In a press conference held in the press room at CT George Helal after training this Friday (04), Zé Ricardo spoke about the expectations for the classic against Botafogo, which will be played this Saturday (05), at Maracanã. The coach spoke about his first season in charge of Mais Querido, in addition to commenting on Paolo Guerrero's good phase in command of the red-black attack and on the recovery process of the injured Éverton and Mancuello.

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Honestly, I don't have much to say about this. It's not my style to make such statements. When promoting a match, provocations happen, and I understand that. Botafogo has a great team, and we'll take the field respecting them, as we do with all the teams we face. We won't take this to the field, as it could distract us from our goal in the match.

Fluctuations are plausible in such a long competition. They can happen. The group did have some changes in performance during the matches, but I'm very happy with what we were able to show in the second half against Corinthians and in the first half at Mineirão, against Atlético-MG. This Saturday's match promises to be fiercely contested, and we'll do our best from start to finish to get the result we want—a victory.

Both players are out of tomorrow's game. Éverton will likely be recovered for the next match. Mancuello suffered a blow at the end of the first half against Corinthians and we substituted him for the match. We took him on the trip for the Atlético-MG game, but he wasn't 100%. When we returned to Rio, we opted to treat the injury more cautiously. He'll likely be back for the América-MG match.

They have a very competitive team, which had already been demonstrated under coach Ricardo Gomes. With the change in coaching, they continued to improve in some areas, especially in marking. We worked on some strategies to avoid Botafogo's quality and maximize our own during the match. The group is highly motivated; they understand the importance of the game.

For me, Guerrero is one of the highest-quality forwards we have active here in Brazil. He's an athlete who knows exactly what to do on the field. He's capable of scoring goals and setting up teammates. I hope he scores tomorrow, as it's clear he's been feeling increasingly better at the club. Since he returned from the Copa América, I've been talking to him a lot, emphasizing his importance to the group. I wish him great happiness here.

In a short time, the players realized from the start that our goal here is to help. To establish a standard of quality play. Flashy, but also competitive. Everyone knows that working at Flamengo is a huge responsibility. I've had the support of many people here at the club, especially in my first forty days. I'm happy to see Flamengo fighting for the title. I can only be grateful for this opportunity.

Athletes' emotional well-being is addressed practically every day here at the club. The Performance Excellence Center provides this training, both collectively and individually. We always strive for this balance.

We knew that, given how much the fans here missed the club, they would constantly push us. I'm sure tomorrow will be no different. We expect that same encouragement. The strength of our fans doesn't decide the match alone, but it contributes immensely to a strong performance by our athletes.