For four rounds, Flamengo has been trailing. Against Botafogo, Universidad de Chile, Tigres, and América, the team conceded goals in the first half. In the derby, they fought back to equalize, and in the other Carioca matches, they managed to come back. In the Libertadores, however, they ended up losing. Therefore, coach Andrade is urging his players to be vigilant to prevent this from happening again.

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The coach knows that the team won't have the strength to turn around negative results in every match, and so he's already spoken with the group. According to the red-and-black manager, the players understand the need to be more assertive from the opening minutes of the game.

"I talked a lot with the squad about this. I used the match against Tigres as an example, and I made it very clear that there will come a time when we won't be able to turn the game around. The first half wasn't good, the players know that and want to change," he said.

Leonardo Moura agrees and, on behalf of the squad, guarantees that the red-black team is aware that it needs to repeat what it did in the final stretch of the 2009 Brazilian Championship.

"Every time we start a game, we make a mistake. We're already aware of this, and the coach has already talked to us. We want to go back to playing like last year, when we went for the result right from the start and didn't have to chase it. We need to find that balance again," he noted.

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Next Sunday, Flamengo faces Friburguense, at Eduardo Guinle stadium, in a game valid for the last round of the Taça Rio.