“We were misunderstood”: Boto clarifies Flamengo’s priorities | OneFootball

José Boto addressed the topic of the Copa do Brasil being ‘priority 3’ for Flamengo this year

Since the beginning of the year, Flamengo made it clear that the Brasileirão would be the priority of the year. In second and third positions, Libertadores and Copa do Brasil, respectively. This Monday (06), the team's football director, José Boto, assured that he was misunderstood.

— Both I and the president were misunderstood in this regard. I will try to explain what is happening. It is easier to plan well for a points-based competition than for an elimination competition like the Libertadores or even the Copa do Brasil. In these competitions, even if you play well, and in my opinion, we were superior to Atlético Mineiro in both games and ended up losing on penalties — explained José Boto, to the portal ‘Record’.

— This happens, and it is more unpredictable to put all your chips on an elimination competition. That doesn't seem reasonable to me. Flamengo has the obligation to fight for all titles and at this moment has the squad to do so. Last week we had two games with little time between them, practically only one day of training, and it is humanly impossible for some players to perform for the next match — he added.

IS FLAMENGO RESTING PLAYERS?

In recent weeks, Flamengo has been playing Thursday-Sunday. That is, little time for rest from one game to another. So, José Boto assures that the team is not resting players and makes changes out of necessity, due to the tight schedule of Brazilian football.

— What we adopt is a game-by-game approach, and we go into matches with those who give us the most guarantees. In this case, those who are better recovered and those who present themselves in the best conditions for each game. We cannot plan for athletes to perform better only in the Libertadores and rest everyone in the Brasileirão, that doesn't work. That was never part of our season planning — he commented.

— All competitions are priorities for us. In a league match, if you lose one or two points, it is easier to recover later on. In an elimination game, if you have a bad night, or there is a bad referee decision, or a stroke of bad luck, everything becomes complicated. That's why we said it was easier to focus on the Brazilian championship, which is a competition that Flamengo hasn't won since 2020 — he concluded.

WHAT ARE FLAMENGO'S NEXT STEPS?

Eliminated from the Copa do Brasil in the round of 16, Flamengo remains alive in the Brasileirão and the Libertadores. In the league, Mengão is in second place, with the same points as the leader Palmeiras. In the international clash, the Rubro-Negro faces Racing (ARG) in the semifinal.

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