São Paulo decides Paulista with Palmeiras in advantage reversed only once in the final

Palmeiras and São Paulo decide this Sunday (3) the Campeonato Paulista. At Allianz Parque, the alviverde team has a mission accomplished only once in the entire history of the competition: winning the title after being defeated by two goals in the first match of the final.

In the first game, on Wednesday (30), at Morumbi, São Paulo won by 3 to 1. Now, to take the cup, Palmeiras must win by a difference of at least three goals or win by two and try to luck in the penalty shootout.

It is a historically difficult task. Of the ten teams that lost the first of the two legs of the decision by two or more goals, only one made the party in the second. In 2007, Santos won 2-0 against São Caetano, returned the score and lifted the trophy for having had a better campaign.

It was only in the 1970s that the state championship of São Paulo began to be concluded in multiple-game finals, even though initially sporadically. Then, as happened in part of the 1990s, only the winner of each game mattered, not the score – if there was a winner in each match, extra time was played.

Anyway, with the decision in two games, there were, from 1985 onwards, multiple occasions when a team started with a win by more than one goal. And Palmeiras hopes to be only the second to recover from that blow.

Nobody ever came back, in the São Paulo final, from a three-goal defeat. That’s why the alviverdes celebrated the free-kick goal by Raphael Veiga, which reduced the damage in Morumbi and fueled the hope of a comeback.

“It was very important, it gave a survival”, affirmed the right side Marcos Rocha. “We know that scoring three goals is difficult. Their team is very well trained and is playing well. But we scored, we had this survival, now we have the chance to be champions at home.”

It will be the first title decided between Palmeiras and São Paulo in the rebuilt Parque Antarctica, now Allianz Parque. And the hosts hope to avoid the disappointment they had in the first final they played in the modern arena against arch-rival Corinthians, the 2018 São Paulo champion in the west side of São Paulo.

The tricolors, on the other hand, are looking for their first state championship in 30 years. Champions in 2021 on top of Palmeiras themselves, they have the chance to celebrate their first trophy under the command of Rogério Ceni, who was a great idol as a goalkeeper, but is still chasing a trophy as a São Paulo coach.

“It’s not my title, it’s São Paulo’s”, said the former player, envisioning the possibility of being champion. “There’s no better way to grow than to win games, titles. It would be very important for this generation of boys to hang this picture on the wall.”

To achieve the conquest, Ceni will have to win the duel with the one who is an idol of the other fans, but for what he did as a coach. In front of Palmeiras, Abel Ferreira has already won two editions of the Copa Libertadores, reached nine finals and wants more.

The decision, scheduled for 4 pm on Sunday, will be broadcast by Record, YouTube (Paulistão), TNT Sports Stadium, HBO Max, Premiere and Paulistão Play.

Paulista finals in two games that started with a win by at least two goals:

1985
Portuguese 1 x 3 Sao Paulo
Sao Paulo 2 x 1 Portuguese
São Paulo champion

1991
Corinthians 0 x 3 Sao Paulo
Sao Paulo 0 x 0 Corinthians
São Paulo champion

1992
Palmeiras 2 x 4 Sao Paulo
Sao Paulo 2 x 1 Palmeiras
São Paulo champion

1999
Corinthians 3 x 0 Palmeiras
Palmeiras 2 x 2 Corinthians
Corinthians champion

2001
Botafogo 0 x 3 Corinthians
Corinthians 0 x 0 Botafogo
Corinthians champion

2004
Paulista 1 x 3 Sao Caetano
Sao Caetano 2 x 0 Paulista
São Caetano champion

2007

Sao Caetano 2 x 0 Santos
Santos 2 x 0 Sao Caetano
champion saints

2009
Santos 1 x 3 Corinthians
Corinthians 1 x 1 Santos
Corinthians champion

2012
Guarani 0 x 3 Santos
Santos 4 x 2 Guarani
champion saints

2017
Ponte Preta 0 x 3 Corinthians
Corinthians 1 x 1 Ponte Preta
Corinthians champion