Flamengo has just won the Brasileirão, crowning this year as their most successful since 2019. Didn't even need to look far for a coach this time - Remember Filipe Luís, former defender from Chelsea and Atlético de Madrid? Last year, he took over the coaching job after Tite's sacking, and he's been brilliant ever since. I don't doubt he'll be the first choice for the NT job after Ancelotti passes the torch.
Palmeiras had their "worst" year in a while - which means they haven't won shit this year.
The big talk of the season has been Mirassol, a debutante on the top national level, who will finish fourth and thus secure their first trip to the Libertadores next year.
Everyone at the beginning of the season believed they'd be relegation fodder right away, but instead, they steamrolled almost every other team in their path. No big stars in their roster and a virtually unknown coach on their bench, but plenty of heart and excellent off-pitch administration. Not sure how long Mirassol will last like this, but they've been a pleasant surprise.
Additionally, Neymar's Santos has now become virtually free from relegation after beating the bottom two. After Carletto gave him an ultimatum to make the cut for the World Cup next year, Neymar has finally been playing consistently well. I personally don't think it will secure his seat to North America, but at least he's no longer just pacing about and collecting the fattest paycheck in the league for sitting on the sidelines pretending to feel pain.
Oh, and the biggest fall from grace are definitely from Internacional. I wonder what happened to
@Registration, it's been a while since he came here to this thread, and I think it's because Inter are
this close to be relegated.
I kinda understand that feeling. The least we talk about my São Paulo, the better. What a shitshow, our best players all injured to some degree, and not even the return of Hernán Crespo as head coach did anything to improve the team's performance. At least we were never in danger of relegation, I guess.
And lastly, the two teams from my city (Fortaleza and Ceará) have been pure ass all year long and reach the final match day with chances to be relegated back to Série B. Fortaleza's case is more emblematic, since they have been doing pretty damn well lately, to the point they even reached the Sudamericana finals a couple of years ago. But this year, they had a shitload of boneheaded decisions on and off the pitch - such as hiring fucking David Luiz, who proceeded to screw the pooch almost every time he came to play, to the point he had to be sold to Pafos from Cyprus to cut some losses before the end of the final transfer window. But now they have managed to turn the tables around, thanks to the players finally feeling threatened, and from the efforts of their current coach, a certain Argentinian idol named Martín Palermo.
