Looking Ahead as Brazilian State Championships Enter Their Final Stages

Hi everyone, my name is Maurício Wiklicky and I will be covering the Brazilian Championship, with a look of who lives the “country of football”. As the Brazilian Championship only starts on May 13, we will talk a bit about the decisions of the four major regional championships.

This Sunday, April 30, we will have the first matches, with the big final on May 7, so a warm-up for the Brazilian Championship!

Paulista Championship

After 30 years of a historic final for Brazil’s second biggest fans, Corinthians, where they finished with a 22-years without titles, they return to face Ponte Preta, one of the oldest clubs in Brazil that has never won a title (yes, you can imagine that?). Having a bigger crowd, bigger investment and more tradition, Corinthians enter as a favourite, but Ponte Preta, after eliminating two of the most traditional teams in Brazil (Santos and the favourite Palmeiras) in the previous stages, comes strong for the final of the biggest regional championship of Brazil

Carioca Championship

Maybe you know Rio de Janeiro for the samba, beaches and Maracanã, and when we talk about Maracanã, if you love football, you heard sometime about “FlaFlu”. Flamengo and Fluminense meet again in a Carioca championship final after 22 years. One of the most traditional derbies in Brazil, decides for the 12th time the Carioca championship, where Fluminense has an advantage of 8 wins in decisions. It will be the match of a team with several stars, Flamengo of Diego (injured for the matches) and Peruvian Guerrero, against the best football team presented in Brazil in early 2017 (do not forget, in Brazil the season starts in January and ends in December!), that is Fluminense and his “golden boys” from Xerém (where the club is based, the “canteras”).

Mineiro Championship

The traditional derby of the two biggest clubs of Minas Gerais, will decide the Mineiro championship for the 21st time. Atlético and Cruzeiro will play two games without favourites. Despite of the best campaign in the championship, Atlético of the stars Robinho and Fred, faces the excellent team of Cruzeiro, of the former Brazilian coach Mano Menezes. Atletico will decide the title at home, take advantage of the tie.

Gaucho Championship

The “Gauchão”, a championship known for having a game style more similar to Uruguayans and Argentinians, because it is in the extreme south of Brazil, making the border with the countries, for the first time in history will not be decided with the participation of a club of the first Division of the Brazilian Championship. Novo Hamburgo, of the Brazilian 4th division, was the best team in the league, disqualifying favourite Grêmio in the semifinal, and decides the championship against the traditional Internacional, which is in the 2nd division. The first game takes place at the “Beira-Rio” stadium and the decision takes place at the Vale stadium of Novo Hamburgo.

After the first round of the finals we will see if any of them will already be decided, or if everything will remain for the last game!
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