Abel urges calm over Palmeiras’ lead: “It’s a long road” | OneFootball

On Saturday night, Palmeiras extended their lead at the top of the Brazilian Championship by thrashing Juventude 4–1 in a rescheduled round at Allianz Parque. Even after the win with an unprecedented lineup on the field, Abel Ferreira avoided placing too much importance on the lead at the top and pointed out that the road ahead is still long.

“The title will only be decided on the final matchday; there’s little point in looking at the table now. It’s important for our players to understand, especially those who play less, to value their work. I tell them every day: be prepared. The only thing they control is their preparation and training for the game. I was happy to have a week to prepare for this match; we had time,” said Abel.

Abel praises the group’s dedication

For the clash, Verdão had a series of absences and had to take the field with an unprecedented team. Of the 12 players on the bench, nine are academy products, some called up for the first time. Abel Ferreira praised the day-to-day work and celebrated the victory.

“What I tell my players is to be careful with the compliments—they’ll say Palmeiras… the path is exactly the same. We’ll continue our work; players who went to the national team are a result of our work. Very happy with our players, but the road is long. We’ll keep going; in three days we’ll be back here again. We need to call on our fans. The more united we are, the stronger we’ll be and the more energy we’ll give our players. When the energy is like this, things are less difficult. Tomorrow is another day, and we remain focused,” he continued.

Easy game?

Palmeiras opened the scoring in the 26th minute of the first half with Raphael Veiga. Bruno Rodrigues doubled the lead before the break, in the 43rd minute. In the second half, Bruno Fuchs and Felipe Anderson, in the third and tenth minutes respectively, added theirs. Juventude pulled one back in the 30th minute through Rodrigo Sam.

“The game seems like it was easy because we scored early, but it was easy due to the dynamics, intensity, aggressiveness. A game that could have been difficult, we managed to make it easier here at home. Congratulations to our players and to say it’s the result of their work… Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, for a month or two. We made a major restructuring here and the players are responding. Above all, our bench has many academy boys who can help and have been training with us. More than anything, I’m happy with the result, but with them seeing all their work and effort throughout the season being valued,” he assessed.

Palmeiras’ next match

Palmeiras vs. Red Bull Bragantino (28th round of the Brasileirão) Date and time: October 15, 2025 (Wednesday), 7:00 p.m. (Brasília time) Venue: Allianz Parque, São Paulo (SP)

Palmeiras’ situation in the league

With the victory, Palmeiras therefore remain in the lead with 58 points, three ahead of Flamengo, who are in second place. Now both teams have the same number of matches: 26. Verdão also have two more wins than the Rubro-Negro.

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