Pablo Mari reflects on Flamengo World Club Cup Final against Liverpool

Arsenal defender Pablo Mari says that playing against Liverpool’s front three of Mane, Salah and Firmino was an education, but one he was prepared for. Mari is on loan at the Gunners from Flamengo, where he won the Copa Libertadores and Brasileirão title. He was part of the Fla side that went down 1-0 to […]
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sambafoot_admin
2020-05-02 19:40:00

Arsenal defender Pablo Mari says that playing against Liverpool’s front three of Mane, Salah and Firmino was an education, but one he was prepared for.

Mari is on loan at the Gunners from Flamengo, where he won the Copa Libertadores and Brasileirão title. He was part of the Fla side that went down 1-0 to Liverpool in the Club World Cup Final.

“We think we played a really good game there and we know Liverpool in that moment was maybe the best club in the world,” he told a Reddit Q & A. “They won everything and they won every game in the league. They are a really strong team.

“But we had one thing that we thought we could beat them with and that was our mentality. We had nothing to lose and everything to win so we could put this mentality in the pitch to try and win against them. But it was proved that in one action you can lose the game.

“But I thought we were fighting really well against them. Of course it was a really difficult to play against the front three because you know they are fast, they are strong and they know every player and what to do and they have really good quality.

“Of course it was difficult but I was focused 100 per cent in that game and I know it was a difficult game but I felt like I improved a lot in six months there playing in Flamengo so that I can play against Liverpool and these three players.

“My focus when I arrived in Flamengo was that we knew we would play against a club like Liverpool in this final and that if we improved a lot we could beat them.”