Flamengo – Ceará: Filipe Luis lifts second trophy in less than a week after winning the Brasileirão (1-0)

Filipe Luis is making history in Brazilian football. He won every possible national title, in addition to the Libertadores, achieving Guardiola-like numbers in his first season as a professional coach. On Matchday 37, Flamengo needed a simple win to celebrate once again, but scoring the title-winning goal against Ceará was not that simple.

Tactical analysis and match report by Marcus Arboés.

With a five-point lead over Palmeiras, Flamengo did not need much to secure the title, but Filipe Luis, understanding the difficulty of the matchup, fielded the best possible starting lineup to try to secure the title and earn more rest before traveling for the Intercontinental. He sent out: Rossi in goal; Varela, Danilo (former Juventus), Léo Pereira and Alex Sandro (former Juventus) in the defensive line; Jorginho (former Arsenal) and Erick Pulgar as holding midfielders; Carrascal (Colombia National Team) and Arrascaeta (Uruguay National Team) playing inside; Samuel Lino (former Atleti) on the left wing and Bruno Henrique as striker.

Flamengo’s opponent is a very defensively disciplined team. Ceará did not stand out in the league and spent most of the season in the lower half of the table. Throughout the year, they did not collect enough points to stay free of relegation risk. To deal with the best team on the continent, they lined up in a 4-5-1 outline: Bruno in goal; Fabiano Souza, Marcos Victor, Éder and Rafael Ramos in defense; Fernando Sobral, Vinícius Zanocelo and Dieguinho as midfielders; Paulo Baya and Galeano on the wings and Pedro Raul as center forward. You probably do not know most of these players, maybe one or another, but still, Ceará is a . . .