After training this Wednesday morning in Gávea, midfielder Maldonado said he's ready to play his first derby in the red-and-black jersey. The experienced Chilean wants the group to focus solely on winning the match and not dwell on the difficult situation facing Sunday's opponent in the Brazilian Championship.

"I'm relaxed about the derby. I've played many, and I see it as another important game for us to earn points and reach our goal, which is the top four. We know Fluminense's difficulties, but we need to focus solely on our responsibility to win. These are different situations, and we'll focus on what we need to, which is to earn points. We're in a good moment, with a good run of results and without conceding a goal. I see the team improving every day. On the other side, it's different; it's a difficult situation, with the team not performing as well as expected there. We're focused here on doing well, playing well, treating it like another final, because points are crucial at this stage of the competition."

Maldonado praised the team's good form and said that Flamengo must impose itself if it wants to win the match.

"In a classic, sometimes you don't know who will win. We'll be at home, we have home advantage, and we have to make that count. And our quality of play too. Our squad is good, but that doesn't mean we can't lose one day. That's why we need to prepare even more to prevent that from happening."

For the number 14, striker Gil will be very important for Flamengo in this final stretch of the Brazilian Championship.

"Quality players like Gil can't be out for so long. He's proven his quality as a reference at Corinthians, and now he's here to help us."

The Chilean said he is feeling very good at Flamengo and that he did not expect to adapt so quickly.

"Many friends talked to me about Flamengo. I think it's difficult to have the same structure as São Paulo and Cruzeiro these days, but Flamengo has something special. Everyone wants to play here, I don't know if it's because of the fans or the wonderful staff. Flamengo has the best of everything. Everything we've been offered so far is very good and will definitely evolve."