On January 8 it was made official that head coach Reinaldo Rueda would be leaving Flamengo to manage the Chile national team (who had failed to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup). Ruelda took Flamengo to the finals of the 2017 Copa Sudamericana and the Copa do Brasil, failing to win either. Under him, promising youth academy players Vinícius Júnior and Lucas Paquetá were given opportunities to play larger roles for the club. At the time of the announcement, Flamengo had already come to an agreement with coach Paulo César Carpegiani, manager of Flamengo for their 1981 Copa Libertadores and world championship season. This would be his third spell at Flamengo. The possibility of Ruelda leaving and Carpegiani coming in were already presumed in December.