stay calm. We had two more shots from Flaco, which would have gone in if we had been calmer. But in terms of clear opportunities, Mirassol pushed us back, we had to defend a bit lower, we didn't concede goals, which gave us confidence, but created a lot of difficulty for us. For me, it makes all the difference, they are light, free, having played only three games in the last 30 days, and played against a team like ours, which started with a battery at 50 or 60%," he analyzed.

Abel criticizes the schedule and comments on the new grass at Allianz

Palmeiras has been on a streak of eight games in 30 days, including decisive commitments and matches on heavy fields, according to the coach, such as against Novorizontino and Vasco. Abel Ferreira justified the drop in the team's intensity and pointed out the lack of "minimum conditions" to recover the squad between games.

"Palmeiras dropped in the second half against São Paulo, today we suffered a lot to win this game and I have a justification: not creating the same or minimum conditions. After a title victory, I had a very specific way of saying it, but I can't say it on television. After the victory we had against Novorizontino, we had a night trip, we didn't even sleep, nor did we have time to celebrate," Abel recounted.

"Two days later, we went to play against a team that had 11 days to prepare for the game. And we did a very good part, but in the second part we fell. Now they say Palmeiras fell in the second half. Yes, Palmeiras suffered, stayed defending, couldn't keep the ball, made bad decisions. Why? If you want good shows, create conditions. Top grass, ours is top. And the recovery of the players? This is a continental country and I will not remain silent about my opinion," he concluded.

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