Friday, May 20, 2011

2011 Brazilian League Begins.

The Brazilian Serie A kicks off this weekend.

There are four games on tap for Saturday with another six on Sunday as all 20 teams kick things off for the 2011 season.

Midweek participation in the Copa Libertadores has not been kind to the Serie A teams.  Out of the six teams that qualified for  the tournament, five made it out of the group stages.  However four of them fell at the first knockout stage.

With the semifinals in the middle of the coming week, only Santos (who qualified as 2010 Copa do Brasil Champions) remain.

With a Copa Libertadores win of paramount importance and carrying massive prestige, expect Pele's old side to take a gentle approach to the opening weekend.  They open their 2011 league season at home to heavyweights Internacional, from Porto Allegre.

Moreover, Coritiba, Ceara, Avai and Vasco Da Gama still remain in the Copa Do Brasil.  While Coritiba and Ceara drew their semi-final first leg 0-0 on Wednesday, Avai escaped with a precious away goal in a draw at Vasco.  With the Brazilian Cup carrying extra weight as one of the slots for the Copa Libertadores, expect all four sides to keep an eye on those matches in the germinal stages of the league campaign.



Both semi-final second legs are on May 25 2011, the same day that sees Santos take on Paraguayan club Cerro Porteno in the Libertadores semi-final first leg.

The big games from the first week see defending champions Fluminense take on perennial contender Sao Paolo, the 6-3-3 squadron, on Sunday in the late game.  Earlier that day Gremio will host Corinthians as they seek to score an early win over last year's 3rd place team.




Ronaldinho's Flamengo kick things off on Saturday versus Gurtavo Kuerten's Avai.

Full Schedule:

Sat     21/05/11    
Flamengo         17:30     Avaí
Ceará         17:30     Vasco da Gama
Atlético Mineiro     17:30    Atlético PR    
Santos         20:00     Internacional        

Sun     22/05/11    
Palmeiras         15 : 00     Botafogo        
Grêmio         15 : 00     Corinthians        
Coritiba         15 : 00     Atlético GO        
Figueirense     15 : 00     Cruzeiro        
Fluminense     17 : 30     São Paulo        
América Mineiro     17 : 30     Bahia


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