Three days later on the 13th, the president of Botafogo announced that they would not allow their home stadium of Nilton Santos to be used for the Taça Guanabara final after the “disrespectful” gesture by Vinícius Jr. and no apology from Flamengo. Flamengo went on to defeat Boavista in the final the following week, played at the Kleber Andrade Stadium in the neighboring state of Espirito Santos. Vinícius scored again and claimed Flamengo's 21st Taça Guanabara title, closing out the first phase of the Rio de Janeiro league and qualifying for the Campeonato Carioca final stage. The second phase of the Rio de Janeiro State League, the Taça Rio, coincided with Flamengo's first matches in the 2018 Copa Libertadores group stage. The long period of ill-will between the presidents of Flamengo and Botafogo appeared to be coming to an end prior to the “crybaby” incident. However, heavy winds and rain on February 15 caused two stadium light towers at Estádio Luso Brasileiro to collapse. Flamengo had been renting Luso Brasileiro from Portuguesa since the beginning of 2017 after failures to come to agreements with the state government of Rio de Janeiro and the operators of the Maracanã over costs and match revenue. After the judgement from CONMEBOL in January for Flamengo to play two home matches in the Libertadores behind closed doors, Flamengo made the decision to play their matches at the smaller Luso Brasileiro instead of the Maracanã. After the lighting fixture collapse, Flamengo was under pressure to announce a new venue prior to February 16. They reached a “peace treaty” with Botafogo in time to announce the rental of Nilton Santos stadium for two matches: their first match of the Taça Rio against Madueira on Feb 21 and their first match of their 2018 Copa Libertadores campaign against River Plate on February 28. Flamengo rolled out their starters against Madureira in their Taça Rio opener for preparation against River Plate the following week and created 4 goals from some of their most important playmakers: Diego, Henrique Dourado, Lucas Paquetá, and Vinícius Júnior. Three days later, Flamengo preserved their starters (resting all but goalkeeper Diego Alves) and were soundly thrashed by rival Fluminense 4-0.