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
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
No comments:
Post a Comment