Fluminense and Botafogo face off with similar schedules for the season

A marathon, not a 100m dash. It is with this in mind for the season that Fluminense and Botafogo enter the field this Sunday, at 6 pm, in Maracanã, to play the first derby of the Carioca Championship. Without completely leaving the State aside, the two rivals use the tournament as a kind of pre-season, with an eye on the bigger goals of 2023.

Third placed in the last Brazilian, Fernando Diniz’s tricolor is classified for the group stage of Libertadores and for the third stage of the Copa do Brasil. With the base of the 2022 team maintained — Colombian Jhon Arias and defensive midfielder André renewed their contracts until 2026 — and reinforcements such as laterals Guga and Jorge and striker Keno, there is the expectation that, with a more robust squad, Flu will be able to compete for titles.

Individually, this expectation also ends up falling on coach Fernando Diniz. Well-regarded among Brazilian football top hats and players — his good credentials put him on the CBF’s radar for the technical command of the Brazilian national team — due to the way he works, his proximity to the players and complex, offensive and well-defined tactical ideas, the coach still doesn’t have any title of expression in his curriculum, although he has done good work in big clubs, such as Fluminense itself and São Paulo.

Watching the Libertadores

In order to achieve success in their objectives, Fluminense’s board and technical commission have a well-established plan for the season. The players returned from vacation on January 2nd. With that, the team uses Carioca as a preparatory championship for the main competitions. In the four matches he played, in two the tricolor used the first team and in two the reserve team — in this Sunday’s classic, Diniz should send his best to the field. In the last round, against Boavista, the alternative team did not convince and drew 1-1, which resulted in boos from the crowd.

The scenario is similar for Luís Castro’s Botafogo. After establishing itself again in Série A and getting a spot for the 2023 Sudamericana in the first year as SAF, the expectation is that the team will be able to fight at least for the title of the international competition and, in the Brasileirão, compete for qualification for the next Liberators.

— This year, we want to qualify for Libertadores. Next year, I want to be in the top three. In 2025, I want to win a title – said John Textor, majority shareholder of SAF alvinegra, in an interview with Fogãonet.

For that, Botafogo had to start the season already overcoming some setbacks. The initial idea of ​​the football summit, which promoted the re-introduction of the main squad on January 9, was to start the pre-season in Rio and travel, at the end of January, to the United States. But the trip abroad was canceled due to disagreements with the calendar of Carioca and Ferj, which made coach Luís Castro and the board change the course of the pre-season.

Jeffinho goes to Lyon

As the Portuguese coach himself says, Botafogo has been using Carioca as a pre-season. Therefore, the debut was made by coach Lúcio Flávio’s B team, so that the main cast players had at least ten days of preparation at CT Lonier. In the second round, the starters played. And on Thursday, against Madureira, the reserves. The idea is to give shooting to all athletes.

– We will continue to accumulate game time for everyone, so that when the Copa do Brasil and Brasileirão arrive, everyone will be in good condition. What we cannot put at risk is the team’s work throughout the season – said Castro.

This Saturday, Botafogo announced the loan with option to buy 23-year-old striker Jeffinho to Lyon, which belongs to Eagle Holding, John Textor’s club network. The player, who scored two goals in 26 games for the alvinegro, must undergo medical examinations in France on Monday.

Fluminense, on the other hand, received from Fulham-ING a proposal of 20 million euros (about R$ 111 million) for midfielder André, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano. However, the tricolor does not want to negotiate the player.

The 21-year-old midfielder has a contract with Fluminense until December 2026.