That group A is remarkable. And Santos potentially has an easy road to the final. They get the second placed team in their group in the quarters, and in the semis they could potentially face São Paulo or Bragantino... or Novorizontino or Inter de Limeira depending on how things play out. Looks like Inter de Limeira has 2 tough matches, but the middle one, next weekend, against Ituano, could be what they need to qualify and knock Corinthians out. The other big estadual news today was the Grenal. Grêmio was up 1x0 and 2x1, but Inter won 3x2 in the end. The winning goal came at 53 minutes of the second half.
@Ombak UOL has a story about how Tite has already made Flamengo a defensive powerhouse. In summary: This is the best defensive performance by Flamengo in the first 10 matches of the Campeonato Carioca since 1985 (1 goal allowed in 10 matches). Flamengo boasts the best defense in the Primeira Divisão, with 7 wins and 3 draws. Flamengo has drastically changed from the Sampaoli era, when Flamengo allowed 30 goals in 23 matches; in 2023 alone, Tite began to improve Flamengo's defense by having the team allow 11 goals in 12 matches. 2024 numbers are even better. Flamengo allowed no goals against Vasco, Botafogo, and Fluminense, with wins against the second and third teams and a goalless draw vs. Vasco. You and other longtime writers on the Brazil Forum are well-aware I was a staunch defender of Tite during the 6 years he managed Brazil, and our disastrous performances in 2023 only highlighted how solid he made Brazil's defense while making it always extremely likely Brazil would win its matches. That's history now, and while I wish Dorival Jr. all the best, I'm not sure Dorival will reproduce Tite's defensive solidity and winning percentage with Brazil. You guys also know that I strongly stand by the American sports maxim "defense wins championships." Well, Flamengo stands to gain much with Tite precisely because of a better back line. Flamengo's roster is still very strong, and there is no way Flamengo will allow the defensive mishaps (such as those we witnessed when Olimpia eliminated Flamengo) in Libertadores play. Based on roster quality and recent reputations alone, a dream 2024 Libertadores final would be Flamengo vs. Palmeiras. But as we say in Brazil, até lá, ainda tem muita água pra rolar.
And that goal was conceded by the reserves/youth team while Tite was leading the senior team for two US friendlies. The popular meme for Flamengo fans right now is that we don't know what it means to concede a goal. It definitely looks good and looks like a team that will compete for titles on every front this year, but you never know, things can change so quickly in Brazil. They certainly won't go without conceding in Serie A, but the biggest challenge, in my opinion, is going to be Copa América. The decision by clubs to ask CBF to pause the league during Copa América is just PR. If they were serious about it they would have brought it up long ago, when the schedule was released, or even before. Let's say Dorival doesn't call any Flamengo players for Copa América, we could still lose at least Pulgar, De Arrascaeta, De La Cruz and Varela. That's 3 out of 4 starting mids and one quarter of the current defense. Other contenders, like Palmeiras and Atlético will also have to deal with that, but you could argue those teams might have other priorities to sort out and if they do, they might deal with that period a little better. Let's see how things look after July. If Flamengo are ahead or right behind the leaders at that point, you have to imagine Tite will lead them to the title.
It may be PR, but CBF's decision-making is bizarre. Other leagues are pausing their play to accommodate the Copa América matches. Sad that the clubs have to get involved like this.
Flamengo beat Madureira 3x0, officially wrapping up the Taça Guanabara. Botafogo face Fluminense tomorrow and have to not only win, but hope that Vasco lose to Portuguesa. Nova Iguaçu also play tomorrow. Theoretically all teams in 2nd to 4th place can switch places, so we have to wait for the last matches to know the semi-final match-ups.
Corinthians get a goal in the final minute to stay alive in the Paulistão. They blew a 2 goal lead in the final 10 mins but pulled off a win in the end. But Inter de Limeira is winning their game against Ituano 2 x 0 at the moment which would eliminate Corinthians.
Portuguesa amazingly are through with a round to spare. They have the 4th lowest point total of all teams.
Botafogo beat Fluminense, but, as expected, Vasco also won, so Botafogo did not make the top 4. However, the Fluminense loss means the semi-finals will be Flamengo x Fluminense, Vasco x Nova Iguaçu. Fluminense's loss today means they haven't beaten a Rio rival (one of the other big 4) in 11 matches! Flamengo will be favorites, but can't take the semis for granted. Semis are on Sunday March 10 and Saturday, March 16, before the international break.
São Paulo 1 x 1 Palmeiras Not a good game really. Abel used Endrick as an "ala" for a whole half. I don't get it. He is the best finisher in the team and Abel is playing him far from the goal. It's like after using him correctly in the 2nd half of the season last year he is now sabotaging him again. Weverton is also in bad form.
We clinched 1st spot in the Paulistão with a 1 x 0 win over Botafogo. Not a good performance though. Specially being a man up for most of the game. Apparently that doesn't guarantee home field advantage through the finals though. Apparently points still keep getting added up in the KO phase. So a tie with a PK win counts as 1 point. Freakin Brazil state league rules.
I don't watch Fluminense (and Dinizismo) play that much, but how often to these overload deep in defense actually lead to good scoring chances when they break the lines ? The more I see it the more I see them slow it down because they don't have numbers when they get in attack. I think the overloading of a section is interesting from the midfield forward ... deep into defense it just seems really counter productive.
Flamengo ended up winning 2x0, a good advantage for next week's second leg. Thiago Santos was red carded, and Flamengo had most of the chances, so it could have been more. Both goals came late in each half. About the Paulistão, I was checking scores on my phone but forgot that today is the last round, not the quarter-finals yet, since there's one more round than the carioca. Santos was losing 2x1 at the half and I thought they were at risk of elimination... but of course, it didn't matter and they turned the match around in the end. So the Paulistão plays quarter-finals next week, then the semis after the international break, which means they have to cram the semi-final in right after players get back. Both tournaments will have their finals on March 31 and April 7.
São Paulo only got through with a last min PK to beat Ituano 3 x 2. They were in a tough group where the first 3 got 22, 22, and 21 points.
Hopefully having gone through a tough group made SPFC more cascudo as it only gets more difficult from now on.
@celito 5x1 against Ponte Preta, with a Flaco Lopez hat-trick, Endrick assist and involvement and good performance by Mayke. What's the verdict? Did the 3-5-2 work or is the opponent too weak to make it a good measure? In Rio, Flamengo are in the final. Fluminense were better today than in the second leg but it was just 0x0, with a safe game by Tite. Flamengo were the only team that scored, but the goal was called back. The winner of Nova Iguaçu x Vasco tomorrow will meet Flamengo in the final. Nova Iguaçu will advance if it's a draw. It's Flamengo's 6th final in a row.
I actually missed this game. First one I miss in a while. Probably a mix of weak opponent and a having a good game in front of the goal.
Like I said... if they tied Nova Iguaçu would go through as the higher-placed team... but Nova Iguaçu didn't leave it to chance! 1x0 Nova Iguaçu on a weekend during which the heat index in Rio was up to 60 C! (Yesterday at least, but I'm sure it wasn't much cooler at the match today).
Santos good campaign on the line. 80th minute and the game against Portuguesa is still level at 0 .Santos are also a man down.