As you're probably aware, Brazilian football (CBF and CONMEBOL for that matter) have no respect for the international break. So two matches took place in Brazil on Wednesday night one for Copa Sudamericana and one for the Brasileiro. And it was enough for the biggest collective nervous breakdown, I've ever seen.

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After the 35th round of Brasileirao, one thing is clear: the champion will be red and black. The only thing that remains unclear is if it will also carry the white of Sao Paulo, or it will have just the two colors of Flamengo.

The two sides took advantage of Palmeiras' tie against Sport and look ready for the title.

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Without even stepping into the pitch on the weekend, Sao Paulo did something that has been very common for the club lately: It reached the top of Campeonato Brasileiro. In the 34th round of the tournament, the club, who fights for its 4th Brazilian title in a row, benefited from the defeats of Palmeiras and Atletico-MG.

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The 33rd round of Brasileirao put on the top Palmeiras and Sao Paulo, creator (Muricy Ramalho) versus creation (Sao Paulo). Palmeiras leads because of the goal difference, three more than Sao Paulo.

On the weekend, Palmeiras played the derby against Corinthians whereas Sao Paulo played Barueri.

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Until the 32nd started, things looked dull for Palmeiras. There was enormous pressure and the fear that the team had just lost the Brasileiro. But after the last mid-week round of Brasileirao, things changed again. Palmeiras won and all direct rivals, but one, lost precious points. With that, the hopes of Palmeiras fans have been renewed.

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.... Lots of it. After looking like the virtual champion of Campeonato Brasileiro, Palmeiras lost points and the chances of confirming the title. And with that, 4 clubs have now the chance of taking the title away from the side headed by Muricy Ramalho. In the 31st round of Brasileiro, Atletico-MG, Inter, Sao Paulo and Flamengo won their matches and are just a few step away from jumping to first (something that can happen in the next round).

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It seems Palmeiras is doing everything possible to lose a championship that seemed in the pocket. Last night, for the 31st round of Brasileiro, the side headed by Muricy Ramalho was defeated 2-0 by Santo Andre, candidate to relegation. Nunes scored the two goals that handed Palmeiras its third defeat in a row.

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Up until last week, the Brasileirao seemed the tournament no one wanted to win. The favorites kept losing points with pale football. But the 30th round shows signs of change by two sides. Flamengo and Atletico-MG want to take the title home after a long time.

While Palmeiras, Sao Paulo, Inter and Goias gave another display of loss of steam, the two sides pocketed the three points in very important matches.

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After the 29th round of Brasileiro, it seems no one wants to take the title home. Like in the last round, when only one club on the top won, the leaders collectively failed again. Palmeiras, Sao Paulo and Atletico-MG lost. Inter and Goias tied at home. And, in this way, Flamengo, the 6th side on the table, was the first team on the top to win.

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The 28th round of Brasileirao was big obstacle for the leaders of the tournament. Palmeiras, Sao Paulo, Goias and Atletico-MG failed to win. The only side rubbing its hand and smiling is Inter, as it pocketed 3 points.

On Thursday, Palmeiras received Avai at home knowing that on the day before Sao Paulo had failed to win.

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On the 27th round of Brasileirao, Palmeiras gave an important step towards the title by keeping the 5 point lead over Sao Paulo, the second team in the table. And it wasn't a simple victory. It was a clear display of the discipline, power and luck (why not?) against Santos at Vila Belmiro.

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The 26th round of Brasileirao smiled to Palmeiras again. The side headed by Muricy Ramalho increased the lead to 5 points over the second team, and sees the title getting closer. Besides the great victory, Sao Paulo and Inter did not win again.

On Saturday, Palmeiras received Atletico-PR.

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The heavy rain in Porto Alegre turned the match Inter Flamengo into a swimming contest.

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This is a bit a late, but it confirms what i wrote earlier this week about the 25 round of Brasileirao. It was a Palmeiras round. The club visited Cruzeiro and performed like a club coached by Muricy Ramalho: solid in the defense and precise in the counter-attacks. The winning goal, by Vagner Love, was constructed in such fashion.

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The 25th round of Brasileirao had all the elements to belong one more time to Sao Paulo. Inter visited Vitoria always a tough match. Sao Paulo "visited" Santo Andre (piece of cake) and Palmeiras will visit Cruzeiro on Wednesday. But the tricolor round ended up to be a green round.

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Match of the 24th round of Brasileirao. Goals by Jailton (Coritiba) and Dentinho (Corinthians)

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Week 24 is finally in the books after the all the matches were finally ended after Wednesday. São Paulo moved to within 1 point of the top of the table with their 2-0 home win against Avaí. The Tricolor Paulista have lost once in their last 13 matches not giving more than 2 goals in any match. Click to continue reading...

The 24th round of Campeonato Brasileiro was all Sao Paulo's.

Sao Paulo received the surprisingly good side of Avai at Morumbi. In the first-half, Avai made things difficult for Sao Paulo, as the home team offered loose defensive action in the midfield. In the second-half, however, Sao Paulo decided to suffocate the visitors.

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Even though the nation was transfixed on Brazil's big win versus Argentina, the Campeonato Brasileiro still pressed on. 1st place Palmeiras extended its unbeaten streak to 3 games with a 2-1 win at home against Gremio Barueri. Vagner Love returned to his original club on loan from CSKA Moscow and scored the game winning goal from a PK in the 73rd minute. Click to continue reading...

Coritiba's Ariel. Hey Maradona, he is from Argentina. Just saying...

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In the 23rd round of the Brasileirao, the race for the title came down to what is promising to be a tight one. Palmeiras (44 points), Inter (43) and Sao Paulo (40) won their matches and offered no chance for each other to relax.

On the match that marked the return of Vagner Love, Palmeiras received Barueri at home.

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Inter took on Atletico-MG last night, a match from the 11th round that had been postponed. After a good first-half of the visitors, a trio took Inter to the victory. Edu, ex-Betis, D'Alessandro and Kleber, ex-Brazil International. Edu scored twice. D'Alessandro scored and handed assists. And Kleber handed even more assists.

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Week 22 of the Campeonato Brasileiro featured a Paulista rivalry with 1st place on the line. The game featured Palmeiras' coach Muricy Ramalho facing his old team and CSKA Moscow & new Palmeiras loanee forward Wagner Love in the stands. Palmeiras traveled to the Morumbi to face São Paulo FC and played to a 0-0 draw. Click to continue reading...

This is not what Andre Lima from Botafogo seemed to be thinking when he shared a moment with a Gremio defender.

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The big game of the 22nd as the derby between Sao Paulo and Palmeiras at Morumbi. It was the first time Muricy Ramalho took on the club that housed him for the last 3 years and half. Creator and creation were face to face. And both sides are fighting for their 4th Brazilian title in a row.

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Match postponed from the 11th round, which ended with a bad result for both sides. Botafogo wasn't able to leave the relegation zone and Cruzeiro is far from the top spots. Lucio Flavio scored for Botafogo and Thiago Ribeiro tied for Cruzeiro. The goals:

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Barueri and Corinthians had their match of the 22nd round anticipated to feed TV demands. Barueri jumped ahead with a goal scored with just 20 seconds. Corinthians, debuting its new jersey, came back with goals from Marcinho (after a questionable penalty) and Elias, who got a beautiful long range.

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Santos and Inter played the match for the 16th round, which was postponed. And it was one of the best matches of Campeonato Brasileiro so far. Santos jumped ahead with 2 goals in a very short period of time. However, by the beginning of the second-half, Inter came back with a hat-trick of forward Alecssandro, who, with 10 goals, is now in the relatively large group of second top scorer of the league.

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Corinthians debuted its third jersey in the match against Barueri. Take a look:

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Okay I know its been a long time since we gave you a Brasileirao Wrap, but we'll be on top of it from now till the end of the season.
On Sunday, São Paulo's 9-game unbeaten streak and 7-game winning streak came to an end dramatically. Paulo Baier's header in the 86th minute beat a late charging Rogerio Ceni to give Furacão the win. Click to continue reading...

It was a green weekend. The 21st round of Campeonato Brasileiro smiled to Palmeiras and Goias.

Palmeiras played at home a decisive match against Inter, a contender for the title. Despite the beautiful goal by Juliano for the visitors, Palmeiras had a brilliant participation of Diego Souza.

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This blog neglected for too long the Brazilian second division. And this is a shame. The second division in 2009 has a giant (Vasco), former Brazilian champions (Guarani and Bahia), former Brasileiro runner's up (Sao Caetano, Bragantino and Portuguesa) and many other traditional sides that played the first division for many years (Figueirense, Parana, Fortaleza, Juventude, Ponte Preta).

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Some of you may remember the scandal of result fixture in the 2005 Campeonato Brasileiro. At the time, referees Edílson Pereira de Carvalho and Paulo José Danelon were caught being bribed by "investors" to fix results that would benefit their bets in international websites. When caught, Carvalho was even jailed and confessed his participation.

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It is ironic, but the new sensation of Campeonato Brasileiro is Sao Paulo, the club that lifted the trophy in the last three years. After a very bad start, the firing of Muricy Ramalho, the questions about Ricardo Gomes and the players and seating on the 15th spot, Sao Paulo reached the second spot.

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Four months and six days later after breaking his ankle, Rogerio Ceni returned to action in the 1-0 victory of Sao Paulo over Fluminense. It was game number 359 of Rogerio in the Campeonato Brasileiro, which makes him the player who played the most in the tournament along with ex-midifielder Zinho.

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