The Brasileirão has barely started, but the São Paulo is already in crisis. The Tricolor, which lost in the debut to Fortaleza at Morumbis by 2-1, is going through a moment of great opposition from its fans, especially against coach Thiago Carpini. The coach, who replaced Dorival Júnior at the beginning of the season, started well, but arrives for the duel with Flamengo with one almost unsustainable pressure.
Champion of Brazilian Super Cup and responsible for breaking the taboo in Itaquera, Carpini began to be heavily criticized during the group stage of the Paulista championship. After deletion to the Novorizontinothe defeat to the Workshops at the premiere CONMEBOL Libertadores and also the last fall, this time to the Fortalezahis position is at great risk and it is possible that the match at Maracanã will be his last for Tricolor.
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Winning away from home, in fact, is something that has been rare for São Paulo in the Brazilian Championship. In 2023, the team only managed to win the three points in a game away from Morumbis in the final stretch, against Bahia, on November 29th, in the 36th round.
If Carpini still dreams of keeping his job, the game against Flamengo, however difficult it may be, is fundamental and his team’s performance away from home could be a boost.
This year, Tricolor has a positive record as a visitor, with two defeats, two draws and three wins, in duels against CorinthiansInter de Limeira and Ituano. However, all of them were for Paulistão, a tournament in which the technical level is clearly lower than the Brazilian one.
Thiago Carpini during the game between São Paulo and Novorizontino, for Paulistão Peter Leone/O Fotografico/Gazeta Press
Something that could motivate São Paulo for the game is the fact that the team beat Fla on their last visit to Rio de Janeiro, in the first leg of the final. Brazil’s Cupin September last year, thanks to a goal from Calleri.