Opinion – Juca Kfouri: Itaquera is the stage for the first game of the best of three between Corinthians and Flamengo

This Sunday (10), Corinthians and Flamengo will face each other at the Corinthians stadium in a curious situation: firstly, because the visitor is the favorite; second, because the classic of the most popular shirts in the country is very important for cariocas and not so much for paulistas.

It’s because the red-blacks have reasons and the team to still believe that the title of the Brazilian Championship is possible, something that the black and white fans know is not for their beak.

Given the difference in who Vítor Pereira can play for who Dorival Júnior will play, what really matters will be the games for the quarterfinals of Libertadores, in the first and second weeks of August, in Itaquera and Maracanã, in that order.

Then, yes, Corinthians may be able to face the rival more on an equal footing, as they have their main players back.

There are those who criticize the Portuguese coach of Corinthians for sacrificing the national tournament, although he simply has no other alternative.

Betting on the playoffs of the Copa do Brasil and Libertadores is all he has left.

For Flamengo, no. Thinking about the three competitions is risky, but weighty.

In terms of interesting matches, Sunday is not limited to the afternoon in São Paulo.

Because at the beginning of the Minas Gerais night, the clash between Atlético and São Paulo also promises.

Galo is another club with huge ambitions, winning the three titles it disputes, as it almost did last season.

The problem is that he has not acted to the point of convincing himself that he is capable of doing so, despite being very much alive in all competitions.

São Paulo will play at Mineirão as a sniper and excited about the good campaign in the Copa Sudamericana. If it wins, which is unlikely, it will take shape.

5 to 3

Of the six Brazilians who played in the round of 16 of the Libertadores, five reached the quarterfinals.

Of the six Argentines, three qualified.

The Brazilian advantage is not limited to quantity, it is also in quality, because the powerful trio Atlético Mineiro, Flamengo and Palmeiras remains in the dispute.

The Buenos Aires duo, Boca Juniors and River Plate, danced.

Not that Estudiantes, four-time continental champion, Vélez Sarsfield, a cup, and Talleres are dead chickens, because they never are.

It will be up to Athletico Paranaense to play against Estudiantes, preventing two Argentines from reaching the semifinals, as a spot, for Vélez or Talleres, is guaranteed.

The Brazilians who survive total seven titles, and one of them will have all the conditions to reduce the advantage of 25 Argentine titles against 21 national ones in the history of the tournament.

One of the favorites, Periquito or Galo, will be left out, and the life of the other, Flamengo, will not be easy.

less open TV

The departures of narrator Galvão Bueno, after the World Cup in Qatar, and the immediate departure of commentator Walter Casagrande from TV Globo, reveal that life on open TV will never be the same again, beset by new platforms that are already present and more will be in the future, to the annoyance also of closed TV.

Proof of this is that Bueno is already in agreement with the company of youtuber Felipe Neto and Casagrande does not even know what to do in the face of so many proposals received in recent days, because he has conquered a relevant space among the millions of Brazilians capable of understanding that football goes beyond, and much , the four lines of the field.