RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec. 10 -- Veteran defender Filipe Luis said Tuesday that Liverpool would be under more pressure than Flamengo should the teams meet in the final of this month's FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar.
Reigning South American champions Flamengo will confront UEFA Champions League title holders Liverpool at Doha's Khalifa stadium on December 21 if, as expected, both teams win their respective semifinals.
"The pressure is on them," Luis told reporters in Rio de Janeiro. "They are much better technically than we are. They have been together much longer. But anything can happen in a game of football. And we don't have just one match, we have two."
Flamengo will debut in the competition with a last-four duel with either Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia or Tunisia's Esperance de Tunis on December 17.
The other semifinal will pit Liverpool against either Monterrey of Mexico, Qatar's Al-Sadd or New Caledonian team Hienghene Sport.
Luis, who joined Flamengo in July from Atletico Madrid, believes European sides now take the FIFA Club World Cup more seriously than in the past.
"It has changed a lot. Previously, European clubs didn't value the competition so much. It's not like the Champions League, obviously, which is the biggest competition in the world, but it's a title. These days, European players are much more aware of this," the 34-year-old added.