Last chance for everyone but Santos

With only the Peixe?s future defined, lots of things will be decided in the last league-stage day of the Campeonato Brasileiro

Emotion, passion and excitement did not flag in the second matchday in the Campeonato Brasileiro de Clubes 2012, taking place in the Paulista Arena de Guarapiranga this week. A similar amount of goals than the ones cored yesterday chaired the matches again, defining some things, but getting other more complicated…

One of the things that can be taken for granted is that Santos will be in Saturday’s semifinals, after a hat trick by Buru, a double by Alan and a final contribution by Argentinean Franceschini had things done for the Peixe. This victory, together with Palmeira’s failure to beat AS Arapiraquense get the paulista side into next stage. The green side was the only one with a chance to block the way for Santos, but no option is left for them after two consecutive defeats.

Two exact results will get Corinthians and Botafogo to battle tomorrow for a place in semifinals. With six points each after bending today Portuguesa (7-3) and Sport Recife (7-3) respectively, only a direct clash can decide who is the best in the group. The losing one of the pair will have to pray to be the best second…

Things are not that clear cut with Vasco, Flamengo, Sao Paulo and Cruzeiro, as the four of them have obtained one victory in the two matches played so far. The only one with, at least mathematically, fewer options is Flamengo. The Carioca side’s counter  features just two points, as it was only during extra time that they could unbalance yesterday’s game against Vasco.

So, with so many things yet to be defined, tomorrow is going to be a nail-bitting day in the Represa the Guarapiranga, with options coming and going, goal-average making the difference, and tickets gained in the last breath…

Results and match schedule

Wednesday, March 21st
10h – Atlético Paranaense 8-7 Palmeiras
11.15h – Portuguesa 0-4 Botafogo
12.30h – Cruzeiro 7-3 Sao Paulo
13.45h – AS Arapiraquense 5-8 Santos
15h – Flamengo 0(1)-0(0) Vasco da Gama
16.15h – Sport Recife 4-9 Corinthians

Thursday, March 22nd
10h – Botafogo 7-3 Sport Recife
11.15h – Sao Paulo 6-5 Flamengo
12.30h – Santos 6-4 Atlético Paranaense
13.45h – Palmeiras 3-5 AS Arapiraquense
15h – Vasco da Gama 4-2 Cruzeiro
16.15h – Corinthians 7-3 Portuguesa

Friday, March 23rd
10h – Cruzeiro vs Flamengo
11.15h – As Arapiraquense vs Atletico Paranaense
12.30h – Vasco da Gama vs Sao Paulo
13.45h – Corinthians vs Botafogo
15h – Portuguesa vs Sport Recife
16.15h – Santos vs Palmeiras

Saturday, March 24th
SEMIFINALS
11.30h – 1st Group  B vs 1st Group C
12.45h – 1st Group A vs. Best 2nd

Sunday, March 25th
FINALS
11h – 3rd/4th place Final
12.30h – FINAL