After the match against Palmeiras, Atlético Mineiro head coach Cuca openly criticized his team’s performance, calling it the worst since his return to the club.
“Palmeiras played better, especially in the first half. They had a much stronger attitude than ours — they were more competitive, pressed hard, and marked aggressively. Even though we equalized with Hulk’s free-kick, it was far from a good first half. The second half wasn’t good either, but it was slightly better than the first. When it was 1-1, we made incredible mistakes that led to their second and third goals. In the end, we almost drew, but it wouldn’t have been fair given how poorly we played. It was the worst match since I returned,” said Cuca.
Following his initial remarks, the coach reflected on possible reasons behind the team’s underwhelming display:
“I’ll try to understand why this happened — this lack of intensity, especially in the first half. We played on Thursday night, traveled overnight, and arrived at 9 a.m., so that may have affected our energy levels. We were poor in terms of effort, match rhythm, marking, escaping pressure, and individual performances. We were far below our usual standards, and that’s why we lost,” he added.
As Cuca mentioned, Atlético had just defeated Bucaramanga on Thursday (July 20) and flew back immediately after the game, arriving in Brazil early Friday morning (July 21). Their match against Palmeiras was rescheduled from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. to comply with the 66-hour minimum rest period required by the CBF’s General Competition Regulations.
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Defeat Keeps Atlético-MG Outside Top Six
With this result, Atlético-MG now suffers back-to-back defeats in the Brasileirão, holding 20 points and sitting in ninth place. Their next fixture is a Copa Sudamericana clash against Bucaramanga on Thursday (July 24), followed by a league showdown against Flamengo.
