Sunday is Flamengo's day! And it's an important game. Flamengo and Madureira will take to the Raulino de Oliveira field on the 19th at 17 p.m. to decide who wins Group B of the 2017 Guanabara Cup. First place in the group guarantees a match against the second-place team in Group C.

The Mais Querido squad maintained specific preparations for the match throughout the week. After the victory in the classic against Botafogo, on the 12th, the cast returned on Tuesday (14)While the match participants did regenerative work, the others trained tactics and ball releases. On Wednesday (15), the athletes once again worked on tactical activities. Some of the players then traveled to Brasília.

The game against América-MG was played in the federal capital on Thursday (16), won by Rubro-Negro by 1 to 0. The athletes who did not travel worked at Ninho do Urubu both on Thursday and Friday (17). The players who participated in the victory did regenerative work in the capital before returning to Rio. The preparation ends this Saturday (18), with the final adjustments for the match.

The game has already been decided by the Guanabara Cup.
Flamengo and Madureira have faced each other 121 times, with Flamengo dominating. Flamengo has won 92 matches and drawn 18. Flamengo hasn't found the net in almost half of their matches (56 times), while Flamengo has only failed to find the net on seven occasions. In their last meeting, in the 2016 Carioca Championship, Emerson scored the only goal of the match, securing Flamengo's victory.

One of the most famous clashes took place in the 2007 Guanabra Cup final. The opponents decided the title over two games at the Maracanã. The first leg saw the Tricolor's last victory: 1-0. Those hoping for a runner-up finish for the red-and-blacks were disappointed when, in the return leg, the "Mais Querido" steamrollered and won 4-1. The title guaranteed a spot in the final of that year's state championship, which Flamengo would also win—this time against Botafogo.

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