The current four-time Rio de Janeiro basketball champion and undefeated leader of the State Championship with seven wins in seven matches, Flamengo concludes its participation in the competition's qualifying round on Wednesday night. Flamengo faces Club Municipal at the opponent's stadium in Tijuca. With a perfect record in the competition, the team from Gávea is the main candidate for its fifth consecutive title. Even so, the players maintain their respect for their opponents and see the match as another good opportunity to continue preparing for the NBB and the League of the Americas.

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"Every match is important. There's no such thing as a weaker or stronger opponent. Fortunately, we're having a very good campaign in the State Championship, but all these games are crucial to testing the team and making us even better prepared for the National Championship games and also to try to win the Liga das Américas title, which is the only one we haven't won yet," said point guard Hélio, who has been one of the red-and-black team's standout players at the start of the season.

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Flamengo is coming off a loss in the Novo Basquete Brasil tournament. The team was surprised by Joinville away from home last Sunday, and their next match is Friday against Londrina, also at their opponent's stadium. Aware of their mistakes in the loss to their Santa Catarina rivals, the red-and-black team hopes to beat the Municipal tournament this Wednesday and build on the momentum for Friday's NBB match.

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"We lacked a bit of balance, we rushed some balls in attack. And a team of our level can't score six points in a quarter. But we have to keep our heads up, on Friday (20) we have a difficult game in Londrina and we can't get too shaken. In a championship of this level, a defeat like this in Joinville is normal", observed the shooting guard Duda.