Money helps build a good team, but it doesn’t guarantee championships. That’s what Bahia found out, a club that landed great players and had a stellar preseason after being acquired by the City Football Group before losing to lifelong rivals Vitória in the Campeonato Baiano final.
In the first leg, the team coached by the most prolific goalkeeper in history, Rogério Ceni, blew a two-goal lead to lose 3-2. The narrow loss still kept hopes alive to lift the title at Arena Fonte Nova, but the second leg ended 1-1, with the hosts being reduced to ten men due to Rezende’s red card thirty minutes into the game, and it was the rivals who celebrated.
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Bahia’s goal was scored by former Flamengo midfielder Éverton Ribeiro, one of this season’s stellar signings thanks to the financial boost. Other players who joined the club this year were Colombians Santiago Arias and Óscar Estupiñán, Argentine defender Víctor Cuesta, Jean Lucas, and Caio Alexandre, among other big names.
🎥 O gol que empatou o clássico, pela lente da TV Bahêa. #BBMP #PaixãoQueVibra pic.twitter.com/5QXhlvhli9
— Esporte Clube Bahia (@ecbahia) April 7, 2024
The team’s preseason took place at the state-of-the-art training center owned by Manchester City, of the same business group, in England. None of these things guaranteed success for the team that narrowly avoided relegation in the last Brasileirão and will seek to improve in the 2024 season, which will start against Internacional in Porto Alegre on Saturday (April 13th).
Ceni takes blame
“I know the fans are sad, we are too. We wanted to win this first title with Bahia. We are very disappointed,” Ceni said in the press conference after the state tournament final.
“The responsibility will always fall on me, which seems entirely fair to me. But we played a very offensive football, trying to dictate the game. I know the most important thing is not the way we play, but the results we achieve. If we had played correctly in the last match, we could have achieved a better result,” he added.
