Leonardo Jardim celebrated Flamengo’s 1-0 victory over Grêmio on Sunday at Arena, in the 15th round of the Brasileirão, but he didn’t hold back from criticizing the offensive performance. In a post-match press conference, the head coach pointed out the low conversion rate in attack as a negative aspect of the team’s display.
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“Another important win, three crucial points away from home. It’s always a tough match, and history shows Grêmio hadn’t lost here for a while. In the last 12 meetings, Flamengo had only won three here. The victory is well deserved because we were the better team in both halves. Offensively, our finishing wasn’t the best – we hit the woodwork twice. But it’s a fully justified win given what the team produced over the two periods. The players deserve congratulations,” the coach analyzed.
With this result, Flamengo reached 30 points and, with one game in hand, closed the gap on leaders Palmeiras, who have 34. However, Jardim stated that the team isn’t focused on the title race against the São Paulo side.
“We don’t really think much about who our opponents are. We focus on taking all three points in every match. That’s our priority, regardless of other results. When we saw the previous round, we dropped two points and the opponent did too – but that didn’t make us more motivated or less. What drives us is representing Flamengo and knowing that every match is an opportunity to earn three points, whether at home or away, and regardless of the opponent. That’s why we achieved what we set out to do. It’s been a very good week: we qualified in the Libertadores, got three more points in the league, recovered some players, and now we’ll prepare for the big final against Vitória. We need to improve the team for the next step – it will be a tough game, and we must be fully ready.”
More from Leonardo Jardim after Grêmio vs. Flamengo:
‘Easy game’ and right-side attacks
“Regarding the ease of the game, it’s the players who make it look easy. Through our skills and what we showed on the pitch, we turned the game into a smoother one. For those watching from outside, it seemed like an easy match, but it was the players who made it so. About the side of the field, in the first half, I think we forced the play a bit too much on the right. That was one thing I corrected at halftime – to be more balanced, to attack through both the right and the left. Grêmio managed to block us on one flank. In the second half, we played more through the left, which is why I also pushed Ayrton a bit in the first 15 minutes, and later Varela opened up that corridor. We switched sides, became wider, more dynamic, and had more space.”
