SAO PAULO.- While Flamengo and Palmeiras They maintain their head-to-head race for the lead, Neymar dreams of revolutionizing the final stretch of the Brasileirao and put a reborn Saints in the next Libertadores Cup.
With 10 in the lead, Santos receives this Saturday Bay in one of the star duels of the 32nd date.
The arrival of reinforcements such as Philippe Coutinho, Everton Cebolinha either Arthur after the break for World has catapulted the old team Pele, who went from fighting to avoid relegation to aspiring for a place in the Liberators.
At the moment, it occupies eighth place in the table, with 45 points, in the entry zone to the South American Cup.
And Neymar is very motivated.
“The Inter Miami of Brazil,” the attacker joked this week on social networks, sharing a photo of himself with Gabigolthe young promise Gabriel Bontempo and the new Peixe footballers.
He tagged his friend in the message Lionel Messigreat star of the American club, already David Beckhamone of its owners.
With old figures on the payroll, the Inter Miami was champion of the MLS last year.
Thanks to Santos’ good form, which comes from beating 2-1 against Fluminense As a visitor on the previous date, Neymar has left behind the disappointment suffered with the elimination of Brazil in the round of 16 of the World Cup in view of Norway.
“It’s very good to see Neymar competing, lowering lines, reducing spaces,” said the Santista coach, Cuca.
Although injuries remain a problem, the 34-year-old star has played 26 games in all competitions this season, with 10 goals and eight assists.
Bahia, meanwhile, fell to seventh place after losing 3-0 at home the previous day against Flamengo. Add 49 units.
“We have to fight for the best possible position (…). Our direct rivals won and we went down a little in the table,” he said. Rogério Ceni, coach of the team that seeks to enter the Libertadores for the third year in a row.
There is no truce
After the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores, Flamengo and Palmeiras They resume their particular duel for command of the Brazilian championship by receiving Atlético Mineiro and Bragantinorespectively.
Leader with 67 points, one more than Verdão, the current champion is measured on Monday at the Maracana to Atlético Mineiro.
It will be a confrontation between two of the most in-form teams in Brazilian football.
The black-and-white team has gone eight games undefeated in the league and this Thursday they host Students of La Plata for a place to defend their crown in the Libertadores final.
El Galo, for its part, celebrates its pass to the final of the Copa Sudamericana, in which it will face Boca Juniors.
He also has a chain of six presentations without defeats in the Series A and is in the semifinals in the Brazil Cup.
“I highlight the mental aspect of the players. They are competing in three tournaments and they are giving their best,” said the Mineiro coach, the Argentine Eduardo Dominguez.
Fla could enter the field in second place if Palmeiras beat Bragantino on Saturday.
Qualified for their second consecutive Libertadores final, the fourth under the command of the Portuguese coach Abel Ferreirathe São Paulo players try to regain the leadership lost in the 26th round.
“The only result that interests us is winning. We are going to put the final in the drawer, because in three days we have another ‘final’ to play at home,” declared Ferreira.
Bragantino is tenth, with 41 points.
Seedorf, now?
In the lower zone, the debut of the Dutchman is expected Clarence Seedorf on the bench Corinthians, at home in front of Vasco da Gama, direct rival in the fight against relegation.
However, the local press reports that the team has not yet finalized the coach’s registration and is racing against the clock to complete it.
Problems with the procedure prevented Seedorf from being on the side of the lime line in Timão’s 1-1 draw with the Vitória on the last date.
With that result, Corinthians ended a streak of eight defeats in the Brazilian championship.
