Flamengo breaks it open in 14 minutes, routs Bahia 3-0, and heads into Estudiantes return leg as leader

The match was tight, locked up, the kind that looks destined to end scoreless. Then suddenly, in just 14 minutes, Flamengo turned it into a rout. That's how simple, and how decisive, the second half was for Mengao against Bahia, which finished 3-0 and sent the Rio de Janeiro side into a huge upcoming match with exactly the momentum it needed.

For much of the first half, the visitors wrote the story. Bahia held their ground well, with Jorge Carrascal pulling the strings in midfield and Pedro serving as the target man up front. They created chances, caused problems, and had their moments. But they lacked that final touch to turn all that work into a goal, and the teams went into the break level at 0-0.

What happened next was a different story altogether. Flamengo came out with a different energy in the second half and landed the first blow from the penalty spot: Jorginho stepped up and didn't miss, opening the scoring. From there, the game truly opened up, space appeared, and the home side showed no mercy. Gonzalo Plata rose to head home a cross from Samuel Lino for the second goal, and shortly after it was Lucas Paqueta, who had just come on, who sealed the rout off a corner kick.

In barely a quarter of an hour, an even match turned into a display of pure efficiency. That ability to settle things at just the right moment is precisely what makes this Flamengo side so dangerous once an opponent starts to wear down.

Leading the table, eyes on the Maracana

The result serves Mengao on more than one front. With the win, the club reached 67 points in the Brasileirao, one ahead of closest pursuer Palmeiras, after matchday 31 of the championship. But the main event lies elsewhere: the second leg of the 2026 Copa Libertadores semifinal against Estudiantes de La Plata, after the first leg ended scoreless.

That decider will take place next Thursday at 9:30 p.m. at the Maracana, airing via the Disney+ Premium Plan for South America. Arriving with a rout and full confidence, after a match that took time to break open, is exactly the kind of boost any team wants before a night like that one.