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Glasgow Rangers are set to face off against Ross County in the Scottish Premiership at Ibrox this evening in their penultimate match of 2023.

The Light Blues will head into 2024 top of the table if they can win their next two matches – today and against Celtic on Saturday – and that is a fantastic incentive for Philippe Clement and his players.

They are coming into this match off the back of a 2-0 win over Motherwell in the top-flight on Sunday, thanks to first-half goals from Kieran Dowell and Todd Cantwell.

With three games in the space of six days, the Belgian head coach could look to rotate his squad. With this in mind, the ex-Monaco boss must finally unleash Leon King from the start as a defensive midfielder over Dujon Sterling.

Dujon Sterling's performance against Motherwell in numbers

The summer signing from Chelsea has been deployed in a new role in the middle of the park by Clement and produced some impressive displays.

However, the 24-year-old ace did not enjoy his best afternoon on Sunday as the English whiz struggled in and out of possession throughout the game.

Sterling lost 60% (6/10) of his duels throughout the match, which included two of his three on the deck, and did not make a single tackle or interception in 90 minutes on the pitch.

He also lost possession a staggering 20 times and did not create a single chance for his teammates, to go along with a pass success rate of just 64%.

These statistics show that the ex-Stoke City loanee struggled to impact the game at both ends of the pitch positively and this could open the door for King to be unleashed.

Why King should start against Ross County

The Gers academy graduate has spent the vast majority of his senior career at Ibrox as a central defender but was brought on as a number six against Motherwell.

This is not a new position for the 19-year-old enforcer, though, as he has played five matches as a central or defensive midfielder for Scotland U21s this season.

Clement has clearly seen enough from the 6 foot ace in training, and those appearances for his country, to suggest that it is a viable position for him in the Premiership, as evidenced by his cameo on Sunday.

King as a central midfielder for Scotland U21s
Statistic	vs Hungary U21s (14/10/2023)
Sofascore rating	7.1
Pass accuracy	78%
Duel success rate	71%
Tackles won	Two
Interceptions	Three
Blocks	One

King, who was once described as a "big Rolls Royce" by ex-Gers defender Allan Hutton, has the defensive abilities, given his upbringing as a centre-back, to be a terrific holder in front of the back four.

As you can see from the table above, the teenage talent can dominate the opposition midfield with his ability to come out on top in physical duels.

King, who completed 88% of his attempted passes in 15 Premiership games last season, is also reliable in possession and could retain the ball to distribute it to the likes of Cantwell and Dowell ahead of him.

Therefore, Clement must unleash the £8k-per-week titan for his first league start of the campaign ahead of Sterling as the anchor of the midfield.

India’s premier strike bowler picks up injury during Mumbai Indians’ IPL 2019 game against Delhi Capitals

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Mar-2019

Jasprit Bumrah grimaces after hurting his shoulder•BCCI

Indian cricket held its collective breath as Jasprit Bumrah seemed to hurt his left shoulder after falling over in his follow-through on the last ball of the Delhi Capitals innings in Mumbai Indians’ first match of the IPL 2019.The official word from the Mumbai camp at the end of the game was “Jasprit Bumrah has recovered well. We will be assessing him tomorrow as well.” But Bumrah didn’t come out to bat even as Mumbai’s innings ended on 176 in reply to Delhi’s 213 for 6 with four balls left.Despite the update from Mumbai, the Indian selectors and team management would likely have their fingers crossed on the fitness of Bumrah, their main strike bowler, with the World Cup just over two months away.The incident took place when Rishabh Pant dug out a perfect toe-crushing yorker speared in by Bumrah from around the wicket. Bumrah attempted to intercept the ball with his left hand, but could not pick it up cleanly. As the ball rolled to his left, Bumrah scrambled to stop it, but immediately lay flat on the ground grimacing in pain while holding his left shoulder.Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma, Pant and others were around him straightaway. Nitin Patel, the Mumbai physiotherapist, dashed into the middle to check on Bumrah. On his walk back to the dressing room, Bumrah did not move or raise his shoulder even once.Last July, Bumrah had picked up a freak finger injury while unsuccessfully trying to take a return catch in the first match of the T20 series in Ireland. That injury grew into a finger fracture, forcing Bumrah to sit out the limited-overs series in England as well as the first two Tests of the tour.

After a near-perfect season last year, Arsenal endured a pretty miserable end to their campaign as they crashed out of the Europa League and saw their Premier League title chances go up in smoke.

However, instead of simply melting away this year – as some predicted they would – Mikel Arteta's men have found themselves right in the middle of another title race, only this time they have the know-how to go one step further.

The Gunners have shown a new maturity this season built upon an impressive defence and gritty midfield, although to really push on, that midfield could do with some reinforcements.

Arsenal could sign Saliba's dream in potential £87m+ defender

Mikel Arteta is interested in signing an exciting prospect from the Eredivisie.

ByTom Lever Dec 22, 2023

The north Londoners have been consistently linked with Douglas Luiz since the summer of 2022, but the latest player touted for a move to the Emirates could be an even better fit, Amadou Onana.

Arsenal transfer news – Amadou Onana

According to the Daily Mail, Arsenal are keen to add another midfielder to their ranks in 2024 as they look to cover themselves over Thomas Partey's increasing injury concerns, and while Aston Villa's Luiz remains a target, Everton's Onana is also 'being watched closely.'

The 22-year-old Belgian only joined the Toffees from Ligue 1 side LOSC Lille in the summer of 2022 for £34m, but he has already proven his ability to impact games at the highest level.

Perhaps his best performance of last season came against the Gunners, when Everton fought their way to a 1-0 win over Arteta's side at Goodison Park, largely thanks to the Belgian's imposing presence in midfield.

While displays like this are encouraging to prospective buyers, they have also driven up the price substantially, with Football Insider reporting earlier this year that Everton will not entertain selling their star midfielder for anything less than £70m and with the team's place in the Premier League table, there is unlikely to be much wriggle room on that price.

Amadou Onana could be the perfect alternative to Douglas Luiz

There is no denying that Villa's Luiz is a fantastically talented footballer – his seven goal involvements in 16 league games this season prove so – but with a move for him seeming an impossibility at the moment, Arsenal could do a lot worse than Onana.

In fact, it could be argued that the midfield "monster", as described by football writer Raj Chohan, would be the better option for what the Gunners are looking for.

The former Lille man doesn't necessarily have the same attacking output as the Brazilian, but his ability to disrupt opposing teams and break up play from the midfield is more impressive.

Dubbed a "complete package" and a "true Swiss army knife in midfield" by football talent scout Jacek Kulig, Onana could be the player that takes Partey's mantle as Arsenal's number six and unlocks Rice to play the left-eight role that was vacated by Granit Xhaka.

When comparing the underlying numbers of Luiz and Onana, it becomes increasingly clear that the Toffees star could be a more practical acquisition as he comes out on top, aside from Progressive passes and carries.

Stats (per 90)

Onana

Luiz

Non-Penalty Expected Goals + Assists

0.31

0.24

Progressive Passes

4.53

4.94

Progressive Carries

0.77

2.27

Tackles Won

1.62

1.56

Tackles + Interceptions

3.25

2.99

Clearances

1.20

0.84

Miscontrols

0.94

1.23

Dispossessed

0.26

0.65

Ball Recoveries

6.75

6.56

Aerial Duels Won

2.99

0.71

All Stats via FBref for the 2023/24 Domestic Season

Where he really shines is in his defensive numbers, utterly dominating the Villa man in aerial duels, tackles and interceptions, and clearances.

Ultimately, while fans might initially view a move for Onana over Luiz as a downgrade, his sheer talent and hard work would win them over in no time at all.

Andrew Jones acknowledged that David Warner faces a tougher road back although hopes he will be allowed the chance at redemption

Andrew McGlashan05-Jan-2019

Getty Images

The outgoing CEO of Cricket New South Wales, Andrew Jones, believes that Steven Smith can have five prolific years at Test level when he returns from his ball-tampering ban but acknowledged that David Warner faces a tougher road back although hopes he will be allowed the chance at redemption.Both Smith and Warner are expected to come straight back into the Australia side when their bans elapse at the end of March – perhaps as quickly as a couple of days later depending on the dates of the Pakistan one-day series – and are earmarked for positions in the World Cup and Ashes squads.Lee Germon named new Cricket NSW CEO

Former New Zealand captain Lee Germon has been appointed the new chief executive of Cricket NSW to replace Andrew Jones. After finishing his New Zealand career in 1997, Germon gathered a lot of administrative and management experience with the Tasman Rugby Union, Canterbury Cricket and Sydney Thunder.
“Although I have only been with Cricket NSW for one and a half years I am acutely aware of its proud history and the leading part it will play in driving the future of cricket in Australia,” Germon said.
Germon captained New Zealand in all of his 12 Tests and 36 of the 37 ODIs he played. He then spent three years as the CEO of the Tasman Rugby Union, became CEO of Canterbury Cricket in 2008, where he was integral to the development of the Hagley Oval that hosted the opening match of the 2015 World Cup. He then took over as general manager of Sydney Thunder nearly two years ago after a decade with Canterbury Cricket.
“Lee stood out [compared to other candidates] because of his extensive leadership experience at two elite cricket organisations, his experience in stakeholder management and building a culture of success on and off the field,” Cricket NSW Chairman John Knox said.

The pair is currently in the Bangladesh Premier League with Smith having returned to the public spotlight in recent weeks with an advertising campaign for Vodafone and his first media appearance since the ball-tampering scandal. Warner has kept his counsel although he did speak on his arrival in Bangladesh.Smith and Cameron Bancroft, who returned from his nine-month ban at the end of December in the BBL, emphasised the central role Warner played in the ball-tampering episode and there remains uncertainty how Warner will respond – if he chooses to – about what happened in Cape Town.When asked if Warner’s comeback would be as simple as Smith’s, Jones told : “No, is probably the short answer, the more credit you have in the bank the easier it is and the less credit you have the harder it is. But that said, and I’ve had this discussion with Davey in 2013, we all like watching David Warner play cricket and we all just want him to make it easy for us to enjoy him as a player and a person.”He’ll have learnt a lot through the episode, treat people as you want to be treated and things will probably work out pretty well. Everyone is happy with redemption so if he shows humility and good grace, scores lots of runs, time will do the rest.”For Smith, the enforced break to his international career could even serve to allow him to be a prolific run-scorer for longer. “I can’t speak for Davey as much, but I’m very confident Smith will get 1000 runs a year in Tests for another five years,” Jones said. “The effect of this will be a refreshment break and then he’ll have a point to prove. There’s going to be a revenge mission on the bowlers for the next five years. Hopefully Davey does the same.”Jones was comfortable that while the punishments handed out were at the “heavy end” of the scale, they were “fair” given the events in South Africa. “The corollary of that is, they are very heavy, so once time has been served there’s no double jeopardy, the guys come straight back into the system and, on current performance, you’d think straight back into the team,” he said.On the wider repercussions of the ball-tampering scandal which led to the Longstaff review into the culture of Cricket Australia, Jones, who has been involved at state and CA level during a 14-year career in cricket administration and was a key figure in the 2010-11 Argus review, had his reservations over whether it had been handled the right way.”If it was me I wouldn’t have commissioned the review. CA managed to get itself sucked into an issue related to ball-tampering,” he said. “David Peever [former CA chairman] did some stuff he could have done better, but he’s not saying go and sandpaper the ball. How’s he carrying the can for sandpapering the ball? I think they managed to get sucked into a washing machine they didn’t need to. The two things got conflated that didn’t need to. I think it was overblown to some extent and by and large CA has a lot of excellent people who care deeply about the game.”Jones was, however, critical of some aspects of the Cricket Australia set-up, chiefly the selection process of the national team which he believes should be solely in the hands of the head coach. On Saturday, new CEO Kevin Roberts said the board would assess whether potential overrode performance too much in selection.”I do think our selections have been haphazard for a number of years, that came up in the Argus review and not much has changed to be honest,” Jones said. “We often don’t pick the players with the best records – especially in batting – your Test batting is heavily correlated to your first-class record and there’s a reason for that, the job’s the same.”In my view, the players and coach are accountable for performance of the team. The coach needs to pick the team…he has to live and die by the decisions, he has to make the call and be judged on the results. It’s what we’ve done in NSW, sometimes you get good results and sometimes you don’t.”The selection issue is a bigger issue than the schedule issue, but it also depends on great players being great. We have a fantastic bowling attack which is under the pump but the records show out batting line-up doesn’t have great players.”

اكتفى فريق تشيلسي بتحقيق التعادل مع نظيره إنتر ميلان، في مباراتهما الودية اليوم، استعدادًا للموسم الجديد 2024/25.

وتلاقى الفريقان، مساء يوم الأحد، في آخر المباريات الودية الاستعدادية للموسم المرتقب، حيث تعادلا بهدف لمثله. أهداف مباراة تشيلسي وإنتر ميلان الودية

كان ماركوس تورام قد سجل هدف التقدم لصالح فريق إنتر ميلان، في الدقيقة 26 من عمر الشوط الأول.

وظل تشيلسي متأخرًا في النتيجة حتى الدقيقة 90، حيث تمكن شيموانيا أوجوشوكو من تسجيل هدف التعادل القاتل للفريق اللندني.

ويبدأ تشيلسي مشواره في الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز بمواجهة صعبة ضد مانشستر سيتي، يوم السبت المقبل.

وخسر تشيلسي من مانشستر سيتي، في مباراة ودية الأسبوع الماضي، بأربعة أهداف مقابل هدفين.

Captain challenges team to keep up the pressure and seal rare series whitewash in Sri Lanka

George Dobell in Colombo21-Nov-2018Joe Root feels England are “pretty much on track” to achieve their goal of becoming the No. 1-ranked Test team.Their series victory in Sri Lanka means England are guaranteed to rise to No. 2 in the world irrespective of the result in the final Test, which starts in Colombo on Friday.But Root feels his side would take “a huge amount of confidence” by becoming just the third side to complete a 3-0 whitewash over Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka and suggests “it would be nice” if England’s next tour was in India where they would have, he believes, “a good chance of success”.”From the start, we tried to plan out how to get to No. 1 in the world and we’re pretty much on track,” Root said. “It’s a great incentive to the group.”Only two side have won 3-0 here: India last year and Australia in 2004. And they were both the No. 1 side. So it would give the guys a huge amount of confidence if we could carry the momentum, skill levels and smart nature with which we’ve played these first two Tests into the next one.”It would be a nice follow-on to this tour to be going on and playing in India now. It’s a very difficult place to go and play, but we would have a good chance. Better than we had previously.”It’s hard to say [how we would do], but the most important thing is that we’re on that upward curve. We’re where we want to be.”Root’s confidence is based on the success England have had with their new method in Sri Lanka. Where once England’s batsmen tended to take a cautious approach to spin bowling, they now appear determined to take the attack to it.Meanwhile their usual reliance upon their seamers has been replaced, in part at least, by trust in a three-man spin attack which, in offering variety and depth, has tended to be worth more collectively than the sum of its parts. And, both at home and abroad, they are currently blessed to have several allrounders in their side which has deepened their batting and bowling resources.Root’s confidence does have to be tempered, though. This is not a vintage Sri Lanka side and England have won only two – the last two – of their most recent 15 away Tests. They are still no closer to finding a No. 3 (Jonny Bairstow will be their fourth No. 3 of the series in Colombo and Jos Buttler had also been told he was going to fill the role if England bowled first in Galle).England warm up during training in Colombo•AFPAlso, there is no obvious replacement for James Anderson in the pipeline and, while the opening batsmen have enjoyed an impressive start to their period together, it is too early to draw firm conclusions about the long-term futures of Rory Burns and Keaton Jennings.”We’re not the finished article,” Root admitted. “We’re still learning and still improving. But we’re going in the right direction and sometimes you have to tinker with things to get to where you want eventually.”Bairstow’s recall for this Test does provide him with an opportunity to stake a claim for that No. 3 position in the long term. With Ben Foakes having appeared to have nailed down the keeping position – despite being leading run-scorer in the series, he will still bat at No. 8 in Colombo – that No. 3 spot could be Bairstow’s only way back into the side.”That’s definitely a strong option,” Root said. “He’s more than capable of doing it. He bats at the top of the order in one-day cricket and one thing we all know about Jonny is that whenever he’s got a point to prove, or he is up against it, he generally comes out and does something pretty special. Hopefully we see that determination and drive to really hammer that spot home for himself this week.”It’s a really good opportunity for him to take his batting to another level. Over the last couple of years he’s been statistically one of the top 10 players in the world in Test cricket. It would be nice to see him really grab No. 3 by the scruff of the neck, use it as an opportunity and start consistently scoring big runs in this format.”At the minute, keeping is not an option for him in this team. Jonny’s not done anything wrong [as keeper], but he has had a freak injury and is going to have to continue to work hard at his keeping and quietly wait for an opportunity if it comes.”Ben Foakes has come into the side and batted magnificently well. We all know how good a wicketkeeper he is, but I think he’s probably exceeded expectations in that department as well. He deserves his opportunity.”

A composed innings from Cameron White and a solid all-round performance from captain Peter Handscomb has helped Victoria claim the JLT Cup title after beating Tasmania by 110 runs at the Junction Oval in Melbourne.White made 88 from 96 balls at the top of the order and got good support from Handscomb, Marcus Harris and Travis Dean as the home side posted 274 after winning the toss and batting first.Victoria’s spinners did the early damage in the chase as Tasmania never got close.White and Harris put together a solid 88-run opening stand in the best of the batting conditions in the morning. White mixed power and stroke-play with his trademark control. He struck four fours and four sixes before falling Gurinder Sandhu.Handscomb took over and raced to 49 from 45 balls before falling in the 48th over. Matthew Short provided a great cameo with 37 from 34 balls.Sandhu bowled a superb last over to concede just one run. He already had three wickets and took four more in the over including a hat-trick off the last three balls of the innings to finish with 7 for 56 from his 10 overs.The wind really picked up in afternoon making power hitting more difficult for the Tasmania batsmen. Victoria was able to bowl its spinners down-wind to protect the boundaries. Matthew Wade fell to Glenn Maxwell in the Powerplay. Fawad Ahmed forced a mistake from Ben McDermott while Jordan Silk nicked the part-time left-arm spin of Nic Maddison to Handscomb to leave the Tigers 3 for 72 in the 18th over.When Andrew Fekete removed semi-final heroes George Bailey and Simon Milenko the game was all but over. Handscomb finished with four catches behind the stumps and was named Player of the Match.It was a remarkable tournament for Victoria, who finished fourth after the five round-robin games having won only two of them. Under the old Australian domestic one-day system, Victoria would have missed the finals all together.But with all six sides making the finals under the brand new system devised this year, Victoria progressed past New South Wales in the first qualifying final after a wash-out, due to a slightly superior net run rate.Victoria then hosted the top-ranked and undefeated Western Australia in the semi-final and beat them handsomely before hosting the final against Tasmania, who had finished second on the table behind WA.

Arsenal may now be "willing to pay" market value for one club's "incredible" striker as a possible alternative to heavily-linked Brentford star Ivan Toney.

Will Arsenal sign a striker?

One gaping hole in Mikel Arteta's side, as widely believed, is the lack of a world-class centre-forward. While the Gunners are currently joint-top with north London rivals Tottenham on points, winning six out of a possible eight and remaining unbeaten in the Premier League, many of their victories have come through narrow one-goal margins. The title hopefuls, as a result, are eyeing up a new striker for 2024.

While some reports, like one from Football Transfers this week, have suggested that Arteta prefers to sign an alternative to Bukayo Saka – the vast majority have claimed that Toney is of real interest to Arsenal and a January move is possible. The Englishman, who scored 20 league goals, would seriously bolster Arteta's ranks and some pundits like TV journalist Piers Morgan say that the club's supporters are "kidding themselves" if they think Arsenal don't need a forward.

“I think that in January we have to go and get Ivan Toney or someone like him because we need a proper striker," said Morgan.

“Every Arsenal fan knows this and I think we’ve been kidding ourselves for too long that we can exist without one and the truth is that we can’t.”

Dusan Vlahovic transfer update

However, while links continue to surround a move for Toney, that isn't to say there are no alternatives. Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic, who's started this season with real aplomb, is one name to be mentioned recently. A report from Tutto Juve and journalist Massimo Pavan, sharing the latest Vlahovic transfer update, has claimed that Arsenal (and sporting director Edu Gaspar by extension) may now be "willing to pay" the Serbia international's market value of around £70 million to get a deal done.

However, there is some bad news for supporters concerning this, as Vlahovic's club are set to demand much more money than this. Indeed, a figure of around £90 million could even be the yard stick according to this report. Given Vlahovic's start to the new Serie A campaign, this is hardly surprising, as the former Fiorentina star has already scored four goals in six league appearances already this season.

Former Juve star turned commentator, Massimo Mauro, has also called the young striker "incredible" and "like he has always been" in Turin with the Old Lady.

Dusan Vlahovic strengths

Dusan Vlahovic weaknesses

Direct free-kicks

Offside awareness

Long shots

Defensive contribution

Finishing

Discipline

“Vlahovic is incredible," exclaimed Mauro to TUTTOmercatoWEB (via the Juventus official website).

"It almost seems like he has always been there, he hasn’t undergone the change of environment at all like it happened in Florence also in Turin, he takes the field and scores goals. And now Juve is starting to scare again, if the others continue to take pauses for reflection, the Bianconeri are ready to return fully for the title fight.”

MatériaMais Notícias

Após três jogos, o Rogério Ceni enfim conseguiu a primeira vitória no comando do Flamengo. O Rubro-Negro venceu o Coritiba por 3 a 1, neste sábado, no Maracanã. Após a partida, o treinador destacou a quantidade de chances criadas pela equipe.

-Poderíamos ter feito mais gols, mas criamos chances e esse é o lado bom. Seria importante no momento que você sofre gols, como nos últimos jogos, mas ao menos jogamos os 90, faltou um pouco de atenção. Foi a única oportunidade que o Coritiba teve – disse.

Ceni também falou sobre o que tem passado para os jogadores durante as atividades no Ninho do Urubu. O treinador afirmou que o clima no grupo está muito bom e tem tudo para seguir melhorando.

RelacionadasFlamengoVÍDEO: Veja os gols da vitória do Flamengo contra o CoritibaFlamengo21/11/2020FlamengoApós vitória, Arrascaeta destaca evolução do Flamengo e garante: ‘Nos dá muita confiança’Flamengo21/11/2020FlamengoATUAÇÕES: Arrascaeta brilha em vitória do Flamengo sobre o CoritibaFlamengo21/11/2020

-Eu converso bastante com eles. Nos concentramos para o jogo ontem (sexta) e sempre passo os vídeos para eles preparando para o jogo, corrigindo erros. A convivência é super boa. É normal no Flamengo, expectativa é de vitória. Estamos trabalhando. Eu, essa semana trabalhei, mais a defesa, vou ser sincero. Mas frequentemente eu mesmo treino eles no ataque, faço os cruzamentos para eles finalizarem. Prefiro criar e perder os gols do que não chegar perto do gol adversário – falou.

O Flamengo volta a campo nesta terça-feira, contra o Racing, pela partida de ida das oitavas de fina da Libertadores. Ceni afirmou que já está de olho na equipe argentina e ainda confirmou que Gabigol vai estar entre os relacionados para o jogo.

– Comecei a estudar ontem o Racing. Até semana passada não estava nos meus planos, mas eu conheço o Becaccece porque joguei contra ele, sei como ele gosta de jogar.É um time argentino, jogando Libertadores e na Argentina, é complicado para qualquer time.O Gabriel vai ser relacionado amanhã (domingo), ele viaja com a gente. O Pedro continua o tratamento, não sei a volta exata dele, mas vem evoluindo – completou.

MatériaMais Notícias

O Bahia é mais um brasileiro garantido nas oitavas de final da Sul-Americana. Nesta quinta-feira, a equipe entrou em campo precisando de uma vitória simples pra levar a disputa para os pênaltis, mas não tomou conhecimento do Melgar e goleou por 4 a 0, com todos os gols saindo no primeiro tempo.

RelacionadasInternacionalMaior goleador estrangeiro do Brasileirão, Guerrero completa 16 anos de seu primeiro gol como profissionalInternacional06/11/2020Fora de CampoRizek critica CBF por desfalques em clubes: ‘Isso só acontece no Brasil’Fora de Campo06/11/2020Futebol InternacionalBélgica divulga convocados para amistoso e duelos da Liga das NaçõesFutebol Internacional06/11/2020

A partida também marcou o segundo gol do capitão Gregore pelo Tricolor de Aço. Em sua terceira temporada, soma quase 150 jogos pelo clube e, coincidentemente, foi seu segundo tento pela competição também. Ele revelou a felicidade em marcar novamente pelo Bahia, mas destacou o bom desempenho do time para buscar a classificação.

‘Estou muito feliz de ter a oportunidade de marcar novamente com a camisa do Bahia, e de novo pela Sul-Americana, mas o mais importante foi o bom desempenho da equipe como um todo e a classificação para as oitavas de final. Todos nós estamos focados e seguimos em busca do nosso objetivo’, comentou.

Na próxima fase, a equipe baiana vai enfrentar o Unión de Santa Fe, que eliminou o Emelec. O volante afirma que a goleada contra o Melgar dá confiança ao elenco, mas que é necessário manter o foco para manter o desempenho no Brasileirão e também na Sul-Americana.

‘Esse resultado nos dá confiança e moral para a sequência. Agora voltamos os olhares pro Brasileirão mas sabemos que não serão jogos fáceis contra o Unión de Santa Fe pelas oitavas. É uma equipe argentina e a gente sabe da dificuldade que é enfrentar um time de lá. Temos que trabalhar firme pra seguir bem nas duas competições’, concluiu.