Lancepress

Hugo Perruso

Rodrigo Benchimol

With so many suspensions and precautions, Flamengo will end up fielding a disfigured squad for the Fla-Flu match. But, at the same time, it will be packed with players from the youth academy. In total, five Flamengo players from the club's youth academy will start the derby against their rivals: goalkeeper Diego, defender Welinton, Jônatas, Egídio, and Erick Flores.

The latter, in fact, is a good example of how this rivalry between the two clubs has been going on since the youth stages. The 19-year-old attacking midfielder (he'll turn 20 on the 30th) cultivates a healthy personal rivalry with the Tricolor Tartá.

"He's a teammate. I've played against him since I was a kid, and we've always had a friendship off the field. I haven't called him to congratulate him on the goals against Madureira yet."

Even though I could face him this Sunday, I'm going to call to give him some morale - he jokes, to then talk about who will come out on top in the duel.

"I've already won three titles against him. But I've already lost a semifinal to Flu. This rivalry at the youth level is healthy. The cool thing is seeing that both there and here, people are reaching the professional level, which is a big step in their careers," says Erick.

Defender Welinton, who replaced Fábio Luciano, also has fond memories.

– There was a Fla-Flu match at Gávea that was 0-0 and, in the 38th minute of the second half, I scored the winning goal – said the defender, happy to be playing in the classic as a professional.

– Whenever you’re in the youth academy you dream of playing in a packed Maracanã – he said.