The Sao Paulo giants battled their way past their city rivals in a tense extra-time showdown, clinching a gritty 1-0 victory to punch their ticket to the quarter-finals.
Paulinho’s 100th-minute strike at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia proved decisive, ending his team’s five-match winless run against the Rio de Janeiro-based side.
Despite their victory being threatened after Gustavo Gomez was sent off for a second yellow card, the team kept their composure and secured progression to the delight of their manager.
"I think this victory was better because of this (Gomez’s dismissal)," Ferreira told Flashscore.com during a press conference.
"Even with one player less player, or one player lesser than the opponent, we could block them and we could support the whole attack from our opponent.
"We deserve (to win) it because the game was 90 minutes plus extra time and in all this time, I think my team was better than the opponent and we deserve to go to the next stage."
Thanks to the result, Ferreira’s men extended their impressive run, recording 10 wins and just two draws in their last 14 matches across all competitions.
In fact, the Alviverde have kept five clean sheets in their last seven FIFA competition matches, including three in their four appearances at the ongoing FIFA Club World Cup.
FERREIRA REVEALS STRATEGY TO COUNTER STRONGER TEAMS
Palmeiras now face Chelsea in their quarter-final clash on Friday, aiming for a spot in the semi-finals.
When asked how his team plans to mentally recover for the tougher challenge ahead, especially after playing 120 minutes in their previous match, the former PAOK and Braga manager responded: "Every time or (before any) game, I speak with my players about our plan.
"If we are winning, what we need to do to block them. If we are losing, what we need to do to be more aggressive.
"If we have less than one player and we need to stop them, like we did (against Botafogo) or if we have less than one player and you need to play more aggressive. So, they know because I have worked with them for the last five years.
"I know them, they know me. So, with some talks we can adjust like we did (on Saturday) with less than one player.
"We put three players in the middle, one number five, one number eight and the eleven players, close inside and we let our striker not in front but in half space, in left half space.
"And the others, my wingers, follow the fullbacks and we support with all our strength in the middle because the opponent will cross for sure.
"So extra effort that we need and we need to suffer together and I speak with them many times. In some moments, when we cannot play like we did, we cannot have the ball like it happened against Botafogo in the last 15 minutes, we need to be very strong here, you know, to stay together, to give our maximum."
This will mark the second encounter between Palmeiras and Chelsea, with the Blues having won their first meeting 2-1 after extra time in the final of the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup.
There have been seven previous clashes between English and Brazilian sides in this tournament, with English teams winning four and Brazilian teams three.
Before this tournament held in the United States, teams from England were on a three-match winning streak, but Flamengo ended that run with a 3-1 victory over Chelsea in the group stage.
Palmeiras star Paulinho is certainly a player to watch in what promises to be a thrilling encounter. The Brazil international has tallied three goals and two assists in six appearances across the CONMEBOL Libertadores and FIFA Club World Cup.
Notably, all five of those goal contributions came in matches where he started on the bench.
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