Clube de Regatas do Flamengo

Well, I shouldn't because that's risky.

Flamengo vs Independiente del Valle is the other second leg that has to be played.

That's being played at 9.30 tomorrow evening, so Thursday.

So the Libertadores semi-final line-ups won't be known completely by the time this goes online unless I really forget to upload it during the day.

We're getting all Brazilian semis, aren't we? I can fucking feel it already.

Oh, with Palmeiras leading, yeah, potentially.

Let's see, Independiente de Valle are 2-0 down after their first leg against Flamengo and now have to play in Rio.

Yeah.

I saw him coach...

I saw him coach Flamengo, and it was amazing.

Just the way he motivated those cats.

It says, Luis, I feel like you should do the PowerPoint.

But in 2001, we didn't know any of that.

We had this enormous Brazilian teenager who arrived from Flamengo and looked like someone had designed a centre forward in a laboratory.

He was only 19.

Physically, he already looked ridiculous.

A proposed move to Manchester City collapsed during the investigation.

By early 2026, he returned to Flamengo in a record 42 million deal for a Brazilian club, speaking openly about protecting his mental health and finding peace again.

Whether guilty or not, the case demonstrated something important.

Suspicion alone is enough to reshape a career.

And I bet that has landed in nine of the last 10 matches combined for these two sides.

are the third and fourth highest goal scorers in this league behind Flamengo and Palmeiras, the two giants in Brazil.

Both teams come into this just scoring for fun.

Bahia have won their last four matches, scoring at least two in all of those games, including a 2-1 win midweek and then on the road to beat Bragantino 3-2 last time out so full of goals on the road if anyone wants a bigger price Luciano Juba to score any time they're attacking left back who has 10 plus goals this season already across multiple competitions and takes penalties is always a juicy price of at least four to one But the hosts now, they come into this, they've had two 3-3s in two of the last three matches.

we've got 7 placed Atletico and they've got home to absolutely bottom of the table Chapecoense so they're dead last in the league Atletico are 22 points ahead of them and they've got an excellent home record so their home record over the season is 1-7 drawn 4 and lost only 1 at their home which is the MRV Arena apparently I looked that up to make it sound like I knew what I was talking about with this Chapecoense they've got the exact opposite away record almost they've taken just 6 points from their 13 away games And Atletico have only lost once at home, Chapecoense have only won once away.

When we look at that loss and that win, so Atletico's came back in April to tabletop as Flamengo, so that's the only team that have went to their ground and beat them this season, and they're the team that are top of the league.

And it's a completely different challenge obviously to what they're facing this weekend.

because Chapecoense is only away one game to Corinthians who have got the third worst home record in the league and they actually still lost the XG battle in that game 1.91 to 0.78 so just looking at the numbers they don't win often and when they have won they were lucky to do so when it was against a poor team away from home Speaking of XG obviously as you know I like to dig into this a wee bit and Jabba Clancy's non-penalty expected goal supremacy away from home this season is minus 1.1 so basically when they go away from home they're more than a goal worse off than their opponents on average across the whole season and that's also removing penalties as well whereas Atletico's home ratio is positive so they're even more than a goal better off than them.

The Brasileirao in Brazil has been, As always, an absolute thriller, the league is renowned for its passionate fan bases and incredible attacking football.

Imagine a scenario where a traditional powerhouse like Flamengo or Palmeiras faces a spirited challenge from a team like Atletico Mineiro or Internazional.

If they are forced to come from behind or to score a late winner, it speaks volumes about their mental strength and the competitive nature of the league.

The Elche vs Real Madrid game serves as a perfect analogy for the kind of drama we see unfold in the Brasileiro every single matchday.