The 38th and final round of the 2024 Brazilian Championship has finally arrived. This Sunday (6), there will be ten games, all starting at 4pm (Sunday time), which will define how Brazil’s main football competition ends. At the top of the table, Botafogo and Palmeiras are the only teams with a chance of winning the title. On the other hand, one of the four spots in Series B remains to be filled. Atlético-MG, Athletico-PR, Fluminense and Bragantino seek to escape the sticking. The final round of the competition brings a series of possible combinations.
Title: Botafogo or Palmeiras
The calculations in the dispute for the trophy are simpler. Botafogo has 76 points, three more than Palmeiras. A draw against São Paulo, at Nilton Santos, guarantees the title for Alvinegro (recent Libertadores champion) after 29 years. By doing this, nothing that happens at Allianz Parque, where Palmeiras hosts Fluminense, will matter. Glorioso could be champion even with defeat, if Verdão does not defeat Rio’s Tricolor.
Palmeiras, on the other hand, only sees one path: beating Fluminense and hoping that their São Paulo rival beats Botafogo. In this way, both would finish the competition with 76 points, but Verdão would win the third consecutive championship by having one more victory, the first tiebreaker criterion.
Relegation: Galo, Hurricane, Flu or Bragantino
Three teams reach the last round with relegation confirmed: Criciúma, Atlético-GO and Cuiabá. One left. The excitement is guaranteed in a tight dispute, which includes a team that has a duel with a title candidate, another with an already relegated opponent and, to top it off, a direct confrontation.
Bragantino, which starts the round within the relegation zone, in 17th with 41 points, faces Criciúma, whose relegation was declared with the defeat to Flamengo in the last round. A victory guarantees Massa Bruta in Serie A. Any other result demotes the team, which has fewer victories than all other competitors.
Fluminense has the most complicated opponent, as they face Palmeiras, vice-leader and still with a chance of becoming champions, away from home. Tricolor, 15th with 43 points, can save themselves even with a defeat (if Bragantino doesn’t win or Furacão is defeated), but, to avoid having to do the math, they have to get a draw.
The direct duel between Atlético-MG and Athletico-PR holds several possibilities. Galo, the best positioned among the four, with 44 points, in 14th, is guaranteed a draw. Furacão, however, with 42 points, in 16th, will only be mathematically safe without counting the other results if they win. A draw would save both teams in the event of Fluminense’s defeat. However, if Bragantino wins and Fluminense draws, just one point will not be enough for the team from Paraná. An ingredient that could weigh on this confrontation between the namesakes is that the Arena MRV will not have an audience, due to the punishment for the confusion that occurred in the final of the Copa do Brasil between Galo and Flamengo. Furthermore, the team from Minas Gerais is in the worst moment: it hasn’t won in twelve games, including the Brazilian Championship, Copa do Brasil and Libertadores.
