The deadly weapon that led Flamengo to fourth place

Of Flamengo’s last three victories in the Libertadores, the one in 2025 was the one in which the Red and Black’s attack was the least prolific. After all, Filipe Luis’ team scored just 13 goals, compared to 24 in 2019 and 33 in 2022. One weapon has been identified for Florida to win the title again: the dead ball.

This is because 46% (six) of Mace Keredo’s goals in a winning season came this way, including Danilo’s decisive goal, in the 22nd minute of the second half, against Palmeiras, in Lima (Peru), last Saturday (29/11), in a slim 1-0 win. Of these six goals, four of them came from corner kicks, while two were from free kicks.

He remembers!

The first came in a defeat to Central Cordoba (ARG) in the middle of the Maracanã. After all, the Argentine team took the lead, opening the match with a 2-0 win at Flamengo. Nico de la Cruz scored, from a direct free kick, a beautiful goal to save money, in a match suitable for the second round of the group stage, next April.

In May, in the fifth round, against LDU (EQU), the win was extremely important. From a corner kick in the 10th minute, Robro Negro also took the lead at the Maracanã. Luiz Araujo executed a corner kick perfectly, and Leo Ortiz rose above everyone to deflect the first ball and make it 1-0. The match ended 2-0 for Mingao, with Luiz Araujo scoring the second goal after a beautiful individual play from Alex Sandro.

In the next round – the last of the group stage – Flamengo arrived with a chance of early elimination against Deportivo Tachira (VEN). However, Luiz Arajo put poison on the ball again and found a defender to open the score at the Maracana. This time, from a free kick by Leo Pereira, who removed goalkeeper Jesus Camargo from the left side, in the 21st minute of the second half. 1-0 and Minghao’s place in the fans’ party.

Flamengo repeats history in the knockout stage

In the knockout stages, history repeated itself at Flamengo. After all, in the round of 16, and again at the Maracanã, Rubro Negro “asked” for a set piece to open the door for Internacional. Luiz Araujo (him again) delivered a brilliant corner kick for Bruno Henrique, free, to test on Rocher’s corner kick, in the 28th minute of the opening phase, ensuring the score was 1-0 and the advantage for the South.

On the way back, the same Luiz Araújo would once again be involved in scoring a goal from a set piece. But this time it was not direct, as the corner took the defender away from danger. Player No. 7 – who had entered five minutes earlier – received the ball from the left side, with the area still full, and passed a low cross to Pedro to make it 2-0 and close Colorado’s coffin in the middle of the Beira Rio, and advance Flamengo to the quarter-finals.

Against Estudiantes (Argentina) and Racing (Argentina), in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, respectively, Villa scored three goals, but none of them came from set-pieces. Thus, only in the decision did the decision become decisive again for Filipe Luis’ team. With a broken game and few chances to score, Giorgian De Arrascaeta crossed from a corner kick from the right, and Danilo rose above everyone to test strongly, at 22 minutes of the second half. The defender’s header still hit the post before going in to kill Carlos Miguel and secure a fourth championship for the red and black.

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