On Monday, December 4, 2023 at 1:21:54 AM UTC, Lléo wrote:
> Corinthians 1-2 Internacional
>
> Other results of the round saved Corinthians, whose relegation chances were
> very slim anyway. This was Inter's first win at Arena Corinthians, and both
> sides are qualified to Copa Sudamericana 2024.
>
> Atlético Mineiro 2-1 São Paulo
>
> A dramatic Galo-style comeback at Mineirão. Hulk scored the opener in the 76th
> minute, but São Paulo equalized in the 88th from a penalty. On time added on
> Paulinho scored the winner, which kept Atlético's chances, even if remote.
>
> Paulinho so far is the league's top goalscorer (19 goals), while Hulk is joint
> third with 15.
>
> Flamengo 2-1 Cuiabá
>
> Like Atlético, Flamengo also needed a win to keep their title challenge alive.
> Not too difficult to do against a modest Cuiabá who has nothing else to play
> for. Last home game for Filipe Luis and Rodrigo Caio too, so a farewell of
> sorts for both of them.
>
> Palmeiras 1-0 Fluminense
>
> But Palmeiras has both their hands on the trophy already, so to say. Against
> Fluminense's mostly B side, Palmeiras won 1-0 and now has a big advantage
> going into the final round. The 5-0 beating over rivals São Paulo, in Round
> 29, ended up being the GD padding result that made a difference for them. Of
> course, no one knew it back then, since it never looked like they would have
> time to reach the top.
>
> Botafogo 0-0 Cruzeiro
>
> In a half-empty Estádio Nilton Santos, an afternoon of protests from one side
> and relief for the other. Botafogo dropped out of the top-4, so they risk not
> even getting to the Libertadores group stage, having to do with a preliminary
> round spot. Cruzeiro was saved by the other results of the round and no longer
> risks relegation.
>
> RB Bragantino 1-0 Coritiba
>
> RB Bragantino still had a shot at the top-4, but the other results of the round
> did not go their way and they'll have to go through the Libertadores preliminary
> round. Coritiba, long relegated, didn't do much at all.
>
> Grêmio 1-0 Vasco da Gama
>
> A night of celebrations for gremistas, who paid tribute to Luis Suarez in his
> last match at Arena do Grêmio. And the Uruguayan forward duly retributed, scoring
> the only goal of the match, 30 seconds after the teams returned from half-time.
> Grêmio was the better side and are now in the top-4, replacing Botafogo. For
> Vasco it was always going to be difficult. A win would lay to rest the ghost of
> relegation, but the team was too nervous and never really looked like they'd
> pull it off. Good thing other results helped, since the team can't seem to do it
> by itself.
>
> Athletico Paranaense 3-0 Santos
>
> At some point I thought Santos would manage to escape, but that's nothing that
> four games without a win couldn't correct. Easy prey at Arena da Baixada, against
> an Athletico team that has nothing to play for, Santos also leaves their fate to
> be decided in the last round.
>
> Fortaleza 1-0 Goiás
>
> This was probably the least important game of the round, but Fortaleza put out
> a crowd of 50,000 at Castelão for their last home game of the season against a
> relegated Goiás. This win cements their spot in Copa Sudamericana 2024.
>
> América Mineiro 3-2 Bahia
>
> Bahia blew it big time on this one. They scored first, but América came back
> and held to their advantage even while a man down. Bahia is in trouble, as now
> they no longer depend only on themselves to escape relegation.
>
> [pos team points, games, w-d-l, gs-gc, gd]
>
> 1 Palmeiras 69, 37, 20-9-8, 63-32, +31 Copa Libertadores
> 2 Atlético Mineiro 66, 37, 19-9-9, 51-28, +23 Copa Libertadores
> 3 Flamengo 66, 37, 19-9-9, 56-41, +15 Copa Libertadores
> 4 Grêmio 65, 37, 20-5-12, 60-54, +6 Copa Libertadores
> 5 Botafogo 64, 37, 18-10-9, 57-34, +23 Copa Libertadores Preliminary Round
> 6 RB Bragantino 62, 37, 17-11-9, 48-33, +15 Copa Libertadores Preliminary Round
> 7 Ath. Paranaense 56, 37, 14-14-9, 51-40, +11 Copa Sudamericana
> 8 Fluminense 56, 37, 16-8-13, 49-44, +5 Copa Libertadores (incumbent winner)
> 9 Internacional 52, 37, 14-10-13, 43-44, -1 Copa Sudamericana
> 10 Fortaleza 51, 37, 14-9-14, 43-43, 0 Copa Sudamericana
> 11 São Paulo 50, 37, 13-11-13, 39-38, +1 Copa Libertadores (Copa do Brasil winner)
> 12 Cuiabá 48, 37, 13-9-15, 37-39, -2 Copa Sudamericana
> 13 Corinthians 47, 37, 11-14-12, 45-48, -3 Copa Sudamericana
> 14 Cruzeiro 46, 37, 11-13-13, 34-31, +3 Copa Sudamericana
> 15 Santos 43, 37, 11-10-16, 38-62, -24
> 16 Vasco da Gama 42, 37, 11-9-17, 39-50, -11
> 17 Bahia 41, 37, 11-8-18, 46-52, -6 Relegation
> 18 Goiás 35, 37, 8-11-18, 35-53, -18 Relegated
> 19 Coritiba 30, 37, 8-6-23, 41-71, -30 Relegated
> 20 América Mineiro 24, 37, 5-9-23, 42-80, -38 Relegated
>
> Tiebreakers: number of wins, then goal difference, then goals scored.
>
> Round 38, to be played on December 6th
>
> Goiás - América Mineiro
> Nothing really at stake on this one, as the two sides are already relegated.
>
> Cuiabá - Athletico Paranaense
> Not much at stake for either side here, either. Both without relegation worries
> and already qualified to Copa Sudamericana 2024.
>
> Coritiba - Corinthians
> A pretty meh game closing a season both sides would like to forget.
>
> Fluminense - Grêmio
> Grêmio guarantees a Libertadores group stage spot if they win this one. As
> for Fluminense, I imagine they'll line up reserves again. Not to screw with
> Botafogo (who now needs them to take points off Grêmio), but because their
> heads are already at the CWC.
>
> São Paulo - Flamengo
> This one counts for nothing for São Paulo, who is safely nested in midtable.
> For Flamengo, they need to win and cover a goal difference of 16 to have a
> shot at the title. I guess that won't happen, but they still need to secure
> their spot at the top-4 in order not to have to deal with the pesky Libertadores
> preliminary round.
>
> Internacional - Botafogo
> Pretty much like the above. Internacional has nothing to play for, not that
> that's stopping them from lining up a winning streak. Botafogo's morale is
> non-existant, but technically, they need to win in order to have a shot at
> recovering their top-4 spot.
>
> Bahia - Atlético Mineiro
> This is the only game of the round in which both sides have something to play
> for. I guess Atlético knows that they probably won't cover a GD of 8 to Palmeiras
> on this round, or that Cruzeiro likely won't do them any favors. But with all
> of Flamengo, Grêmio and Botafogo on their tails, they have to stand their great
> run for at least one more round. Whileas Bahia plays for their survival.
>
> Vasco da Gama - RB Bragantino
> For Vasco this game means survival, pure and simple. RB Bragantino has nothing
> to play for really, having secured already a pre-Libertadores spot and not
> being able to reach the group stage zone.
>
> Santos - Fortaleza
> Pretty much the same as above. Santos plays for their survival, while Fortaleza
> has nothing else to do in the championship.
>
> Cruzeiro - Palmeiras
> Cruzeiro is safe from relegation and might go on vacation mode. Palmeiras will
> probably cement the title on this one. Even if Cruzeiro doesn't tank it, it's
> a solid GD advantage over Atlético Mineiro.
>
>
> Best regards,
>
> Lléo

It's an interesting finish. Thanks for these write-ups. You should do it more often.

It looks as if my pre-season prediction will be correct. I said Palmeiras would win the League!

How did Botafogo blow it so badly?! Is that 9 games without a win now?

And why do Cruzeiro hate Palmeiras?