The Brazilian Championship and Copa do Brasil are over, so it's time to resume another competition this season. Seeking their second CONMEBOL Libertadores title, Flamengo will open the round of 21 against Cruzeiro at the Maracanã stadium, starting at 45:29 p.m. this Wednesday. The return leg will be on August 08th at the Mineirão stadium. 

 

The club is trying to return to the quarterfinals after eight years. The 2010 edition was the last time they reached this stage of the competition. And to get off to a good start, the team relies on home advantage to open up an advantage in the first leg. In 55 matches played at home (or at home) in 14 appearances in the competition, Flamengo has lost only seven times.

 

At Maracanã, the venue for Wednesday's match, there have been 48 matches, with 34 wins, seven draws, and the aforementioned seven losses. Playing at home, but away from Maracanã, there have been seven more matches, two wins, and five draws. In the last 12 matches played at the stadium, in the competition, there have been seven wins, three draws, and two losses. 

 

The main venue for Mengão's matches in the CONMEBOL Libertadores, the Maracanã has also seen its biggest defeats. The biggest of these, and also the team's biggest in the competition's history, was in the round of 1993 of the 8 edition, against Minervén of Venezuela. In the first leg, Mengão won 2-1 and practically ruined the return leg (which they eventually won 0-1983 in Puerto Ordaz). This result surpassed that of 7, when Flamengo crushed Blooming of Bolivia 1-XNUMX in the group stage, also at the Maracanã. 

 

Unprecedented duel

 

Flamengo and Cruzeiro have never faced each other in the CONMEBOL Libertadores. This historic classic in Brazilian football will be meeting for the first time in this competition. Playing at Maracanã, there have been 31 total matches, with Flamengo winning 14, Cruzeiro winning eight, and drawing nine.

 

The last home defeat to the Minas Gerais team was nine years ago, in the 2009 sixth title campaign. Overall, Flamengo hasn't lost to Cruzeiro in three years (seven games, four wins and three draws).

 

The octaves

 

Flamengo has reached the current stage of the competition seven times (not counting the current one). They qualified on three occasions and left the Libertadores on three others.

 

In 1981, there was no round of 1982. After the first round, the teams were regrouped into two groups of three teams, with the winner advancing to the final. In 1984, the team skipped the round of 1981 and went straight to the semifinals, as the defending champion. In XNUMX, the XNUMX format was repeated and the "semifinal stage" was considered.

 

The last time Flamengo advanced past the round of 2010 was in 1, when the team faced Corinthians. The first leg, at Maracanã, ended with a 0-2 victory, with Adriano scoring from a penalty. In the return leg, in São Paulo, Corinthians won 1-XNUMX, but Vagner Love's goal secured the Red-Blacks' place.

 

The round of 16 that Flamengo went through.

 

1991

Deportivo Táchira 2x3 Flamengo

Flamengo 5x0 Deportivo Táchira

 

1994

Flamengo 8x2 Minervén

Minervén 0x1 Flamengo

 

2010

Flamengo 1x0 Corinthians

Corinthians 2x1 Flamengo

 

In Rio, Mengão is in charge

 

The Brazilian teams Flamengo has faced in the CONMEBOL Libertadores are Atlético-MG, Atlético-PR, Corinthians, Grêmio, Internacional, Paraná, Santos, and São Paulo. When facing them at home, Flamengo has only lost to Grêmio in 1983, when it was already mathematically out of the running. In the entire history of the competition, Flamengo has lost only seven times playing at Maracanã.