Flamengo loses on penalties to Independiente del Valle and is runner-up in the Recopa

There is no formula ready to be a champion. But some elements need to be present on the field in favor of a team. The will to win is the first of them. That fire in his eyes, the hunger in every ball dispute. Good performance is also essential. But football is not about justice and it doesn’t follow a logical path, in which you just need to be better than your opponent to win. You also need luck, a reasonable dose, for the imponderable to operate in favor and not against.

This Tuesday, Flamengo had the will, it is indisputable. Good football? There are controversies. The same goes for luck, hitting Independiente del Valle’s post twice, but also scoring the winning goal in the last shot of the game, with Arrascaeta. After the 1-0 score in normal time and overtime, came the penalties, the defeat at Maracanã and the second place in the Recopa.

The result took place in front of 71,411 spectators, a record attendance at Maracanã since the 2014 World Cup final. So many people gathered in the rain, but in a semi-arid scenario of ideas on the field.

Flamengo created chances based on crosses in the area. Lots of running and little inspiration. Vitor Pereira concentrated players in the offensive sector, but failed to make them work well with each other. Ayrton Lucas played on the left wing. So much so that he entered the area a few times and in one of them he went up very well with a header. He hit the crossbar.

The team had possession of the ball and alternated sides of the attack. Varela also went up a lot, but it wasn’t decisive. In set pieces, Flamengo took danger. In one of them, Thiago Maia hit the post.

It was probably one of the most subdued matches for Flamengo’s offensive quartet in recent years. Everton Ribeiro is going through a bad physical phase and drops the level of the other three — Arrascaeta, Gabigol and Pedro.

Arrascaeta, who scored the winning goal when Maracanã had already given up supporting and called the team shameless, missed his charge. Landázuri closed the penalties at 5 to 4 for Del Valle.

It was the third red-black disappointment in such a short period of work for Vitor Pereira. After the Super Cup and the Club World Cup, seeing what will come after another disappointment.