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Everton have finally come into life this transfer window after confirming the signing of Richarlison from Watford on a five-year deal.

And the Toffees could look to bolster their options out wide even further as the club continues to be linked with a move for Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha.

However, the Evening Standard reports the Ivory Coast international wants to move to a Champions League club, potentially ruling Everton out of the running.

Should Everton have to find an alternative, then they should look at Juventus’ Federico Bernardeschi, who is valued at £36m by Transfermarkt.

Bernardeschi only joined Juventus last summer, but he failed to nail down a starting spot in Max Allegri’s starting XI and the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo will do the Italian no favours.

Despite being reduced to a bit-part role, he still managed to score four goals and assist a further six in 22 Serie A appearances.

And prior to that, the 24-year-old was able to hit the back of the net 11 times, while setting up his team-mates on four occasions, in his last season at Fiorentina.

Bernardeschi primarily operates from the right-hand side where he is able to cut in from with his left foot before arriving in dangerous areas to become a goal threat.

The former Fiorentina man is also a very good free-kick taker and, overall, would be the kind of signing that would help Everton progress.

If Richarlison can rediscover the form he showed at Watford when Marco Silva was in the Vicarage Road dugout, with Bernardeschi on the opposite flank to the young Brazilian, Everton could end up with one of the best attacks in the Premier League.

Should Bernardeschi decide his future lies away from Juventus, then Everton must lure him to Goodison Park.

In theory, pre-season friendlies only really prepare you for the first game – or, at a stretch, the first three until the international break comes along at the start of September. From then on, it’s about quality, organisation, momentum and adapting to the circumstances at hand. Full fitness should no longer be part of the equation.At the same time, however, a poor pre-season can be disastrous. It’s much like how an over-lit office may not necessarily boost your productivity, but a dimly lit one will almost certainly reduce it. Chelsea’s spectacular implosion during the 2015/16 season provides the perfect example.Whilst the Eva Caneiro scandal is often seen as the catalyst for the second-worst title defence in Premier League history and Jose Mourinho’s eventual dismissal, Chelsea’s problems started way before then.A burnt-out squad at the end of 2014/15 were taken on a post-season tour, whilst the subsequent pre-season, which started around a week later than many of the Blues’ Premier League rivals and consisted of just four games, saw Chelsea suffer defeat to New York Red Bulls and Fiorentina and draw with PSG and Barcelona. It was then followed by defeat to Arsenal in the Community Shield. Not a single win ahead of a title defence.We often don’t pay attention to results in pre-season; the games are supposed to be a means to an end. But it was clear that Chelsea’s pre-season didn’t prepare them properly for the coming campaign. By the time of Mourinho’s spat with Caneiro during the opening game of the Premier League season, damage had already been done and the negative momentum was already snowballing. From then on, the Blues didn’t really recover until Guus Hiddink took the helm after Christmas.Of course, pre-season tours in distant lands have become part of the parcel for Premier League clubs, a necessary evil for managers who accept the corporate demand to have a presence in the emerging markets – namely the USA and the Far East – because of the enormous revenues they now bring in. At the same time, the Premier League is no longer the English top flight; it’s now a global top flight, the fan-bases shifting from local to international. Those fans will feel they deserve to see their club and their heroes in action too.But as all of the Premier League’s top clubs jet off to the over side of the world, you have to wonder how well these pre-seasons, so financially driven Ronald McDonald lead both teams out during Manchester United’s clash with Real Madrid in San Francisco, actually prepare the players for the coming campaign.

The Premier League’s Asia Trophy was disrupted by concerns over the standard of the pitch and torrential rain that affected Leicester’s clash with Liverpool. Here’s what manager Jurgen Klopp said about the pitch conditions in Hong Kong – before describing the tournament win as ‘in the most difficult circumstances’.

“Yeah, it’s a worry. What can I say? I’m a football manager, I’m interested in the game, I’m interested in the quality of the game and different things have influence on the quality.Players do of course, the pitch is very important, but if it’s bad we can’t change it. We’ll see how it is.”

No doubt, Premier League footballers have greater support than ever before. Medical staff can detect injuries before they happen, sports scientists know which training exercises work best in certain conditions. It’s not a question of clubs putting the safety of their players at risk – more than ever, English clubs can afford to take every precaution and spare no expense should an injury happen.

Yet, the differences in the Premier League are now so slight, a pre-season disrupted by poor pitches and tropical storms surely leaves Liverpool at a worrying disadvantage. Everton, for example, have recruited well this summer and following a friendly in Tanzania at the start of July have spent the rest of their summer in Europe – that could be what sees them leapfrog their local rivals in the coming season.

Comparing anything to Leicester City’s miraculous title win is the beautiful game’s answer to Godwin’s Law; when you compare someone or something to Hitler, you’ve immediately lost the argument. But it’s certainly intriguing that the Foxes spent their entire pre-season in England before winning the title, despite the club’s Asian ownership, and when Chelsea lifted it the year previous, their friendlies never spanned further than Turkey, the rest taking place in mainland Europe.

In fact, from the eight tournaments thus far, the Asia trophy has gone on to produce just one title-winner; Manchester City who won the tournament in 2013 and then the Premier League during the 2013/14 season. That’s despite the remaining list of Asia trophy winners including Chelsea twice, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool – four clubs who will expect to be part of the title race next season. Likewise, no winner or runner-up of the International Champions Cup, including the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United, has gone on to win the Premier League title in the season proper.

Of course, it’s important not to draw too much into coincidences – and to point out, if it’s not obvious already, that I’m not a leading figure in the world of fitness and sports science. But it’s clear that pre-season tours in far-away lands often aren’t the ideal preparation for Premier League clubs; in fact, they create distractions and obstacles during a time of the season when players are asked to re-establish their physical and mental sharpness.

But in many ways, that epitomises the never-ending struggle at the heart of the beautiful game today; what best serves football versus what best serves business interests. Pre-season tours are walking a delicate tight-rope in between, but one sway in the direction of business can have a massive impact on the season ahead.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has received support from his Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola following a difficult week of criticism.

The Gunners were hammered 5-1 by Bayern Munich in the first leg of their last-16 tie in the Champions League last week.

Considering that the team are 10 points off the pace in the Premier League title hunt, the elite European competition became that much more important, but now they have a mountain to climb if they want to progress into the quarter-finals.

Plenty of Arsenal players, as well as Wenger, have been criticised for the performance, and now they will try to avoid a potential banana skin when they face non-league Sutton United in the FA Cup fifth round on Monday night.

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There are plenty of questions surrounding Wenger, mainly about his future, as he comes to the end of his current contract in the summer.

The Frenchman has been in charge of the North London outfit for the past 20 years, but a large number of fans believe that it is time for him to go due to the club’s consistent failure to challenge for the league title.

Guardiola, though, jumped to Wenger’s defence when asked about his own team selection for Saturday’s goalless draw with Huddersfield in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Saturday.

The Mirror quotes Guardiola as saying:

“My friend, I take the decisions, you analyse my decisions. You have to take a decision before, to [find] the best solution – it was what I did. If you don’t agree, you can write it.

“What I hear in the last 10 days, about how people, ex-players, journalists treat Arsene Wenger is unacceptable. Our job, in that moment, doesn’t have any respect for any position, so it is unrespectable, what happened. That is why we take the decisions and you can say whatever you want.”

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Arsenal have failed in their transfer deadline day attempt to sign Fulham wonderkid Ryan Sessegnon, according to reports from the Mirror.

Gunners ace Serge Gnabry was being enquired by the Cottagers during the January window, which saw Arsenal keen on signing Sessegnon in exchange.

However, Fulham were reluctant and thus refused to let go of their youngster, with Sessegnon already being considered as one of the best left-sided attackers since Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale.

But it seems that Arsene Wenger and his scouting team will try once again at the end of the season, in the hopes of securing a deal for the current England U-16 captain in the summer.

Gnabry could once again be used as bait by the Gunners, but Charlton are also monitoring the German, who has just returned from West Bromwich Albion following a loan deal.

Sessegnon has yet to make an appearances for the Fulham first-team.

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Sunday's showpiece is potentially must-win for Mauricio Pochettino, and the stars may just be aligning for his Chelsea side

In years gone by, the League Cup was a mere appetiser for trophy-gorging Chelsea; a first, less significant piece of silverware on the menu to get them in the mood for bigger and better things in the months to come. In 2024, though, winning the much-derided cup will almost certainly make or break their season.

Mauricio Pochettino's side face Liverpool at Wembley on Sunday, and while the Reds find themselves in the enviable position of still being in the hunt for four different pieces of silverware, the Carabao Cup represents Chelsea's most realistic chance of winning a first trophy since the Club World Cup in 2022.

A victory for the Blues would be priceless – both in terms of the feeling around the club and tangibly in the form of guaranteed European football in 2024-25. The game seems to be coming around at just the right time, and it is an opportunity they must seize with both hands.

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Chelsea have had more than their fair share of injury issues this season, and they are still without captain Reece James, Romeo Lavia, Wesley Fofana, Thiago Silva and Marc Cucurella, among others, ahead of the final.

However, the tables may have turned in their favour ahead of Sunday's showdown. Liverpool have boasted a relatively clean bill of health throughout the season bar long-term absentees Thiago Alcantara and Joel Matip, but their own injury problems have deepened significantly in recent weeks.

While Chelsea are already accustomed to doing without the likes of James, Fofana and Cucurella, Jurgen Klopp will be without a host of first-team players who have played key roles in their campaign to date; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dominik Szoboszlai, Diogo Jota and Curtis Jones are all sidelined, as is No.1 goalkeeper Alisson. If that wasn't bad enough, there are also doubts over key attacking players Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez.

Of course, Liverpool still possess a wealth of quality, dispatching Brentford and Luton in consecutive 4-1 victories despite having all of those players missing, but the upheaval within the squad may just level the playing field at Wembley somewhat.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesFinally showing some form

Liverpool's fitness woes have certainly contributed to an inescapable sense that this game just might be arriving at the perfect interval for Chelsea. It would be wrong to say the west Londoners are 'in form', given they are far too inconsistent to pinpoint exactly what 'form' is for this iteration of the Blues, but in the past three games they have played some of their best football of the entire season – and there are signs that they are maybe, , capable of putting a run of results together in the remainder of the campaign to salvage something.

Chelsea sprung a surprise as they dominated from the first whistle to the last against high-flying Aston Villa in their FA Cup fourth-round replay, deservedly running out 3-1 winners. That was followed by a hard-earned comeback victory over Crystal Palace, showing some new-found mettle to snatch victory at the death.

They so nearly capped their resurgence with an admirable away win at title-chasing Manchester City, but they lost control of the game after a very solid 70 minutes and were instead forced to settle for a creditable draw.

All of this bodes well, and they must carry the same hunger into Sunday. Pochettino knows this. "In the last few weeks, we have learned a lot and stepped up," he said in his pre-final press conference. "We arrive in a very good moment and condition. After Wolves, [the wins that followed] provided the team with confidence and trust. It was a click to change to compete that we maybe missed."

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Chelsea may well feel that they have more to play for, too. Liverpool are still fighting on four fronts – leading the Premier League, standing a very good chance of winning the Europa League, and facing a favourable FA Cup fifth-round tie at home to Southampton. The Carabao Cup, then, is arguably the lowest priority.

For Pochettino's men, this final now represents the most obvious route to securing European football for next season, with the winner gaining passage to the Conference League playoff round – although their participation could be thrown into doubt over potential financial breaches.

That won't be added motivation for Klopp's Reds, who are all-but guaranteed Champions League football, but should be for Chelsea, who are still mired in mid-table in the Premier League and face plenty of competition to win the FA Cup – which secures a place in the Europa League.

If the Blues can find some modicum of form over the next three months, the intention will surely be to push as far up the league table as possible. But if all else fails, the Conference League at least offers something of a safety net and a platform to build to better things.

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The fixture schedulers may have also handed Chelsea a significant advantage. Having last played on Saturday, the Blues have had a week and a day to prepare for the final, while Liverpool found themselves in midweek action against Luton.

That game was rescheduled from Saturday during the 3pm blackout as a result of the Reds reaching the Carabao Cup final, but Chelsea have avoided the same fate despite originally being slated to play Tottenham at Stamford Bridge on Friday, February 23.

Why? Because that game had already been selected for broadcast by Sky Sports, and therefore it could not be moved to clash with Champions League games being played in midweek and broadcast on TNT Sports, per an agreement between the two networks.

Klopp has often bemoaned broadcasters' influence on the congested fixture schedule, and Liverpool's injury list suggests he has good reason, so this rearrangement will leave him quietly seething. Luton provided his depleted team with a worthy test on Wednesday night, so he will hope they have enough in the tank on Sunday.

For years, the U.S. has been begging for a striker. Now, Gregg Berhalter's side has two that look ready for the big moments.

They say a rising tide lifts all boats. It's an old saying but, in sports, it's often true. Competition, more often than not, is a good thing, and the introduction of just one newcomer can sometimes take everyone and everything to a new level.

That was apparent on Tuesday night. The introduction of Folarin Balogun has raised the potential of the USMNT in the long-term, and it's clear that the new striker has lit under a fire under one that was once in his place.

Balogun and Ricardo Pepi both got on the scoresheet in the 4-0 win over Oman, scoring in either half with both playing 45 minutes. Balogun's goal was a poacher's effort, a solid finish on a rebound from a Sergino Dest striker. Pepi's, meanwhile, was another well-hit missile after he scored a similar blast against Uzbekistan.

Balogun now has two goals in under 300 USMNT minutes. Pepi, meanwhile, has six goals in six USMNT appearances as Balogun's arrival, and his World Cup snub, haven't deterred him in the slightest.

The strikers were big winners on Tuesday night, but they weren't the only winners for the USMNT. It was a complete performance from top to bottom, one that will leave Gregg Berhalter excited looking ahead to bigger tests next month against Germany and Ghana.

GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from Allianz Field…

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  WINNER: Weston McKennie

  It was, at least partly, a function of the game, as Oman's 4-4-2 diamond left them exposed. However, there's no denying the performance McKennie put in in this one.

  The Juventus midfielder played a seemingly never-ending series of diagonal balls, routinely opening up Oman's defense. In the first half, in particular, McKennie made it feel like the game was being played under his control thanks to both his passing and effort.

  That passing was the most noticeable part of his game, but it was the effort that helped pave the way for the USMNT goal. It was his hustle that kept the sequence going, leading to Balogun's goal, and that effort never went away no matter how lopsided the score got.

  It was a big game for McKennie, one even better than his performance against Uzbekistan. Despite not getting on the scoresheet, he was likely the Man of the Match, making quite a statement as he heads back to Juventus.

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  LOSER: Argentina

  The smile on Benjamin Cremaschi's face said it all. As he prepared for to come in for his USMNT debut, the Inter Miami teenager was smiling from ear to ear. You could see this meant something to him.

  And that's great news for the USMNT, who may just have the inside track on his recruitment. Cremaschi may have Lionel Messi in one ear, but whatever the USMNT is saying in the other seems to be working.

  It wasn't a wildly eventful debut. Solid, but not spectacular, it's fair to say, as Cremaschi didn't look out of his depth against a team that, for most of the night, looked out of theirs. Still, the questions immediately turned towards the future: with this one USMNT appearance under his belt, what does that mean for his future with Argentina?

  "We didn't talk about that," Berhalter said. "We'll have time talk about it. To me, it was about letting him see the environment, letting him see the guys, get to know the guys, know the coaches.

  "His performance did nothing to change my opinion: I think he's a highly, highly talented player. He has exciting potential, and I think he showed that today."

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  WINNER: Folarin Balogun and Ricardo Pepi

  It's felt like forever since the USMNT had a competent striker. It proved to be their undoing at the 2022 World Cup. If that team had someone, anyone, that could finish chances, who knows what that tournament would have looked like?

  These days, the U.S. doesn't just have one; they have at least two. Heck, it could be argued that there are three or four. But, on this day, the focus was on Balogun and Pepi, the clear frontrunners in this ever-changing striker race.

  After a fairly quiet game against Uzbekistan, Balogun made an early impact against Oman. His goal set the tone, leading to the onslaught that followed. Yet, Berhalter says he believes Balogun could have scored more and, in the future, he will as his teammates adjust to his game.

  "I think we're still trying to figure out the best way to utilize Balo because we know that he's high quality," Berhalter said. "He made a number of good runs behind the back line that we didn't pick up on so he's still integrating on that side of it."

  As for Pepi, Berhalter was quick to praise the striker, who has used his World Cup snub as fuel to start this cycle. He's been unstoppable for the U.S. so far this year and looks like he's recovered all of the confidence that was drained from him at Augsburg.

  If the Copa America were to start now, Balogun would likely be the guy up top, but don't write Pepi off just yet. Those two will continue to push each other, it seems, and that's great news for the U.S. after waiting so long to have goalscorers like this.

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  LOSER: Oman

  In his pregame availabilities, Berhalter routinely pointed to the dangers of Oman's counterattack. Despite not being a traditional power, Oman are a team that can cause teams problems. Just last year, they played Germany tight in a 1-0 loss, while this year, they already beat World Cup partcipant Saudi Arabia in the Gulf Cup.

  There was no danger, though, on Tuesday night. Oman had absolutely nothing for the USMNT.

  Routinely torched by the U.S. throughout, Oman's 4-4-2 diamond was picked apart. And, in the few moments when they did get the ball, the USMNT centerback swept up anything Oman tried to throw at them.

  Berhalter left the game thrilled with his team's defensive performances, saying that he gave Miles Robinson and Chris Richards game balls as co-Man of the Match.

  "We never do that," Berhalter said. "The reason why we did is because the counter attack was non-existent. Anytime they tried to run the channels, they were there."

  As complete as the U.S. performance was, it was equally poor from Oman, who will need to go back to the drawing board as they begin World Cup qualifying next month.

Man City used to be well-stocked with world-class full-backs but are now having to call on their central defenders to fill the gaps.

Pep Guardiola made an intriguing tactical call ahead of Manchester City's 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday.

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With Joao Cancelo on loan at Bayern Munich, Sergio Gomez struggling to bed in and Kyle Walker landing himself in trouble last week, the coach fielded four natural centre-backs at Selhurst Park.

John Stones played at right-back, Nathan Ake again featured at left-back, with Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji in the middle.

"I like when we play with four centre-backs, we are so solid, they are stable players, they are so calm and so composed – that's why we defended really well," Guardiola explained after barely allowing Palace a sniff at goal.

However, while his side were solid, they struggled to create many opportunities down the flanks and it took a late penalty for them to grab all three points.

Ake and Stones lacked the pace and verve to do the damage that Cancelo and Walker can do from the position.

Commentating the game for , Gary Neville said City need to address the full-back situation soon in the transfer market.

City's sudden shortage at full-back is all the more remarkable given that Guardiola spent over £200 million ($240m) on full-backs in the space of two years, signing Walker, Benjamin Mendy and Danilo in 2017, and Cancelo in 2019.

As City prepare to host RB Leipzig in their Champions League last-16 second leg, GOAL takes a look at the defenders Guardiola should target to solve this unexpected problem…

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  Josko Gvardiol (RB Leipzig)

  Gvardiol is strictly a centre-back. But boy does he have the makings of a perfect utility player for Guardiola.

  One of the breakout stars of the 2022 World Cup, the Croatian is physically imposing yet technically brilliant, making him an ideal fit for the Premier League and City.

  Guardiola would relish turning him into a full-back that can effectively operate as a midfielder, just as he has done with Phillip Lahm, Joshua Kimmich, Dani Alves and Cancelo in the past.

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  David Raum (RB Leipzig)

  Another player City will come up against on Tuesday.

  The 24-year-old had to fight his way through Germany's lower leagues to earn a move to the Bundesliga with Hoffenheim in 2021 and only needed one season in the top flight to convince Leipzig to shell out €26m (£23m/$28m) for him last summer.

  Raum won the under-21 European Championship with Germany in 2021 and the following year broke into the first team, starting all three matches at the World Cup.

  Raum is a more traditional full-back than Guardiola has favoured recently: he loves to fly down the wing and put in crosses.

  But given City have arguably the best centre-forward on their hands in Erling Haaland, maybe that is what they need.

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  Alex Grimaldo (Benfica)

  Guardiola has known about Grimaldo since he was a teenager.

  The left-back was breaking into Barcelona's B team in Guardiola's final season with the Catalans and showed impressive ability.

  A serious knee injury in 2023 de-railed his progress at Barcelona but he has re-built his career with Benfica and has been one of the Portuguese league leaders' most important players in what is proving a rip-roaring season.

  The timing could be right for their paths to cross again.

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  Jose Gaya (Valencia)

  Gaya has been one of the most consistent full-backs in La Liga since making his Valencia debut in 2014 and is Spain's first-choice left-back.

  He has resisted offers from the likes of Real Madrid in the past and last year signed a new contract with his boyhood club until 2028.

  But with Valencia in serious danger of relegation, Gaya could surely be tempted away to a move to the Premier League and his club, who sold rising star Ferran Torres to City in 2020, could sure do with the money.

Los Angeles FC demolished the Seattle Sounders while the city's other team made it five straight wins in a week that saw several shock results

There were surprises galore in MLS week 8, but one constant remained: Los Angeles-based teams kept on winning.

Both Los Angeles FC and the LA Galaxy delivered big wins against top competition to solidify their standing as the top two teams in Major League Soccer. LAFC's thrashing of the previously-unbeaten Seattle Sounders cemented its status as the league's top dog, while the Galaxy fended off the Houston Dynamo to run their league-best winning streak to five matches.

The rest of the league's week 8 slate was filled with surprises, from San Jose's thrashing of Sporting Kansas City to New York City FC's shutout win on the road against D.C. United. The various surprise results helped shake things up in the latest Goal MLS Power Rankings, particularly at the bottom.

Here are Goal's MLS Power Rankings after week 8 action:

• 1Colorado Rapids (0-6-2)

  The Rapids continue to play some of the worst defense in MLS, and Saturday's 4-1 loss to Chicago continued that trend. Anthony Hudson's shuffling of his back four has yet to yield a group capable of limiting the goal deluge, and it's getting to a point now where Hudson has to be in jeopardy of being fired.

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• 2New York Red Bulls (1-4-2)

  Though Luis Robles might raise his hand and take the blame for Saturday's loss to New England, the real issue for the Red Bulls was once again an attack that was just too inconsistent. The Red Bulls actually generated twice as many shots on goal as the Revs, but couldn't convert those chances, leaving it to the team's defense to try and save the day again. The result is a team that's slumping and about to lose Kaku to a long suspension.

• 3Portland Timbers ((1-5-1)

  If a team ever needed a win, it was the Timbers, who handed their former coach Caleb Porter a surprising 3-1 loss on Saturday. Larrys Mabiala had a strong showing to ease the recent suffering he and the Timbers defense have endured, while Jeremy Ebobisse continues to make the case he is the forward the Timbers should build around.

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• 4Vancouver Whitecaps (1-5-2)

  Last Wednesday's win against Los Angeles FC was the morale booster the Whitecaps needed, and even though they dropped a 1-0 decision to Orlando City, Marc Dos Santos can feel good about how his team is coming together. The big issue his team continues to deal with is an inability to finish chances, which cost Vancouver a clear chance at three points at Orlando City.

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Palmeiras e Guarani se enfrentam nesta quinta-feira, às 21h30, no Allianz Parque – o jogo é válido pela sétima rodada do Campeonato Paulista. O Verdão é o vice-líder do Grupo B com 13 pontos (a dois do Santo André, primeiro colocado), enquanto o Bugre é primeiro colocado na chave D, a mesma do Corinthians. Veja as informações do jogo:

Local: Allianz Parque, em São Paulo (SP)
Data-Hora: 19/2/2020 – 21h30 (de Brasília)
Árbitro: Vinicius Furlan
Assistentes: Daniel Paulo Ziolli e Miguel Cataneo Ribeiro da Costa
Onde acompanhar: Premiere (para todo o Brasil) e tempo real do LANCE!

PALMEIRAS: Weverton; Gabriel Menino, Felipe Melo, Gustavo Gómez e Viña; Bruno Henrique, Zé Rafael e Lucas Lima; Dudu, Willian e Luiz Adriano. Técnico: Vanderlei Luxemburgo
Desfalques: Marcos Rocha (lesionado), Mayke (lesionado), Ramires (transição) e Patrick de Paula (desgaste elevado)
Pendurados: Gustavo Gómez e Felipe Melo

GUARANI:Jefferson Paulino, Pablo, Romércio, Bruno Silva e Bidu; David, Lucas Abreu, Igor Henrique (Mateusinho) e Lucas Crispim; Júnior Todinho e Bruno Sávio (Giovanny). Técnico: Thiago Carpini

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A um dia da final da Copa Libertadores entre River Plate e Flamengo, não há como fugir desse assunto, nem mesmo Vagner Love, em entrevista coletiva concedida nesta sexta-feira, no CT Joaquim Grava. O atacante do Corinthians sabe que seu clube é um dos principais interessados, por conta da abertura de uma vaga, mas rechaça torcida para um dos lados e prefere focar naquilo que seu time pode fazer para buscar essa classificação de outra maneira.

TABELA
> Veja classificação e simulador do Brasileirão clicando aqui

– Temos que fazer nosso trabalho. Vai ser uma grande final. Os dois time merecem estar lá. Vai vencer quem errar menos, está 50% para cada lado. Se não fizermos nosso trabalho, não adianta o Flamengo ser campeão e abrir mais uma vaga. Não podemos depender de outros clube, só do nosso trabalho – disse o camisa 9 corintiano.

Caso o Flamengo seja campeão continental, garantirá uma vaga direta na fase de grupos da competição no ano que vem e, por estar na primeira posição da tabela do Brasileirão, abrirá uma vaga no campeonato nacional, o atual G7, que está assim pois o Athletico-PR, campeão da Copa Brasil, já tem classificação garantida, virará G8 e o Corinthians, na oitava posição, seria beneficiado.

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Para Love, porém, isso não é motivo para o Corinthians se acomodar, pelo contrário, só motiva a fazer o próprio trabalho e encarar cada jogo como uma decisão. A primeira será neste domingo, contra o Botafogo, fora de casa.

– A gente tem que encarar cada jogo como uma decisão. Esse é nosso objetivo: chegar à Libertadores. É um jogo que temos que conquistar os três pontos. Respeitando o Botafogo, que está em situação difícil. Vamos buscar a vitória para encaminhar a vaga​ – ponderou o atacante antes de completar:

-Queremos muito conquistar essa vaga. Poderíamos ser nós a estar numa final de Libertadores. Temos que pensar na vaga e buscar uma final de Libertadores ano que vem. Isso nos dá força para seguir lutando. Sabemos a vitrine que é, é bom para jogadores, diretoria, clube. A motivação é sempre essa. Um dos torneios mais importantes do continente.

Com passado flamenguista, Love foi questionado sobre para quem seria a sua torcida na final da Copa Libertadores, mas o corintiano preferiu desconversar e enalteceu a grandeza do jogo, esperando que o melhor possa vencer.

-Vou torcer para que seja um grande jogo, um espetáculo. Que vença o melhor. River tem seus méritos. Todos vão parar para assistir. É propício ao espetáculo. Vou gostar de ver um bom futebol – concluiu.

Com Love no time titular, o Corinthians volta a campo neste domingo, às 18h, para enfrentar o Botafogo, no Nilton Santos, pela 34ª rodada do Brasileirão-2019. Atualmente, o Timão ocupa a oitava posição na tabela, com 50 pontos, mesma pontuação do Internacional, que tem duas vitórias a mais e está na sétima colocação, dentro da zona de classificação para a Copa Libertadores.