Flamengo wins last home game before Club World Cup
In front of 69,090 fans, including Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro, who filled Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro despite heavy rain, Brazil's most popular club played their last home game before their trip to Qatar and showed no mercy against Avaí, the bottom team in the league and already condemned to relegation.
The Rio de Janeiro team, who secured the Brazilian Championship title with four matches to spare, still have to play their final league game on Sunday, but they will do so away from home, in a visit to Santos.
The victory, with two goals from young Reinier and one from top scorer Gabriel Barbosa, Uruguayan Giorgian de Arrascaeta, creative Diego, and young talent Lincoln, allowed Flamengo to accumulate a record 88 points and extend their lead to 17 points over Santos and Palmeiras, who are chasing the second place in the league with 71 points.
Gabriel, also known as 'Gabigol', became the tournament's top scorer with 24 goals, three more than his teammate Bruno Henrique.
Since it was a meaningless game, Flamengo's Portuguese coach, Jorge Jesus, only fielded four of his regular starters in order to give rest to the team that will compete in the FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar.
Arrascaeta repaid the coach's trust with a brilliant performance and was applauded as the best player on the pitch.
"Liverpool, you can wait for us. Your time is coming," chanted the enthusiastic Flamengo fans, referring to the English club that will compete in the Club World Cup as the European champion.
In their chants, the fans also asked for both 'Gabigol' and coach Jorge Jesus to stay, as their futures are uncertain.
'Gabigol's' loan contract ends in late December, when he will have to return to Inter Milan unless the Brazilian club pays the required amount for his federative rights. The striker has already admitted that Thursday's game could have been his last at Maracanã as a Flamengo player.
The Portuguese coach, on the other hand, has apparently received offers from European clubs and has not yet announced whether he will stay in Brazil next year. "Thank you, Mister" and "Stay, Mister" were some of the most repeated chants in the farewell match.
In another game of the penultimate round, Palmeiras, the 2018 Brazilian champions who are fighting for second place this year, thrashed Goias 5-1 with an outstanding performance from young Gabriel Veron, one of the stars of the Brazilian national team that won the U-17 World Cup in November.
The 17-year-old forward, who came on as a substitute in the second half, scored two goals for the Sao Paulo green team and provided an assist. Dudu (2) and Zé Rafael completed the rout.
The victory allowed Palmeiras to tie with Santos for second place in terms of points, although the team led by Argentine coach Jorge Sampaoli is ahead due to their higher number of wins.
The runner-up of the Brazilian League will be known on Sunday when Santos hosts Flamengo and Palmeiras visits Cruzeiro, who are threatened with relegation.
In another match on Thursday, Gremio defeated Cruzeiro 2-0 with goals from Ferreira and Pepe (penalty), leaving them on the verge of relegation for the first time in their history.
Cruzeiro, one of the four Brazilian clubs that has never been relegated to the second division alongside Flamengo, Santos, and Sao Paulo, is currently among the bottom four in the league, so, with one round remaining, they are threatened with demotion.
To avoid humiliation, the Belo Horizonte blue team needs to beat Palmeiras on Sunday and hope for a defeat for Ceará, who they are two points behind and will visit Botafogo on the same day.
With one round remaining in the league, not only the champion (Flamengo) has already been decided, but also the other teams that have qualified directly for the Copa Libertadores next year (Santos, Palmeiras, Gremio, Athletico Paranaense, and Sao Paulo), as well as those who will compete in the preliminary stage of the Libertadores (Corinthians and Internacional).
Only one spot in the Sudamericana remains to be decided, which is contested by Fluminense and Botafogo, and the last of the relegated teams, which Cruzeiro and Ceará are trying to avoid, as Avaí, Chapecoense, and CSA are already condemned.