The final round of the race for the title of Football between Flamengo and Internacional ended on Thursday night, in the middle of an almost unbearable drama, which gave a strong blow to the arguments of those who miss the old knockout format and maintain the thesis that the league system is boring.
The penultimate day of the extended campaign of 2020, played on Sunday, faced the first in the table with the second and saw them change their position, after the reigning champion Flamengo de Rio de Janeiro defeated International de Porto Alegre with 2- 1. Flamengo gained a two-point lead at the top of the table, which means they could win the title if they win the visit to Sao Paulo on the final date. Any other different result would open the door for the International to lift its first championship since 1979 if it managed to triumph over the Corinthians at home. Both matches were played simultaneously on Thursday.
Flamengo had a sad night: after pressing most of the first half, they arrived with a goal disadvantage, scored just before the break. They never managed to exercise a similar domination after the restart of the match and, although they managed to level the score quickly, they took the defeat with 2-1. Now it all depended on the events in Porto Alegre.
International has been constantly pressing. VAR denied them a penalty and a goal, convicted offside. However, both decisions seemed to be correct. In the second half, the club from Porto Alegre hit the crossbar, being canceled for another goal, and the Corinthian goalkeeper Cassio was forced to make several saves. Immediately after the final whistle of the Flamengo game was heard, they broke the bow again and the goal was canceled by the offside, with a very small margin. They had played more than eight minutes of overtime, but there was still time for more drama. In the last game of the championship, with the whole team waiting for a corner kick (including the goalkeeper), central Lucas Ribeiro had a good chance … and sent the ball flying over the goal.
After 38 games, with a margin of only one unit, Flamengo was crowned champion. It may seem, and not just because of the drama on the final date, that they were champions by default. At one point, the title battle seemed to be a six-way race. But they began to lag behind, one by one. Gremio and especially Palmeiras were trapped, victims of the accumulation of matches: both teams have not yet seen each other in the first and second stage of the Cup final, starting this Sunday. Sao Paulo led the league, collapsing under the pressure of his attempts to win his first title in many years. Atletico Mineiro, under the command of former Argentine coach Jorge Sampaoli, had sporadic moments of brilliance, but failed to maintain the necessary regularity. And Internacional let the leadership escape, even at the last moment.
However, it would be extremely cruel to conclude that Flamengo won the title by default. It’s easy to explain the inconsistency of your competitors. The competition normally takes place between the beginning of May and the end of December. On this occasion, due to the forced cessation of the coronavirus pandemic, the tournament could not start until the beginning of August, extending throughout the summer. This imposed an overly demanding schedule on the players, especially considering that some of the matches started at 16:00 local time. Maintaining a constant level in such grueling conditions was too much to ask, even for champions.
Except for the drama of the heart attack, the winners of the 2020 edition will not be remembered with the same affection for the bandit team that won the championship in 2019, led by Portuguese coach Jorge Jesús. His successors never managed to replace the Spanish central Pablo Mari, who was sold to Arsenal. Flamengo showed such a mediocre defense throughout the campaign that it was surprising to note that the new champion had the worst defensive record among the occupants in the top half of the table, with 48 goals against. In the division of 20 teams, only the four relegated clubs and another quartet of 10 tolerated several goals against.
Neither Domenec Torrent, former assistant of Pep Guardiola, who took over the technical direction in place of Jorge Jesús; not even Rogerio Ceni, who joined the team after Torrent’s excessive dismissal, failed to strike an effective balance between attack and defense. However, the abundance of resources used in the attack was more than sufficient. The “Fantastic Four” of 2019, made up of Gabriel and Bruno Henrique, along with offensive midfielders Everton Ribeiro and Giorgian De Arrascaeta, have reached a good level. They were constantly supported by Gerson in midfield and this season, the team was strengthened with central striker Pedro, who contributed with several crucial goals.
The offensive volume was enough and remained. And, even if they failed to reach a level as remarkable as the one shown in 2019, Flamengo offered Brazilian fans a league campaign conclusion that they can never forget.