Predictions for the Title, Libertadores, Relegation and New Talent

I hate blogs with posts like “hey, I’m sorry I’m late”. Hey, if you’re in this business you either do it or not. So this is what happened last weekend for Campeonato Brasileiro:

Fluminense 2 x 3 Coritiba
Goiás 4 x 1 Santos
Atlético-MG 2 x 1 Náutico
Portuguesa 3 x 1 Botafogo
Atlético-PR 0 x 0 Grêmio
Sport 0 x 0 São Paulo
Figueirense 3 x 4 Cruzeiro
Internacional 1 x 0 Vitória
Flamengo 1 x 0 Ipatinga-MG
Palmeiras 2 x 0 Vasco

And here it is what I think we should have in mind:

1) Will Gremio resist the pressure from Palmeiras? The huge lead between the two clubs disappeared, being reduced to one point only. Gremio waisted many chances last weekend. I personally believe Palmeiras grabbed the title by winning the match against Cruzeiro a few rounds ago. Right now, Palmeiras is getting the flow whereas gremio seem to be losing it.

2) Taking fro granted that Palmeiras and Gremio will be in the next Libertadores, what are the other two clubs? I think Cruzeiro is there as well. The remaning spot is unknown. Flamengo, Botafogo, Sao Paulo, Vitoria, Coritiba and Inter fight for it. I believe Botafogo, Vitoria and Coritiba will not keep up the pace. The fight will be between Sao Paulo, Inter and Flamengo.

3) Relegation. I’ve been saying since the second round Ipatinga is gone. Portuguesa without Diogo seems to be a good candidate. One club from Rio will be relegated for sure. We just have to know who it will be – vasco or Fluminense. Both have coaches not in the luckiest moments of their careers. Vasco has a worse team player by player, but Flu is really putting the effort to go down. The other spot is between Nautico and Atletico-PR. Santos and Atletico-MG are finding their way out.

4) Goias again is finding the force within to escape relegation with a bright second-half in the league. Impressive.

5) In terms of new talent, this is not a good tournament. I like Vitor and Leo from Gremio. Guilherme from Cruzeiro. In fact, Gremio and Cruzeiro are very young sides, which both have potential for developing next year. And I if I can include players from the second division, I really like Corinthian’s left back Andre Santos. Nilmar from Inter is not new. Miranda from Sao Paulo either. And Diego Souza from Palmeiras was the name of Gremio last year. The return from Marcelinho Paraiba to Brazilian football was good too. But this is it.

6) Disappointing players are Hernanes from Sao Paulo, Kleber from Palmeiras and Kleber from Santos. D’Alessandro from Inter I would like to wait and see a little bit more before he joins this group

Category: CBF

Tags: 26th round, brasileiro 08, Campeonato Brasileiro, CBF, predicitons

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