What Brazil’s media are all saying about Gabriel Magalhaes after Arsenal star gets ‘suspended’

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Arsenal star Gabriel Magalhaes started for Brazil in their dramatic 2-1 victory over Colombia in their World Cup Qualifiers.

The 27-year-old joined Arsenal back in 2020, when he was nowhere near the Brazilian national team.

Over the last four-and-a-half years, Gabriel has developed into one of the best central defenders in the world under Mikel Arteta. He is now a regular starter for Brazil alongside PSG star Marquinhos.

The Arsenal number six ended up on the winning side against Colombia in the early hours of Friday morning, but that came at a cost.

Brazil’s media react to Arsenal star Gabriel Magalhaes’ display vs Colombia

Brazil are almost always the favourites when they play against fellow South American teams.

Argentina are perhaps the only side who can confidently say that they will beat them, but Vinicius Jr and co will back themselves against everyone else.

Against Colombia, the hosts took the lead very early in the game. Vinicius won a penalty and Raphinha, who is Thierry Henry’s favourite for the Ballon d’Or, converted it.

Luis Diaz then equalised for Colombia and the two sides just cancelled each other on the pitch from that point. It looked like the game would end 1-1.

But, in the 99th minute, Vinicius stepped up and scored a lovely goal to give Brazil the win.

At the back, Gabriel had a solid game for the most part, but he did get booked for a needless foul on James Rodriguez, and that means he will be suspended for the big clash against Argentina next week. That has led to some criticism.

Globo Esporte gave Gabriel a 5/10 rating and wrote: “He had difficulty with some long balls in the first half (also because he was unprotected) and even risked expulsion when he hit James Rodríguez with a blow from behind. He received a yellow card that takes him out of the classic against Argentina, due to suspension.”

Correio Braziliense rated him 5.5/10 and said: “In the midst of reckless moments, he was another with a discreet performance. He received a crucial yellow card in an avoidable move when he tackled James Rodríguez. He is suspended for the match against Argentina on Tuesday.”

R7 Esporte gave him a 6/10 rating and wrote: “The defender was very present in the battles, intensely, but he ended up receiving a yellow card and is out of the next game.”

Gabriel’s stats vs Colombia are very impressive

The yellow card is a big shame for Gabriel.

The Arsenal man was mostly very good at the back for Brazil – he was even better than Marquinhos. But, the suspension has led to low ratings from Brazilian media outlets.

However, Gabriel’s stats from the game are still very impressive.

Apart from the two goalscorers Vinicius and Raphinha, Gabriel was the highest-rated Brazilian player on the pitch as per Sofascore.

We’re sure he will be frustrated with his suspension, but that is good news for Arsenal fans as their number six will get over a week’s rest now.

That is key for the Gunners as the last thing they need is more injury risks after Riccardo Calafiori hurt himself during Italy’s defeat.