Credit: Playback/TV Palmeiras
Last night (03), Palmeiras defeated Barcelona-EQU, there in Ecuador, by 2-0, and took an important step towards qualifying for the Libertadores knockout stage.
The goals were scored by Raphael Veiga and Gustavo Gómez. Now, Verdão reached six points in group C, leaving Cerro Porteño and Barcelona behind, with three points.
In a press conference after the match, coach Abel Ferreira spoke about the strategy he thought of for that match and which worked.
The coach of Verdão exalted the opponent and said that the first minutes were fundamental in the match.
“I told the athletes that we had to hold on for the first 20 minutes. Passing the first 20 minutes, the game would pass to our side. We knew that Barcelona at home is an intense, strong team, with the support of their fans.”
“When Barcelona had the ball, we would wait in a medium block because we knew that with the heat it was, with the heavy grass, if we came to pressure the whole game, it would wear out a lot. And our players interpreted those two moments well.”
Ways to get the goal
Finally, Abel Ferreira points out the team’s strategy to score goals and win.
“When we had the ball, we tried to reach the opponent’s goal, as was, for example, Mayke’s move. Another way we had to attack was in transition, as was, for example, Veiga’s goal, in which we did well in transition, we found Veiga between the lines, then he found Rony, who suffered the penalty.”
“There is also a dead ball, because we are strong. We don’t attack just one way, we attack several”, explained the coach.
Palmeiras Sequence
Palmeiras returns to the field this Sunday (07), at 18:30, against Goiás, away from home, for the Brasileirão. In Libertadores, the next match will be against Cerro Porteño, away from home, on May 25th.
