Played at the Mane Garrincha Stadium, in the Brazilian capital, Brasilia, Brazilian Serie A 2019 Champions, Flamengo faced Brazilian Cup winners, Athletico Paranaense this Sunday morning in Brazil.
The Copa Libertadores champions, Flamengo, didn’t recognize their rivals and put on a 3-0 show with goals from Gabriel Barbosa – Gabigol-, Bruno Henrique, and Giorgian De Arrascaeta.
Despite Brazilian football had just returned from the break, Flamengo showed that they are ready to go for everything again this year. The team led by Portuguese Jorge Jesus imposed their intensity since the beginning of the match and opened the scoring within 14 minutes.
It all started down the right, where Gabriel Barbosa perfectly crossed it for Bruno Henrique, who, unmarked, headed home past goalkeeper Santos, and put Brazil’s most popular team ahead.
Athletico seemed nervous, and couldn’t retain the possession, This way, Flamengo got on top of them and reached the second goal with 30 on the clock. Gabigol counted on a gift from Marcio Azevedo, who tried to pass it to the goalkeeper with his chest but ended up assisting the Flamengo striker, who slotted home from close-range. 2-0 Fla.
Paranaense woke up after the second goal conceded, and brought some danger to Flamengo, who counted on their keeper, Diego Alves, to keep the clean sheet in the first half.
Flamengo slowed down their pace in the second half, although they kept control of the match. In the 68th minute, the Rio de Janeiro-based club went on to score the third as Bruno Henrique sprinted down the left, got into the area, and tried to assist Gabigol, but his pass was partially intercepted by the keeper. However, the rebound fell to Arrascaeta, who slotted at the corner. 3-0 Flamengo.
For those who don’t know, Brazil didn’t have a Super Cup until… This year! Exactly, it’s a brand new competition. There were two editions, back in the ’90s, but no one really cared about it. However, with a lot of clubs signing manager and players from Europe, the country’s confederation of football wanted to try out something new, and it kinda worked.
The trophy is quite beautiful, and the whole structure and organization of the competition were superb.
Congratulations to the winners, Flamengo, who is in a-whole-nother level in Brazil, and seems like they will win everything again this year.