Next Sunday (March 21.03), Flamengo faces Botafogo for the first time since being eliminated from the Taça Guanabara, the first round of the Campeonato Carioca. But there's no sense of revenge at Gávea. At least, not for coach Andrade. The Flamengo manager guarantees that the team won't take the field thinking about what happened in that match.

Quite the contrary. According to the red-and-black coach, Botafogo, who has lost three consecutive finals to Flamengo in the State Championship, needs to be ready for this duel.

"Flamengo lost a semifinal, but beat Botafogo in the last three finals. There's no such thing as revenge. Let's treat it as another classic and another game where we need a result," he said.

The coach also reaffirms that there is no crisis at Gávea, not even after Wednesday's loss to Universidad de Chile in the Copa Santander Libertadores.

"A defeat won't change anything. It's part of football. Everything is calm, at peace. We know we have a difficult game, we need a good result, and things are going well. The squad is strong, and we're at peace. We've played 14 or 15 games and only lost two. I don't think anyone has that number this year and we have to be happy with that," he said.

In the much-talked-about marathon of four decisive games (against Caracas, Vasco, Universidad de Chile, and Botafogo), Flamengo could end up with three wins and only one loss. A positive result for the manager.

"Three wins in four games is a positive result. There were two grueling trips, tough games, so it's a good result. Sleeping sitting in an airplane seat isn't the same, but we're not going to use that as an excuse either. We have to play and do our best," he added.

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Andrade has practically decided on his team for the derby. The only question is in midfield. Petkovic and Vinícius Pacheco are battling for the final spot on the team, which currently features Bruno, Everton Silva, Alvaro, Fabricio, and Rodrigo Alvim; Toró, Willians, Kleberson, and Vinícius Pacheco (Petkovic); Vagner Love and Adriano.