With arena 100% released, Corinthians welcomes Chapecoense at the Brazilian Nationals

For Corinthians to win again and Sylvinho have relief in command of the squad, Chapecoense is the ideal opponent in the perfect situation. The team from São Paulo welcomes the Santa Catarina team this Monday (1st), at 9:30 pm, at the Neo Química Arena, with Premiere broadcast.

For the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began in March 2020, the club will have 100% capacity in its stadium. If all available tickets are sold, there will be 47 thousand people present.

With 13 points in 28 rounds, Chape is lantern in the Brazilian Championship and is practically relegated. With a performance of 15.4%, it is the second worst team in the history of the competition in the era of points run, which began in 2003. América-RN had 15% in the 2007 season.

Chapecoense has the worst defense in the tournament, with 49 goals conceded and has been going through a financial crisis in recent years.

The defeats suffered by Sport and São Paulo in the last four rounds once again made Sylvinho’s situation at Parque São Jorge uncomfortable. He had to hear once more rumors that he would be fired. This, in theory, would happen if Corinthians were defeated last week by Internacional.

The only team from Alvinegro didn’t win because they conceded a goal by Gustavo Maia in the 48th minute of the second half.

After the setback in the derby against São Paulo, on the 18th, the fans Gaviões da Fiel released a statement in which they called the coach “weak” and asked for his resignation. It also demanded the departure of former president and current football director Roberto de Andrade.

“Of course I have support from the board and the president. We practically live at the club. But it’s part of the function and I’ve known it from the beginning. I defend the work because I know exactly what I’m going to do. In the last rounds, we’ve been fighting standing up. with teams like Inter de Porto Alegre, which last season fought for the title until the last round”, defends Sylvinho.

Since his arrival, he has faced mistrust and criticism. These only cooled down with the arrival of reinforcements such as Giuliano, Renato Augusto and Roger Guedes. They made the team grow in the table and start fighting for a place in the next Libertadores.

But with every bad streak, complaints return.

To obtain the positive result, the full arena is more motivation. The last time the Corinthians stadium was allowed to receive the maximum capacity was on February 26, 2020. For that year’s Paulista stadium, Corinthians and Santo André drew 1-1.

At the time, there was also the discontent of organized fans with the coach. There were protests against Tiago Nunes, then at the head of the cast.

Sylvinho will have to make two lineup changes. The goalkeeper Cassio, suspended, is out. Enter Matheus Donelli. After not facing Internacional due to suspension, João Victor returns to defense in place of Raul Gustavo.

Since the gradual release of the public in the stadiums in São Paulo, Corinthians has been home to two matches for the Brazilian. Bahia and Fluminense won. But in both, it was only able to receive 30% of the capacity (14 thousand people).

Not having an audience for 19 months was also a complicating factor for the club’s finances. All money raised on match days is transferred to a fund destined to pay for the construction of the stadium.

Corinthians enters the field one day after having ended the telenovela of the contract renewal of attacking midfielder Gabriel Pereira, 20. Threatened even with removal, the player extended his relationship with the association until 2024.