Ahead of their highly anticipated quarter-final encounter against Chelsea in the ongoing Club World Cup, Palmeiras head coach Abel Ferreira has revealed that his team will adopt an aggressive strategy going into the match.
The Brazilian side earned their place in the last eight after edging out city rivals Botafogo in a hard-fought contest that was decided in extra time.
A solitary goal secured the narrow 1-0 win and set up the showdown with the European giants.
Now preparing to face Chelsea, Ferreira told Flashscore that Palmeiras plans to disrupt the Premier League side’s rhythm by being physical and denying them control of the ball.
“If we are winning, what we need to do to block them. If we are losing, what we need to do to be more aggressive.
“If we have less than one player and we need to stop them, like we did (against Botafogo) or if we have less than one player and you need to play more aggressive. So, they know because I have worked with them for the last five years.
“We put three players in the middle, one number five, one number eight and the eleven players, close inside and we let our striker not in front but in half space, in left half space. And the others, my wingers, follow the fullbacks and we support with all our strength in the middle because the opponent will cross for sure.
“So extra effort that we need and we need to suffer together and I speak with them many times. In some moments, when we cannot play like we did, we cannot have the ball like it happened against Botafogo in the last 15 minutes, we need to be very strong here, you know, to stay together, to give our maximum.”
With a semi-final berth at stake, Palmeiras are expected to bring high energy and tactical discipline as they attempt to overcome the reigning European champions.