Paris Saint-Germain and Flamengo will meet this Wednesday in Doha for the Intercontinental Cup final, but the two teams arrive under very different preparation conditions, raising questions about whether the Brazilian side may hold a slight advantage.
Both clubs are nearing the end of an exhausting 2025 calendar year. PSG, who had only a three-week summer break, have already played 65 matches this year. Flamengo, however, have been even busier, reaching 77 matches since January 1.
Since their exit from the Club World Cup, the workload gap has remained significant: 23 matches for PSG, compared to 38 for Flamengo. That difference could prove relevant on Wednesday night — especially if the match goes beyond 90 minutes.
Flamengo arrived earlier, adapted sooner
Former Lille winger Luiz Araújo, now at Flamengo for two and a half seasons, spoke to Brazilian media ahead of the final and identified two key factors that could favor his team.
The first is time-zone adaptation. Doha is six hours ahead of Rio, compared to just two hours ahead of Paris. On paper, the adjustment should be harder for Flamengo — but the Brazilian club arrived in Qatar on December 7, a full week before PSG.
“Even if PSG are the better team, being here longer makes things easier for us. We’ve adapted to the time difference,”Araújo explained.
“I personally struggle with sleep, but overall it helps us.”
Familiarity with the stadium
Araújo also pointed to stadium familiarity as another potential advantage. Flamengo have already played two matchesat the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al-Rayyan — the venue of Wednesday’s final — beating Cruz Azul on December 10and Pyramids FC on December 13.
“We’re used to the pitch,” he added.
“It will be a very difficult match, but nothing is impossible.”
The 45,000-seat stadium is where PSG will hold their final training session on Tuesday afternoon.
PSG still the clear favorite
Despite those factors, Araújo made it clear that PSG remain the team to beat.
“It’s a final and everyone wants to win. If we’d had the choice, we wouldn’t have wanted to face PSG either,” he admitted.
“Flamengo is a big club with great supporters and we’ve had a strong year, physically and mentally. That makes us stronger — but PSG are clearly the favorites. They are the best team.”