Luiz defends team mate after decisive error in final
Pereira was caught in possession 30 meters from goal by
Deyverson, who drove on to score the winning goal five minutes into extra time
at the Centenario stadium in Montevideo.
But Luiz, who arrived at Flamengo in September after years
spent at Benfica, Chelsea, Paris St Germain and Arsenal, said the 25-year-old
midfielder was not the reason that Flamengo failed to win their second
Libertadores - South America's equivalent of the Champions League - in three
years.
“That’s football,” Luiz said. “He was having a great game,
playing fantastic, and then in one move it all comes crashing down. The only
thing I said to him was that no matter how much people will analyse that
moment, we didn’t lose the game because of that.”
“Our vision has to be deeper and broader than that analysis,
especially with a great player like Andreas. I’m very sad because he is a great
friend, a great player and sad because he deserves more, sad because we
deserved more.”
Luiz’s explanation was understandable and came after goalkeeper
Diego Alves also defended Pereira, saying "Victory is ours (as a team) and
defeat is too."
Luiz, though, was not alone in believing Flamengo were
unlucky in a game where they spent more time than their opponents going
forward.
Flamengo had around two-thirds of possession and the same
with attempts on goal but fell behind to a Raphael Veiga strike after five
minutes and although they were the better side in the second half and scored
through Gabriel Barbosa after 72 minutes, they lost to Deyverson’s opportunist
goal early in extra time.
“We need to have the humility to recognise that Palmeiras
came with a strategy of playing on the counter attack, to take advantage of our
errors, and that is what happened,” said the defender. “They’re not here for
the second year in a row for nothing.”
The result means Palmeiras become the first team since Boca
Juniors in 2001 to win back to back Libertadores titles.
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