A neck-and-neck battle between Flamengo and Palmeiras for the Brazilian Championship title saw the rubro-negro pull away in the lead and have their first match point today. The Rio de Janeiro team can become champions if they beat Atlético-MG in Belo Horizonte, while Palmeiras loses to Grêmio in Porto Alegre – the games kick off the 36th round at 9:30 PM. Filipe Luís’ team reached this position by being a rare ‘best in everything’ in the era of round-robin points.
The 3-0 victory over Bragantino on Saturday saw the Rio team reach 74 points, while the Sao Paulo team reached 70 with a goalless draw against Fluminense. In this scenario, the rubro-negro would open a seven-point lead with two rounds remaining and only six points left to play for.
Currently, there are several key statistics that Flamengo leads: best attack (73 goals scored) and defense (23 goals conceded), with a significant goal difference of 50; most wins (22) and fewest losses (five, tied with Cruzeiro). They are also the best home team – with 44 points and undefeated in 18 games – and the best away team. Finally, they were the symbolic winners of the first half of the season and currently lead the second half.
The only team to achieve this in the 23 years of the round-robin Brazilian Championship was Corinthians in 2015: Tite’s team won the title with 81 points, topping all categories.
In 2018 and 2022, Palmeiras won the title with great dominance, but did not lead all statistics like Flamengo can do this year, just as the Rio team did not accomplish in the 2019 campaign when they set a record number of points (90) in the era of 20 clubs. Should they win prematurely against Atlético, Flamengo will still have two more rounds, against Ceará and Mirassol, to confirm winning the second half of the season and maintain the other statistics.
The main goal, the title, could be secured at a crucial moment. Flamengo and Palmeiras alternated throughout the campaign and entertained the possibility of reaching the 90-point mark, which did not happen due to inconsistency in the final rounds. Factors such as physical exhaustion and absences during the last international break slightly slowed the pace of the race, in which even Cruzeiro emerged as a contender, but stumbled with setbacks.
For the potentially decisive game at Arena MRV, Léo Ortiz will remain sidelined for Filipe Luís. The defender was hoping to get some minutes to gain match fitness for the Libertadores final against Palmeiras on Saturday in Lima, Peru, but stayed in Rio de Janeiro to recover from a ligament strain in his right ankle. The team traveled to Belo Horizonte with a total of four absentees: in addition to Ortiz, Pedro is recovering from a fracture in his right forearm and an injury in his left thigh. He is a doubt for the weekend. Midfielder Allan, who recently dealt with plantar fasciitis, also missed the trip to Belo Horizonte, as did left-back Viña.
Suspended in the last Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Bragantino, Pulgar and Saúl are back in the squad and reinforce the team. Filipe Luís will have his best players available, with even De la Cruz, who is usually rested in games on synthetic turf, set to play. The opponent tonight does not arrive in the best condition. On the contrary, they suffered a defeat in the South American Cup final against Lanús over the weekend, losing on penalties in Asunción after playing 120 minutes. Coach Jorge Sampaoli faces two issues with the suspension of Igor Gomes and the potential absence of Alan Franco, who played while injured. Lyanco, Cuello, and Júnior Santos remain sidelined due to injuries.
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