At high altitude, Flamengo defeats Cusco and starts their Libertadores campaign on the right foot.

Flamengo showed strength and personality right from the start of the Conmebol Libertadores. Even facing the 3.400 meters of altitude in Cusco, Peru, the Rubro-Negro dominated Cusco FC and won 2-0 on Wednesday night (8), at the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega Stadium, in the first round of Group A. With goals from Bruno Henrique and Arrascaeta, the current champion started its journey on the right foot, adding three important points away from home. 

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The game

At an altitude of 3.400 meters in the city of Cusco, Peru, Flamengo started the match taking the initiative and created a good opportunity just four minutes in. Carrascal passed to Plata on the left side of the area, and the Ecuadorian shot hard. Pedro Díaz parried it for a corner. In the next play, Paquetá was released down the right, faced the marking, cut inside and risked a shot from outside the area. The ball went close to the post.

When they lost possession, Flamengo pushed up the field to force the Peruvians into passing errors. On the other hand, Cusco didn't press with the same intensity and attacked cautiously, relying on direct play. In the 30th minute, Cusco's defense made a mistake playing out from the back, giving the ball away to Paquetá. The midfielder tried a long-range shot, but the ball went wide.

Another good play by the Flamengo team happened at 35'. Paquetá received the ball freely and unleashed a powerful shot. Díaz parried it for a corner. From the corner, Carrascal crossed into the area, Bruno Henrique headed freely at the far post, but the ball went over the crossbar. The first half ended with Flamengo dominating, creating good chances, but went into halftime with the score at 0-0.

Flamengo returned unchanged for the second half and maintained their offensive posture. Their persistence paid off in the 13th minute. In a lightning-fast counter-attack, Plata passed to Ayrton Lucas on the left, who delivered a perfect cross for Bruno Henrique to head into the corner and open the scoring: 1-0.

Shortly after, Cusco managed to equalize the match. However, after a VAR review, the goal was disallowed due to an offside by Manzaneda at the start of the play. As time went on, the Flamengo team began to feel the effects of the altitude and could no longer maintain the same ball possession as in the first half.

At 35 minutes, De La Cruz got the rebound and took a shot from outside the area. Díaz parried it to prevent the goal. In the final minutes, coach Leonardo Jardim made changes to give the team new energy. Bruno Henrique, Paquetá and De La Cruz left, replaced by Pedro, Arrascaeta and Léo Ortiz, respectively. Before that, Luiz Araújo had already come on for Carrascal.

To seal the victory for Flamengo, Arrascaeta scored in stoppage time. In a counter-attack led by the number 10, he passed to Luiz Araújo who took a first-time shot, but the goalkeeper saved it. On the rebound, the ball fell to Arrascaeta, who shot again and saw Díaz make another save. Persistent, the Uruguayan took advantage of the loose ball and headed it into the back of the net, extending the lead. A debut with an excellent victory in Cusco!

Flamengo

Rossi; Emerson Royal, Danilo, Léo Pereira and Ayrton Lucas; Everton Araújo, De La Cruz (Léo Ortiz) and Paquetá (Arrascaeta); Plata, Carrascal (Luiz Araújo) and Bruno Henrique (Pedro).
Coach: Leonardo Jardim.

Cusco

Pedro Díaz; Ruidíaz, Fuentes, Ampuero and Bolívar (Zevallos); Diego Soto (Colman), Valenzuela and Collito (Manzaneda); Carabajal (Tévez), Callejo and Nicolás Silva (Herrera).
Coach: Alejandro Orfila.

Week's agenda

Flamengo returns to the field next Saturday (11) to face Fluminense, at 18:30 pm, at Maracanã, for the 11th round of Brasileirão.

Technical sheet

Cusco 0-2 Flamengo - Conmebol Libertadores | Round 1 | Group A
Location: Inca Garcilaso de la Vega Stadium, in Cusco (PER)
Date and time: 08/04/2026, at 21:30 am
Referees: Derlis López (PAR), Roberto Cañete (PAR) and José Cuevas (PAR)
Yellow cards: Fuentes (CUS) and Manzaneda (CUS)
Goals: Bruno Henrique (13'/2nd half) and Arrascaeta (46'/2nd half).

The current champion wins at the top of the hill!!!

Three points earned at an altitude of 3.300m.

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FLAMENGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO#GAMEOVER pic.twitter.com/djC1ayqTpn

- Flamengo (@Flamengo) April 9, 2026