Barbieri praises special night at Maracanã and celebrates first victory in the Brasileirão.
The coach spoke in a press conference after the match against América-MG at the Maracanã.
By John Peter Granette - in
The atmosphere in the Maracanã stands was one of tribute and celebration for Julio Cesar's last game as a professional football player. After the 2-0 victory over América-MG, Maurício Barbieri made a point of praising the goalkeeper's attitude in the game, wanting to keep the farewell atmosphere outside the pitch.
"It really was a special night, because of the great player Julio was, not only for Flamengo, but for Brazilian football. We knew there was this history surrounding the game, but Julio himself said that the most important thing was the victory. This demonstrates his affection for the club and his professionalism. That was our intention on the field. We went in focused on the victory, which ended up happening and leaves us in a good position in the Brazilian Championship," he commented.
Even with the score at 2-0, Barbieri highlighted the difficulty of Saturday's (21) match at Maracanã. The assistant coach of the permanent staff took the opportunity to highlight the good performance of Julio Cesar, who made great saves during the ninety minutes.
"It was a very physical game, and we're coming off a series of tough matches. Last Saturday we played with one less player for 80 minutes, and Wednesday was also difficult. Today América-MG played a very physical game with a lot of set pieces. Julio did well and managed to help us a lot."
Another highlight of the match was Lucas Paquetá. The Flamengo youth player played as a playmaker for the first time in the professional ranks and received praise from the coach.
"I thought Lucas performed very well in a role he hadn't played since his youth team days. He had a good game and ended up getting tired, which is normal. That's why we put him in the front line."
Finally, Maurício assessed Flamengo's first victory in the Brasileirão as positive and also highlighted the solid performance of Léo Duarte, who earned the chance to start as a starter.
"We had a good first half, managing to unbalance the opposition on the wings with Vinicius and Geuvânio, in addition to having good possession in midfield. Another important point was Léo Duarte, who we needed to test and he had a fantastic performance."