Santos faces Chape to escape relegation and dream of Libertadores

If Santos could choose a game to pack in the final stretch of the Brazilian Championship, it would probably be this one.

The team from Alvinegra will face the already relegated Chapecoense, in Vila Belmiro, at 7pm this Wednesday (17) (Premiere broadcasts), for the 33rd round of the Nacional.

Coach Fábio Carille’s team arrives for the duel in 12th place, with 39 points, still worried about avoiding relegation. However, if they win, they could be less than 10 points behind the current sixth-placed team, Fortaleza, and dream of a place in the Copa Libertadores next year.

This season, it is possible that even the ninth place will qualify for the international competition.

This will depend on the results of the finals of the Libertadores, the Sul-Americana and the Copa do Brasil — respectively between Palmeiras and Flamengo, Athletico-PR and Bragantino and Atlético-MG and Athletico-PR.

Against Chapecoense, Santos can reach their third unbeaten match and gain confidence for the last five rounds of the Brazilian Nationals.

In the last five matches, they have suffered only one defeat, in the derby against Palmeiras, by 2-0. These were also the only two goals the team has conceded since then. On the other hand, he scored five times.

The opponent of this fourth is Chapecoense, which is already relegated to Série B of Nacional.

The team has scored just 15 points so far in the competition, in 32 games. With five games to play, they no longer have a chance of reaching 16th place (the first outside the sticking zone), currently occupied by Bahia, with 36 points.

In addition, Santos also has a good performance in their favor playing at Vila Belmiro.

At home, the team played 16 games in this Brazilian, won 7, drew 5 and lost 4.

Now, if they stumble, Santos can fight relegation again.

The team has just three points more than Bahia and Juventude, respectively the first team away and the first in the relegation zone.