Update time!
Cruzeiro (49) is building a nice lead, much to my friend Jessie's chagrin.
The closest team to them is Botafogo (42), with Grêmio and Atlético Paranaense (both 38) looking set to duke it out for the last Copa Libertadores spot. Since we're just past the halfway mark of the 38-match season, I wouldn't rule out Internacional (34) making a run in the near future either.
As before, the vast majority of the table is in a logjam. In a smaller distance than that which separates Cruzeiro from Botafogo, you have every team from sixth-place Vitória (30) all the way down into the halfway point of the red zone, where historical powers Vasco da Gama (24) sit. Unlike many European leagues, the Brazilian league system's first tiebreaker is wins count rather than goal differential. So here's an abridged table to give you an idea of how close it is:
(*game in hand)
6. Vitória - 30, 8 wins
7. Corinthians - 30, 7 wins, +7
8. Coritiba - 30, 7 wins, E
9. Goiás - 30, 7 wins, -3
10. Fluminense - 29, 8 wins
11. *Santos - 29, 7 wins
12. *Atlético Mineiro - 28, 7 wins, -1
13. Bahia - 28, 7 wins, -4
14. São Paulo - 27
15. Flamengo - 26
16. Portuguesa - 25
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17. Criciúma - 24, 7 wins
18. Vasco da Gama - 24, 6 wins
*19. Ponte Preta - 19
Last-place Nautico... still only nine points, just one more than when I did my opening spiel. Really, they're looking like no-hopers. And if Ponte Preta wins their game in hand, they'll probably look even more so. Seriously, the distance between Ponte Preta and Nautico would almost equal the distance between Vasco da Gama and a Copa Libertadores spot (remember, Grêmio, the last spot-holder, has 38 points). So really, when you stop and think about it, the only teams that seem to be light-years away from the main block of the league are Nautico at the bottom and Cruzeiro and Botafogo up top.
Now for a little history lesson.
Of the seventeen teams that are officially recognised as Brazilian Champions, fourteen of them are playing in the Serie A this season. Now the co-holder of the record for most championships, Palmeiras, was relegated in 2012, but sit top in Serie B and are looking like pretty good bets to go up again for next season, being fifteen points ahead of the first team outside the promotion area (which, ironically enough, is another team that has won the title in the past, Sport Club Recife, who won in 1987). That said, Palmeiras' last win was in 1994, giving Santos time to even their record, winning their seventh and eighth titles in 2002 and 2004 respectively.
Santos might be Brazil's best known club outside of Brazil, because it certainly was at one point, thanks to the legendary Pelé playing much of his career there. They are the only Brazilian champions to win more than three titles in a row - they won
five, starting with 1961 and ending with 1965. After a sixth title in 1968, they didn't win again for another 34 years.
Third-place all-time on the list is FC São Paulo. Going by numbers of titles, they are the most successful team of the 21st century, having won three titles in a row ('06, '07, and '08), doubling their total from three to six. If Corinthians were to win this season, they'd be the third club to double their titles since the turn of the millennium and the second to win three. They're sitting on five right now, their most recent win coming in 2011.
The defending champs, Fluminense, were the
second team to double their titles since the turn of the millennium. They had to wait 26 years for their third title (in 2010) but only two more for their fourth. There's a second team with four titles under its belt, Vasco da Gama, but their last title was in 2000. Not as far removed as some teams from their last league title, but still...
Internacional has three titles to its credit, but all three were gleaned in the late 70s - 1975, 1976, and 1979 - so they are 34 years removed from their last title. They are still within a shot with 16 matches left, but they have some serious catching up to do if they're going to win this season.
Cruzeiro, Grêmio, Botafogo, and Bahia are all sitting on two titles. Cruzeiro won their second most recent of the four, winning in 2003; Gr
êmio last won in 1996, Botafogo in 1995, and Bahia in 1988. Of these four, it seems only Bahia is out of the running for their third this season.
Finally, there are five teams with a single Brazilian Championship to their credit, of which three are in the Serie A this season. Guarani, having won in 1978, have more recently been lucky just to get up into the Serie A let along even contend. The last time they made a decent go of it was in 1994, when they placed third. Nowadays, they're languishing in Serie C after being relegated from Serie B last season. Recife has done somewhat better, becoming a yo-yo team, although they currently sit fifth in Serie B.
2001 champs Atletico Paranaense seem the best bet of the remaining three one-title teams to actually win the title this season. Coritiba last won in 1985, and Atlético Mineiro are the furthest removed of any team from its last championship - 42 years - since they last won in 1971. (To their credit, though, they did win this year's Copa Libertadores and finished second in last year's league. Certainly steps in the right direction!
)
This leaves six Serie A teams that have never won the championship, of which three - Criciúma, Ponte Preta, and Nautico - are presently in the red. The top team in the table that has never won is sixth-place Vitória, whose best finish was second in 1993, and the other two are Goiás, whose best finish was 3rd in 2005, and Portuguesa, who finished second in 1996.
Ponte Preta's best finish was 3rd in 1981, Criciúma's best was 6th in 1987, and Nautico's was 2nd in 1967 (different format back then). Since the official beginning of the Serie A, they have only been as high as 6th (1984).
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