Once again with the rope in the neck the São Paulo faces this Sunday, October 22, Flamengo. The match is part of the schedule of the thirtieth round of the Brazilian Championship in its 2017 version. It will be held in the Pacaembu stadium, since Morumbi was rented to perform musical events. The start is scheduled for 17h (Brasília time).
The recent performance of São Paulo
The São Paulo tricolor will thus complete the Fla-Flu scheduled for the last two rounds. On the night of Wednesday, October 18, in Maracanã, he was hit by the Rio Tricolor. It took 3 to 1 of the Fluminense falling two positions in the table of classification.
It burned the small ‘fat’ accumulated with the victory, also in Pacaembu, by 2 to 1, of turn, against Atletico-PR, in the twenty-eighth round. With 34 points (nine wins, seven draws and 13 losses) he can return to the relegation zone if he can not score against the red-blacks in Rio.
In the first game that he did in the stadium belonging to the municipality of São Paulo, the tricolor did not have the same presence of audience that had been in Morumbi. While some 50,000 supporters were supporting the team in the most recent matches in their stadium, that number fell to half in the public stadium.
For Sunday, the expectation is that the presence is greater, but not necessarily of Sao Pauline. Flamengo, who has strong fans in São Paulo, even served as principal in Pacaembu and always had the support of his fans in the city of São Paulo.
The board’s attitude to close the preparatory training for the clash shows the degree of pressure that the athletes and the coaching staff have suffered. It can also be measured by the statements of coach Dorival Junior after the match against Fluminense and also through the changes he made in the game.
In the interval of the duel in Maracanã, the coach pulled out of the team two players considered fundamental: Cueva and Pratto. After the game, Dorival Junior criticized all the athletes saying that the team was apathetic throughout the match and that this would be able to justify any change, since nobody was saved.
There is no way to know the reflexes of this type of statement in the group, since even the interviews were banned by the toppers. They can cause athletes to revolt as technicians and become even less willing or able to act in the opposite direction.
The current form of Flamengo
The twenty-ninth round was much more positive for Flamengo. On the Island of Urubu, rubro-negro thrashed Bahia 4-1. Although the score was a bit exaggerated and did not reflect exactly what happened on the field, the victory was fair and promoted a change of behavior of the fans .
Much criticized for recent weak performances, midfielder Diego was booed by the fans. However, he made two goals in the second half and came out applauded. Flamengo rose to 46 points (12 wins, 10 draws and 7 losses) gaining a place in the standings. He started the day of number 30 as sixth place.
Although he has the classic against Fluminense scheduled for next Wednesday, October 24, opening the quarter-final clash of the South American Cup, coach Reinaldo Rueda should not spare players for the match like Sao Paulo. Even because it has set as a goal to reach one of the top four places of the Brasileirão and thus secure a place directly in the group stage in the 2018 edition of the Copa Libertadores of America.
The same goal can be achieved by winning the Copa Sudamericana, but after putting all his eggs in the basket of the Copa do Brasil and losing the decision, the Colombian coach seems to have learned the lesson and decided not to prioritize another tournament in detriment of the Brasileirão.
History of the matches against São Paulo and Flamengo
The tricolor won 22 of the 56 matches played against Rubro-negro since 1971 in Brasileirão. The draws were 16 and the successes of Flamengo reached 18 with 2 to 0 marked in the first round of the current season.
PREDICTION: Flamengo win @ 3.30