Flamengo ends cruised past the Brazilian Serie A, and had late-game heroics in their big win over River Plate in the Copa Libertadores final, won in the opening games of the FIFA Club World Cup, only to lose against Liverpool in the final.
What was a magical season for the Brazilian champions ended in a disappointing loss in the most anticipated football match to end 2019. Fans all over the world tuned in to watch the epic match, but it ended in a 100th-minute goal win for the Premier League leaders.
Most were expecting a repeat of the 1981 Intercontinental Cup final where Flamengo thumped Liverpool for the title. Instead, it was Liverpool who won, and took home their first-ever Club World Cup title.
The team’s amazing journey to reach that final was long, and tough. It took Jorge Jesus to change the whole team’s pace and style of play. They came up with the longest unbeaten run of 24 games to dethrone defending champions Palmeiras.
The team sealed the Brazil Serie A title with a 28-6-4 record worth 90 points. They were 16 points ahead of Santos and Palmeiras, who both presented as a threat to the team’s glory in the earlier parts of the season.
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The team defeated Al-Hilal with a 3-1 win to book their tickets in the Club World Cup final. After a long, 78-minute standoff with Al-Hilal, they came alive and fought well to score two late goals and secure the win.
Flamengo would then be coming up against Liverpool – yes the team wanted to face them so bad that even the players were taunting enough on social media. It was the first time that the two teams have met since 1981, both have changed well, but there can only be one winner.
The 120 minutes of action saw a lot of goals attempted from both sides, with Liverpool going for 18 while Flamengo took 15. Flamengo made 68 more passes than Liverpool, but they were unable to dig in and budge through the intense defence held up by the English team.
Fans at the Khalifa International Stadium roared every time that either side had a chance to knock down a goal and take the lead. Neither side was able to come up with goals, not even Liverpool who had six of their 18 shots on target.
The closing moments of the game saw a change of pace. Liverpool broke open and had a two-on-three break, and they were able to finally score when they sank down a goal that almost got blocked on its way to the net.
Flamengo still had a chance with at least 20 minutes, but they blew their chances as they missed their last shot on target that could have tied the game. That ended the magical run that Flamengo ends their season. Source link
