Palmeiras: draw in the next round could guarantee the Brazilian Championship – 11/30/2023 – Sport

By beating América-MG 4-0 on Wednesday night (29) at Allianz Parque and seeing rivals in the fight for the title Flamengo and Botafogo stumble in the round, Palmeiras further increased the probability of becoming champions of the Championship Brazilian for the 12th time in its history.

According to calculations by the Department of Mathematics at UFMG (Federal University of Minas Gerais), the chance of Alviverde becoming two consecutive champions of the national tournament (the team also won the cup in the 2022 edition) jumped from 53% to 85.9% after the last round.

With two rounds left until the end of the championship, Palmeiras leads the league table alone with 66 points, three more than Botafogo, Atlético-MG and Flamengo, second, third and fourth placed, respectively, with a tiebreaker between the three teams. due to the difference in goal difference.

In the next round, the team led by Portuguese Abel Ferreira will face the current Libertadores champion Fluminense, led by Fernando Diniz. Tricolor das Laranjeiras is excited after beating Santos in Vila Belmiro 3-0, keeping Peixe in the fight against relegation.

The clash will be at Allianz Parque on Sunday (3), at 4pm (Brasília time). If Palmeiras wins the duel against Rio, they could be champions with one round left in the championship. To do this, they need Botafogo, Atlético-MG and Flamengo not to win their duels against Cruzeiro, São Paulo and Cuiabá, respectively.

In the event of a draw against Fluminense, Palmeiras needs the trio behind them to lose their duels to guarantee the cup with one round in advance.

Furthermore, Grêmio and Bragantino, with 59 points, in fifth and sixth position, respectively, still enter the field this Thursday in games valid for the 36th round, against Goiás and Fortaleza. If the duo wins today’s games, Palmeiras will need to count on their defeat or draw on Sunday, when they face Vasco and Coritiba, to be champions.

If they lose the match in the 37th round, Alviverde has no chance of becoming champions in advance, with the definition of the tournament remaining in the 38th and final round, scheduled for Wednesday (6). Verdão’s last match in the tournament will be against Cruzeiro, who is fighting against relegation, at Mineirão.

If they lose to Fluminense and Cruzeiro, Palmeiras could see the Brazilian win slip away, if Botafogo, Atlético-MG and Flamengo add four points in the remaining two rounds.

In a scenario in which Verdão loses one of the remaining games and wins another, and the trio that comes right behind wins both matches, with the four teams reaching the end of the last round with 69 points, the champion will be defined by the balance of goals. So far, Palmeiras leads in this regard, with a difference of 30 goals; next comes Botafogo (23), Atlético-MG (22) and Flamengo (14).

Speaking after the game the day before against América-MG, the young striker Endrick, just 17 years old, one of Palmeiras’ protagonists in the final stretch of the Brazilian Championship, tried to contain his feelings about an early victory. “We’re not going to let our guard down, we’re going to keep our feet on the ground. Nothing has been won,” said the jewel from Palmeiras, adding that he expects a difficult clash against Fluminense.

Last season, Palmeiras secured the cup in the 35th round, after the then vice-leader Internacional lost to América-MG.

If they confirm their favoritism and win the cup this year, Palmeiras will further isolate themselves as the biggest champion of the Brazilian Championship, with 12 wins. Next come Santos and Flamengo, with eight each; Corinthians, with seven; and São Paulo, with six.

In the current straight points format, Palmeiras also finished first in the 2022, 2018 and 2016 editions. In the knockout era since the initial milestone of the Brazilian Championship as we know it until today, it was champion in 1972, 1973, 1993, 1994. The team also won the national tournament in 1960 and 1967, when the competition was called Taça Brasil, and in 1967 and 1969, when it was renamed Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa, “Robertão”.