Sampaoli surprised by Atlético, says team lost belief after defeat

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·5 Oktober 2025

Sampaoli surprised by Atlético, says team lost belief after defeat

The 3-0 defeat to Fluminense this Saturday (04), at Maracanã, in the 27th round of the Brazilian Championship, set off alarm bells at Atlético. The result dropped the Minas Gerais team to 15th place, with 29 points. Now, the distance to the relegation zone is just four points.

In the press conference after the match, coach Jorge Sampaoli did not hide his disappointment with the team's performance and admitted that the team was completely dominated.

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The team had no chance of winning the game. The truth is that we took one or two steps back from what the team had been until now, because besides playing badly, the team became very disorganized, lost a lot of spirit, and that was really clear to see.

Sampaoli highlighted that the psychological aspect weighed on Atlético's performance and acknowledged that the team lost confidence throughout the game, something that, according to him, is concerning for the rest of the season:

I believe that, emotionally, being outplayed and not finding our game affected us, and that ended up being fatal. What worries me most about the future is this, that the team lost conviction. Even in the game against Botafogo, the team that lost played differently. Today, the truth is that I am surprised. I expected a different performance.

The coach stated that he will continue to look for alternatives to rediscover good football and once again lamented the team's lack of consistency in recent rounds: “Keep looking for alternatives. We are playing important games for the club! We are making changes and not finding the (expected) result. We will have to look for new options, that's all!” he said.

Sampaoli also expressed surprise at the defensive fragility shown at Maracanã, since the team had gone three consecutive games without conceding goals: “The truth is that this surprised me, because the team had been performing reasonably well. Three matches without conceding goals and today we looked vulnerable. Today I will have to think carefully, analyze thoroughly, and see why what happened today hadn’t happened before,” he concluded.

With the setback, Atlético could drop another position if Santos beats Ceará this Sunday. The team will try to bounce back next week: Galo has two games in hand in the Brasileirão and will be back on the field on Wednesday at 7 p.m., against Sport, at Arena MRV, to “make up” the first match.

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