On January 8 it was made official that head coach Reinaldo Rueda would be leaving Flamengo to manage the Chile national team (who had failed to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup).

[7] On January 24 CONMEBOL, the football governing body of South America, announced that Flamengo would be forced to play their first two home matches of the Copa Libertadores behind closed doors with no fans present.

This was a punishment for the chaos during the second leg of the 2017 Copa Sudamericana final where crowds of Flamenguistas forcefully attempted to enter the Maracanã stadium without tickets.

[8] It was also announced at this time by the CONMEBOL Disciplinary Tribunal that Colombian defensive midfielder Gustavo Cuéllar would be suspended for Flamengo's first two Libertadores matches for insulting comments made to the referee while receiving the silver medal after the Copa Sudamericana finals.

[12] In December 2017 Peruvian striker Paolo Guerrero, under contract with Flamengo until August 2018, was banned by FIFA from all competitive fixtures for one year after testing positive for traces of cocaine.

Flamengo debuted in 2018 against Volta Redonda on January 17 with a team of young players and won 2-0 with two beautiful goals from Lucas Silva and Pepê.

With mostly young players, Flamengo carried a perfect record through the first three matches of the state league with goals from “wonderkids” Vinícius Júnior and Lincoln.

[25] 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.

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.

[28] 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.

[29] 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.

On March 7, beloved former Flamengo and Brazilian National Team goalkeeper Júlio César made his return to the club after 13 years in Europe.

[34] Flamengo travelled to Guayaquil, Ecuador for their mid-week Copa Libertadores encounter with Emelec on March 14 and youngster Vinícius Júnior cemented his legacy as a rising star.

The Rubro-Negro returned to the state league to rout Portuguesa 4-0 with a penalty save from Diego Alves, but a Vasco victory over Botafogo landed Flamengo in 2nd place in the group before their semifinal match against Fluminense.

Despite disappointments, Flamengo had collected the most points across the two group phases to finish top of the overall Rio de Janeiro State League table, and were paired with Botafogo in the semifinal on March 28.

[39] The club initially planned to host their second closed-door Libertadores home match at Nilton Santos again, but after coming to an agreement with the operators of the Maracanã they opted to play in the historic venue.

[40] The day before the match against Santa Fe, 45,000 fans attended open training in the Maracanã that was made available to the general public with reduced-price tickets.

Their recent lackluster performances had resulted in more protests and demonstrations back home, and the club (specifically president Eduardo Bandeira de Mello) were physically accosted by angry fans at the airport.

[47] Fans and media remained critical of their continental play (3 draws in 4 matches), some lamented the poor decision to release coach Zé Ricardo in 2017 and others demanded a replacement for Barbieri.

[48] Flamengo were again harassed by a mob before their flight to Fortaleza to face Ceará in league play, with much of the criticism targeted towards Diego and the team's lack of passion.

[50] The solid victory relieved some pressure on the team, but situations were still complicated in a club election year and with a board of directors still uncertain about their head coach after a month of service.

[53] In the home leg of their cup tie against Ponte Preta, Flamengo played compact and advance to the Copa do Brasil quarterfinals for the 18th time with a 0-0 draw.

[55] Sitting atop the league they rested four starters (Diego Alves, Réver, Paquetá, and Éverton Ribiero) for Chapecoense in preparation for a decisive Libertadores fixture against Emelec.

Set to face River Plate in the Monumental de Nuñez for control of first place in the group, midfielder Diego and head coach Mauricio Barbieri were suspended for their infractions against Emelec.

Flamengo went on to defeat Corinthians at home, Fluminense in the capital city of Brasília, and Paraná Clube back in the Maracanã to open up a 6-point lead in the table after five straight victories.

[78] In the wake of this agreement, Flamengo terminated their contract with Portuguesa to rent the Ilha do Urubu stadium until the end of 2019 but confirmed that their lawsuit against the construction company that installed the collapsed lighting towers would continue.

Uribe opened his account for Flamengo against Sport, and academy product Matheus Sávio made his impact in place of Vinícius Jr, scoring after 5 minutes against Botafogo.

[90] Flamengo announced that Vitinho, Uribe, Savio, and Piris would replace Everton, Vinicius, Felipe Vizeu and Jonas on their Copa Libertadores round of 16 30-man roster.

On August 17, Tite and the Brazilian National Team announced the call-up of Lucas Paquetá for the first time for a pair of friendlies against the USA and El Salvador in September.

The match was played against Série B club Atlético Goianiense.Flamengo was drawn into Group A for the Campeonato Carioca, the Rio de Janeiro State League.