There is no greater rivalry in Brazil than a Gre-Nal. And its 434th edition, which takes place this Saturday (at 23:00 CET) at the Beira-Rio stadium, comes with extra motivations, due to the Gremio’s dramatic situation, which make it a time bomb.
The Gaucho Tricolor, who comes from losing three consecutive games, is penultimate and has salvation at seven points when he only has ten games left to play. Either he improves radically, or he goes to Serie B for the second time in its history.
On Wednesday, during his visit to At. Mineiro (who is the leader and virtual champion) took a step forward, but ended up succumbing (2-1). Now, in a classic of the maximum, the victory is only worth the team that he directs Vágner Mancini.
2021 is being an annus horribilis for the Guild: He has three coaches and has been in the relegation zone since the second day of the Brasileirao. Bad performances and problems accumulate in a cycle of setbacks from which it seems impossible to get out.
To the bad sporting march, which already began at the beginning of the season with the elimination in the previous phase of the Libertadores, we must now add lhe very serious incidents on Sunday in the game against Palmeiras, when part of the torcida invaded the Arena Gremio playing field, destroyed the VAR booth and attacked photographers, club employees and security agents.
In a precautionary way, the club has been punished to play its home games behind closed doors and his hobby is prevented from entering the displacements. For this reason, for the first time in the history of Gre-Nal there will only be one crooked, the red one.
The Internacional, of course, wants to take advantage of the occasion to help certify the death of its eternal rival in Serie A. The team of Diego Aguirre it also has a lot at stake. To begin with, he will have to break a negative streak since he has accumulated four days without winning (he has only added two points out of the possible twelve), which has made him lose his access to the Libertadores.
The Colorados are now seventh with 41 points, three less than the Corinthians who train Sylvinho. For the classic they recover two important pieces Taison and Yuri Alberto, who has already added 11 goals in the championship.
