Bahia, coached by Renato Paiva, had a disastrous night in Recife, being thrashed by Sport, by 0-6, equaling the biggest defeat ever in the history of this classic, repeating results recorded in 1959 and 1956.
The Portuguese coach’s team was reduced to 10 players after 14 minutes (left-back Ryan was sent off) and suffered the first goal in the sequence, through Luciano Juba, who would score twice after 10 minutes, with a penalty.
It was the opening of a historic night on Ilha do Retiro (as the Adelmar da Costa Carvalho Stadium, home of Sport, is known. Former Brazilian international Vagner Love also scored twice and Jorginho and Sabino completed the scoring.
In the end, Renato Paiva said it was an «easy to explain» game. «A team that immediately adapted to the state of the field, played with long balls and overcame our midfield, while another team wanted to play the way it is played, despite the warnings, inside the field, that it is impossible to play this way and we were bringing the opponent’s pressure to us. We couldn’t play with long balls. But the players have to understand, and they were warned before and after the warm-up, that the conditions were not favorable for our game. Sport adapted better to the terrain and took over the game. After the expulsion, the opponent started to play on our mistake and then the penalty. The team fell apart and never got it right again », he explained.
Asked about his future at the helm of the team, the Portuguese coach said: «Tranquil, with the awareness that my work defines me. We are doing what we can and know how to improve the team. We have to know how to live with those goals – it was the biggest of my career as a coach, I suffered 5-0 for Independiente against Palmeiras. We have to learn lessons from them. We don’t like it, but there’s one thing that’s for sure, when Renato Paiva feels it’s a problem, he’ll leave. In Mexico I resigned because I felt that under those conditions I was not going to be the solution. As I feel that I am not the problem here, I will continue.”
With the result, Bahia fell to the bottom of Group B of the Copa Nordeste, with just four points after five rounds, four goals scored and 13 conceded.
