The red-black basketball team landed in Argentina in the early hours of this Thursday (31) for its debut in the FIBA ​​Champions League, a kind of "Libertadores of basketball", against Instituto de Córdoba, Friday (1), at 21:30 pm, with broadcast on DAZN. The competition, in a new format, is the old League of the Americas, which Flamengo won in 2014, qualifying for the Club World Cup that year. The Mais Querido is in Group C of the tournament, along with Instituto (Argentina) and Valdívia (Chile), which, due to political-social issues in the country, postponed the confrontation with the red-blacks, with no new date yet. 

You can help strengthen Flamengo's Olympic sports and still receive benefits! Visit the website www.flamengo.com.br/anjo, check out the news and become a Rubro-Negro Guardian Angel.

The Pride of the Nation program this Friday includes the first court recognition and tactical training at the Ángel Sandrini gym in Córdoba, the venue for the match. 

"It's the biggest competition in the Americas. It's like the Libertadores of basketball, granting a spot in the world championship, which is what we want, and it's our priority this season," says coach Gustavo De Conti. Regarding the new format, forward Marquinhos agrees that it's a change for the better.

"I thought the new format was brilliant because in the past, you'd go to the same city and play three games in a much more difficult format, with one game after the other, so the fatigue level was very high. You'd play three very strong teams in just a few days... and not anymore, now the new format allows the home team to play alongside their fans, with more support. You play one game at home and one game away, so I thought it was much better."

"I think the new format is fairer, because you play one game at home, one game away, so I believe it's the fairest way to decide the competition champion," adds power forward Olivinha. 

Marquinhos also comments on the intense week of training and the importance of starting the title race on the right foot. 

"I want to embrace this idea, right? The Champions League is a path to the World Cup. Flamengo has a strong team, with a real chance of winning this tournament. Flamengo loves new things, loves a new competition, so we're going all out to achieve our goal. We'll start by playing a very important match away from home against Instituto, a team that gave us a lot of trouble last year, but if we come away with a win, it's already a huge step towards the rest of the competition. We trained well this week, studying the opposing team well, to have a great first match," he concludes. 

The basketball teams of Clube de Regatas do Flamengo receive funding from their sponsors – BRB, TIM, AmBev, Rede D'or, IRB Brasil RE, CSN, Brasil Plural, and EY – via the Federal Incentive Law/Ministry of Sports (IR) and the State Incentive Law/Rio de Janeiro State Secretariat of Sports, Recreation, and Youth (Seelje), in addition to support from the Brazilian Club Committee (CBC) resulting from the decentralization of resources generated by the Pelé Law. The Anjo da Guarda Rubro-Negro Project, a personal tax transfer, benefits all Olympic sports of the Most Beloved.