Opinion – PVC: Athletico is on the list of the greats of Brazilian football

Not including Athletico in the list of the greats of Brazilian football is stopping time. The crimson-black from Paraná has a chance to win his third national title and the second international this century, a period in which Botafogo only won state titles, and Vasco, three from Rio de Janeiro and a Cup in Brazil.

Apart from the decision by Libertadores between Palmeiras and Flamengo, Athletico is one of the examples that the balance persists in Brazil. Management centered on Mario Celso Petraglia is a risk, but the director himself answers: “We are preparing the transition to the company”.

The idea is to attract investors, go public and, from there, use the money to build great teams. Until today, the construction of the training center and the Arena da Baixada took a lot of energy.

Atlético-MG has another management model, with huge debt and financial contributions from businessman Rubem Menin, from the MRV construction company. He guarantees that he will only recover the money invested in the eventual sales of the players he helped to hire. Says Rooster has political harmony. Not quite.

A hypothetical change in the dominant group on the board can turn a friend into an enemy. On the other hand, the construction of the stadium could be the difference in comparison with Cruzeiro.

The successes of Atlético and Athletico maintain unpredictability as the greatest quality of championships played in Brazil. Not that there are no surprises in Europe, as Manchester City’s elimination from the English League Cup and Borussia Mönchengladbach’s rout against Bayern showed this week.

Atlético-MG may be the ninth Brazilian champion in the 21st century. In the same period, there were six winners in England, five in Germany, four in Spain and three in Italy. The Spanish league has Barcelona in crisis, with the resignation of Ronald Koeman, and Real Sociedad in the lead, followed by Sevilla, Real Madrid and Betis.

Brazilized Spain before Spanishizing Brazil.

It doesn’t mean that there will never be polarization around here. There is not yet.

Which brings us back to the Athletic debate. The separation of the sports press between major national and regional clubs dates back to the 1960s.

The title of the Cruzeiro Cup Brazil sparked the warning that there was football in addition to Via Dutra. From the following year onwards, the Rio-São Paulo Tournament, whose official name was Roberto Gomes Pedrosa, was expanded to receive people from Rio Grande do Sul, Minas Gerais, Paraná and, later, Pernambuco and Bahia. Roberto Gomes Pedrosa grew up and became Robertão.

Cruzeiro, champions of 1966, forced their eyes towards Atlético, and the latter responded in kind with the Brasileirão trophy in 1971. Internacional became a giant with the runners-up of the Robertões in 1967 and 1968 and continued to play a leading role until being three-time Brazilian champion in the 1970s. Grêmio also came to be respected as a giant in the late 1960s, despite only winning a national trophy in 1981.

If one mineiro was big, the other was too, and that was true for the gauchos. It was as if they had filled out an application form that people from Paraná had never filled out.

Of the “Big Twelve”, nine have gone through Series B. It’s cyclical. Athletico was second in 2012, but is one of the most frequent at the top of the table.

If it makes the transition to a company and reduces its dependence on Petraglia, as he plans, Athletico will be a candidate for titles every year, as are Flamengo, Palmeiras and Atlético-MG and will soon return to being Corinthians, São Paulo, Grêmio and Internacional .