Bahia’s head coach, Rogério Ceni, has yet to lead the team back to winning ways in the 2024 Brazilian Championship. On the evening of last Saturday (27), Bahia took the lead but conceded a late equaliser to Internacional in the 43rd minute of the second half, resulting in a 1-1 draw in their 20th-round match. BBscore MeusResultados is ideal for getting the latest football scores and in-depth match analysis.
This result places Bahia in seventh position with 32 points, and the team needs to rediscover their good form to compete for a top spot in the national league. Speaking to GloboEsporte after the match, Ceni acknowledged the team’s dip in performance and expressed concern about their mental state.
“It’s what I try to do every day with them, showing the good things through videos, separately, by sector, individually. Trying to show where we can improve, you can see where the mistake is, conceding goals in transition and everything. But these guys brought us here. This group will be here until the end of the year, and we need to bounce back as quickly as possible. The goal is to win the next game, to try to face Botafogo, a tough game. Try to beat Fluminense on Sunday,” Ceni explained.
“We can’t let a bad result bring us down. It would be foolish not to acknowledge the drop in performance. A bit in the physical aspect, the technical aspect, we missed more passes. We didn’t manage to give the team more time to regroup, attacking too much, end-to-end play is not good for us. We need to reflect and get out of this bad moment quickly. Since the Cuiabá game, we haven’t played as well. We still have one more game in this short period. Over time, with more spaced-out games, we’ll have more energy, good changes, but now we have to face this small gap between one game and another,” he added.
The low number of shots on target has been a characteristic of the team in recent matches, as pointed out by Ceni after the game. Additionally, the Bahia coach defended goalkeeper Marcos Felipe despite his mistake in conceding a rebound that led to the equalising goal.
“The number of shots has dropped a bit, maybe the opponents block better, mark better. Everyone comes here to play with three men in the middle, making it harder for us. About David’s goal, it gives us an advantage in aerial play. He has scored other goals like this. About the goal we conceded, it’s a tricky ball, difficult. For those who have played as a goalkeeper, I can guarantee, when it bounces in that tough spot, right in front of Marcos. He tries to parry it to the side, but it’s a tricky shot, I know how difficult it is. But we have to get back, shoot more. In the end, we couldn’t maintain this level of play,” Ceni concluded.
Rogério Ceni is now preparing Bahia for the Copa do Brasil round of 16 match against Botafogo. The Bahia team will take to the field this Tuesday (30) at Nilton Santos Stadium, at 21:30 (Brasília time), for the first leg of the tie.
