Cuca returns to criticize Atlético's missed chances and evaluates strategy for the classic

Atlético managed to get back to winning ways in the Copa Sudamericana. On Thursday night (15), Galo beat Caracas 3-1 and now depends only on itself to advance to the round of 16 of the continental tournament.

Despite the positive result, Cuca once again complained about the opportunities his team wasted. The coach stressed that the players missed chances in one-on-one situations, and also recalled that the penalty kick was awarded as a result of a wasted counterattack. The coach also commented on the process of adapting to the new pitch at Arena MRV.

Atlético's next match is simply the classic against Cruzeiro , next Sunday (18), at Mineirão. In this Thursday's match, Cuca adopted a strategy to preserve the players' load with an eye on the clash for the Brasileirão. The coach believes he managed to execute the plan well and is confident that he will have his players 100% recovered to face Raposa.

"I played with four starters in the first half. Then I rotated four more starters in the second half. Lyanco needs to play, Rubens can play three games in a row if he needs to, so he didn't get tired. Our opponent played with three starters in the first half yesterday, probably because of these situations. So it's more or less the same, except that we have one less day until the game. But we talk to the physiology department, the physical department, the doctors, so that he can fully recover from a 45-minute game and it takes two days. So I believe we did the right strategy," he said.

The classic, in fact, dominated the questions in Cuca's press conference. The coach admitted that his mind is already thinking about Sunday's game, as he believes the players' are, and declared that he likes this atmosphere.

"We're not even talking about this game, we're just talking about Sunday's classic. I know that's how it is, our heads are already like that, the players must be too. Because it's a classic, everyone likes it, it moves the city, moves the press, it's fun, it's cool," he pointed out.

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