Flamengo wins and becomes the club with the most Copa do Brasil semifinals

This Thursday (12), Flamengo advanced to the semifinals of the Copa do Brasil after beating Bahia 1-0 at Maracanã, with a goal by Arrascaeta. Rubro-Negro, who had already beaten Tricolor Baiano in the first leg at Fonte Nova, played a solid match, giving no chance for the team coached by Rogério Ceni to react. With the victory, Flamengo became the club that has reached the semifinal stage of the tournament the most times, winning on four occasions.

Bahia scares, but Flamengo controls the game

In a very lively game, Bahia, which needed to reverse the score, started by scaring the largest audience recorded in Brazilian football in 2024. The more than 65 thousand fans present at Maracanã yesterday (12) saw, after just 5 minutes, former Flamengo player Everton Ribeiro find Everaldo free between Flamengo's defenders. He tried to take it away from goalkeeper Matheus Cunha, but the ball went wide, close to the post.

Flamengo didn't take long to respond and, in the 6th minute, in a play started by Gerson on the right, defender Léo Ortiz found Bruno Henrique at the edge of the area who quickly passed the ball to Gerson to infiltrate on the right, but the midfielder kicked it straight at Marcos Felipe, who palmed the ball out to the side. For the rest of the first half, Rubro-Negro had several chances to open the scoring, mainly from balls lofted into Bahia's area. Luiz Araújo and Bruno Henrique still had great opportunities to score, but they wasted them.

_{FLA 1 X 0 BAH – highlights – quarterfinals of the 2024 Copa do Brasil (Reproduction/Youtube/GE.GLOBO)}

Arrascaeta scores and extends lead on aggregate

In the second half, coach Rogério Ceni, needing two goals to advance to the semifinals, moved his marking lines forward, which allowed Flamengo to make many quick runs and counterattacks, led by Luiz Araújo and Bruno Henrique. In the 8th minute of the second half, another good pass from Léo Ortiz found Bruno Henrique again on the left, who led the ball to the edge of the area and passed to Arrascaeta, unmarked, who opened the scoring for Rubro-Negro, further increasing their aggregate advantage.

Bahia, unable to react, continued to make many mistakes in the attacking sector, which made it easier for Flamengo to hold on to the advantage and secure their 17th semi-final in the history of the Copa do Brasil, having been champion on four occasions.

Flamengo breaks semifinals record

According to a survey carried out by “Tactical Spy” of “GE”with Flamengo's advancement to the semifinals of this year's Copa do Brasil, Rubro-Negro became the club that has played in this phase of the tournament the most, with a total of 17 times, surpassing Grêmio, which has been in the semifinals 16 times. Cruzeiro comes next, with 11 participations in this phase.

If they advance to the finals, Rubro-Negro will be the club with the most finals played in the Copa do Brasil, with a total of 10, surpassing Grêmio, which has 9 finals and was eliminated by Corinthians in the quarterfinals this year. Cruzeiro, also already eliminated, has played in eight finals and is the biggest winner of the tournament, with six titles won.

Eliminated, Bahia turns its attention to the Brazilian Championship and hosts Atlético-MG at Fonte Nova, seeking a spot in next year's Libertadores. Flamengo needs to win the classic against Vasco at Maracanã to stay ahead of the leader Botafogo. Both games are scheduled for next Sunday (15), at 6:30 pm.

Featured photo: Bruno Henrique and Arrascaeta celebrate qualifying (Reproduction: Gilvan de Souza/CRF/Instagram/@flamengo)