The Marcos Braz situation is surreal enough, but there's the added bonus that he's a public servant (vereador) and actually marked himself present at the legislative session that was happening while he was at the mall, through the legislature's mobile app... Between the recent election meeting and this Marcos Braz incident, I wonder if he and Landim might be on their way out, but who knows, and if that did happen, who knows what the next administration would be like.
At least you seem to have an opposition. Leila has no opposition right now. Everybody at the club is ball less. She is paying for some conselheiros to go to watch the CL SF game vs Boca.
São Paulo lost 1x2 to Fortaleza. Not unexpected with reserves against a solid side like Fortaleza. EDIT: Catching up on the details, looks like James missed a PK. That's 2 already since he joined São Paulo (previous one in a shootout). Fluminense won 1x0, with a beautiful free kick goal. They move head of Flamengo and Grêmio into the top 4. (Grêmio play Palmeiras tomorrow.) Pretty solid moment for Fluminense, despite the Vasco loss this past weekend. Especially considering everyone was worried they might falter with Diniz doing double duty. Now he goes into the next convocação (this Saturday) on a high and has one week to prep for the Libertadores semi.
Vasco doing it's job and beating last place Coritiba. They are now only 2 points away from 16th place Bahia.
HT and Grêmio are up 1 x 0. We should have tied it up. Veiga had a point blank shot miraculously saved. Plenty of possession in dangerous attacking positions but scoring remains an issue in recent games.
Well, if Corinthians can somehow pull off a win tomorrow, this result won't feel so bad. Right now Palmeiras remain 7 points behind Botafogo and Grêmio are 8 points behind. Of course, Corinthians under Luxa is one of the last teams you want to count on to get a needed result...
I didn't mention the Vitor Roque injury yesterday, but he's already undergone tests today, and will undergo more. It now looks like that was his last participation in the Brasileirão this year. He may be out for the rest of the year with 2 damaged ankle ligaments. The additional tests will determine how bad the second ligament damage is. This of course will also mean he's out of any U23 (including Pan Am games, if Athletico was going to release him) and potential senior call-ups. If he is available in January I doubt Barcelona will release him for the Olympic qualifying, but there is still some question as to whether he will join them in January or later (due to financial issues, not the injury).
Well, Corinthians committed the crime, as we say. They won 1x0, preventing Botafogo from increasing their lead again after Palmeiras' defeat. Marçal was sent off halfway through the first half, deservedly so I though, for dangerous play. He came off the field saying something like "isso é que é roubo, Abel"! Only 1 match left in this round. Then 2 make up matches next week. After that, it's practically non-stop Brasileirão until the end, with only the Libertadores semi and final for the occasional change of pace.
São Paulo beat Coritiba today. All teams have played 24 matches now and there are only 14 to go. Whichever teams make the finals of Libertadores and the Sula will have to reschedule their Oct 28 or Nov 4 Brasileirão matches. With the Copa do Brasil behind them, I think São Paulo will steadily climb up the table. I'm just not sure if they'll have enough to get top 6, but that doesn't matter from their perspective as the title gives them a Libertadores spot. Flamengo and Corinthians need to bring in new coaches. I'm not sure Tite would start right away if Flamengo brings him in. I think he wants to start in the new year, but Flamengo wants him now. Regardless, they need to do a lot of work to guarantee a Libertadores spot. If Fortaleza can win the Sulamericana they'll get a Libertadores spot. Right now they're on the outside looking in on the league table. In fact, right now the 4 automatic Libertadores spots from the League are for Botafogo, Palmeiras, Grêmio and Bragantino. I think it's safe to say only one of those was expected to finish in the top 4. A lot to look forward to in the next two months.
I watched about 30 minutes of the Flamengo match before I had to leave. Flamengo were better but not incisive enough. Not sure it improved much, but they did get a Bahia player sent off for denying a goal scoring opportunity and almost scored on the free kick. Then later they scored on a PK, so at least they got the home win. Fortaleza drew 1x1 with Grêmio. Right now São Paulo x Corinhtians is in progress, as well as Cuiabá x Fluminense.
São Paulo won again, making it two in a row since winning the Copa. Corinthians scored first, but Calleri turned it around. Fluminense played their reserves in Cuiabá and lost 3x0. There are a few games left this round, but the big ones are: Bragantino x Palmeiras, tomorrow. Botafogo x Goiás on Monday. Next weekend is the last round before the international break, then matches resume on October 18.
Glad Flamengo won. They have the means, in terms of human material, to contend for every title they play for in 2024. Sometimes one has to reach bottom before it can go very high and Flamengo may have just bounced from the bottom. I hope you're right, Ombak, about São Paulo steadily rising in the league table. Corinthians isn't Brazil's best team, but it's definitely better than it was in 2022 and for a while, we struggled to defeat them. To have eliminated them in the Copa do Brasil and then to defeat them by virada is always good. The next test is Vasco - they're near relegation, but they've played some good soccer as of late. They destroyed Coritiba 5-1 and just like São Paulo, Vasco has a talented Argentine player who has been pivotal for them (Vegetti). If they beat Santos at Vila Belmiro tomorrow, Vasco should be well-poised to rise through the rankings as well.
Palmeiras using the B team against Bragantino. Looking bad but we catch them on the counter. Endrick did very well to round the keeper and put away the goal. Bragantino 0 x 1 Palmeiras
Couldn't hold on. An unfortunate PK and then a goal in the final minutes give Bragantino the win. 2nd half was terrible from Palmeiras. Bragantino are now 2nd and we fall to 4th. Gonna have to fight for G4.
Botafogo could increase their lead over Palmeiras (and Grêmio) to 10 tomorrow... but thanks to the win, Bragantino are in second and would be only 9 points behind if Botafogo win. Of course, they play Goiás, so they're big favorites. Funny story, I had Marcos Leonardo in my cartola team, as captain too! Obviously got me a ton of points, but the funny part is, he was a late addition, because another forward was unlikely, so I adjusted my team... but I forgot my goalkeeper was Vasco's Leo Jardim, and I did not change him. Overall his score wasn't too bad, considering Vasco lost 4x1, but obviously I shot myself in the foot by forgetting to change my keeper.
Well, Botafogo failed to capitalize. They're having a truly disastrous segundo turno. Goiás scored first. Botafogo tied in the second half. 1x1. Their lead, with 13 matches left, is only 7 points ahead of 2nd place Bragantino and 8 points over 3rd and 4th (Palmeiras and Grêmio).
Botafogo 1 x 1 Goias - FT Botafogo drop 2 more points. Damn damn damn ... Botafogo fans livid at the coach.
You know me, I would say there's no guarantee that keeping Caçapa or Castro would have meant better results at this stage... but even as sceptical or objective as I might try to be. it's hard to imagine Botafogo losing so many points consecutively with either of those coaches after their start. Add to that the behind the scenes stuff about Lage and his ego and what a disaster he turned out to be. Even if they steady the ship, they could still lose the title, and if they do there is no doubt who will be blamed.
Well, Botafogo's first match after firing Lage was a huge success. They beat Fluminense 2x0 and watched all the competition drop points. Palmeiras lost, at home, to Santos. Grêmio lost at Internacional. Flamengo drew yesterday at Corinthians. And Bragantino drew at Athletico Paranaense. Botafogo's lead is back up to 9 points over Bragantino and 11 points over Palmeiras, Grêmio and Flamengo. Fluminense fall to 7th as Fortaleza won and moved into 6th place. Coritiba x Cruzeiro is the only match of the round left, but it will be played during the international break. Then, the day after Uruguay x Brazil, the Brasileirão resumes.
Also, Flamengo have signed Tite: https://ge.globo.com/futebol/times/...apos-reuniao-e-acerto-esta-por-detalhes.ghtml
Our youngsters had a good 1st half against Santos. Endrick hit the cross bar on a nice run and shot from outside the box. But somehow I knew that after the Libertadores elimination, we wouldn't win this game. Title race is dead IMO. But we need to make sure we finish top 4.