He signed a 3-month contract with Flamengo previous to retirement and captained the match against Boavista, a 3-0 win. After the expiration of his time period with Flamengo on 10 August, the striker signed a 3-year contract with Internacional. He appeared on the Flamengo bench that night towards São Paulo. The lengthy interval of ailing-will between the presidents of Flamengo and Botafogo appeared to be coming to an finish previous to the "crybaby" incident. After the lighting fixture collapse, Flamengo was below stress to announce a new venue previous to sixteen February. After the judgement from CONMEBOL in January for Flamengo to play two house matches within the Libertadores behind closed doorways, Flamengo made the decision to play their matches on the smaller Luso Brasileiro as a substitute of the Maracanã. The membership initially planned to host their second closed-door Libertadores home match at Nilton Santos once more, however after coming to an settlement with the operators of the Maracanã they opted to play within the historic venue. Flamengo had been renting Luso Brasileiro from Portuguesa since the beginning of 2017 after failures to come back to agreements with the state government of Rio de Janeiro and the operators of the Maracanã over costs and match income.

Flamengo rolled out their starters against Madureira of their Taça Rio opener for preparation against River Plate the following week and created 4 goals from a few of their most important playmakers: Diego, Henrique Dourado, Lucas Paquetá, and Vinícius Júnior. Three days later on the thirteenth, the president of Botafogo announced that they wouldn't permit their house stadium of Nilton Santos for use for the Taça Guanabara closing after the "disrespectful" gesture by Vinícius Jr. and no apology from Flamengo. Nevertheless, the draw guaranteed a high end within the group stage and qualification to the Taça Guanabara semifinals. Vinícius scored again and claimed Flamengo's twenty first Taça Guanabara title, closing out the first part of the Rio de Janeiro league and qualifying for the Campeonato Carioca final stage. The second part of the Rio de Janeiro State League, the Taça Rio, coincided with Flamengo's first matches in the 2018 Copa Libertadores group stage. Flamengo were eradicated from the second phase of the Carioca however have been still assured a spot in the ultimate stage. The membership's first check is the traditional Campeonato Carioca - the Rio de Janeiro State league - contested amongst clubs in the highest flight of the FERJ's league (separate from the national league pyramid). Caetano had been with Flamengo since 2015 and the club had only gained the 2017 Campeonato Carioca in that span, ending runners-up within the Copa do Brasil and Copa Sudamericana that same yr.

Because Fluminense held the benefit of ending prime of their group, a draw would advance them and eradicate Flamengo. River Plate took benefit of the calm ambiance all through the scoreless first half, earlier than the "Grim Reaper" ("Ceifador") - Henrique Dourado - broke the deadlock. The congested schedule took its toll on the club another time: Flamengo rested their starters for Copa Libertadores once more and misplaced to Macae on 10 March for the primary time of their historical past. The Rubro-Negro’s first actual test, the Clássico of Millions towards Vasco in the Maracanã, was a 0-0 disappointment that includes a lot of Flamengo's first-team starters. The Rubro-Negro returned to the state league to rout Portuguesa 4-zero with a penalty save from Diego Alves, but a Vasco victory over Botafogo landed Flamengo in 2nd place in the group before their semifinal match against Fluminense. Atlético-GO scored first but Diego scored twice within the 2nd half and Henrique Dourade transformed a penalty to earn a 3-1 victory in the pleasant earlier than the first round of the Brasileirão the next week. The semifinal match was thrilling and stuffed with attacking chances, with Gum of Fluminense opening the rating in the first minute of the second half.

The opening song for the film is "FLAGS" by T.M. The Flamengo board began the technique of hiring a new coach, interviewing with Cuca and Renato Gaucho and considering the potential for tasking assistant coach 36 12 months-old Mauricio Barbieri as caretaker. Their purpose was to have a brand new coach inside a week to organize for their 18 April Libertadores match towards Santa Fe. There are FiM ponies with the name of Lily however have yet to have official differences to tell them apart. Crucial matches in the state are between the "massive 4" clubs in town of Rio - Flamengo, Fluminense, Vasco da Gama, and Botafogo. Flamengo had been eradicated and Botafogo went on to defeat Vasco in the two-legged last on penalties. With principally younger players, Flamengo carried an ideal record via the first three matches of the state league with objectives from "wonderkids" Vinícius Júnior and Lincoln. In the ultimate minutes of stoppage time the youngster Vinícius Júnior scored, guaranteeing the victory by a 3-1 scoreline and taunting the Botafogo supporters with a "crybaby 2g disposable" gesture, incomes a yellow card after being swarmed by the Botafogo players. Luiz Fernando scored in the 39th minute for Botafogo and returned a taunt to the Flamengo supporters on the Maracanã: the "little scent" gesture ("cheirinho") by protecting his nostril along with his fingers, a reference to Flamengo fans "smelling the Hexa" in 2016, anticipating their club's sixth Brazilian championship that never got here.