Brazil Manager Travel Guide
Historically, the championship was famous for being extremely disorganized, having its rules changed from season to season (and sometimes even during the middle of a season), mainly to prevent traditional clubs from being relegated (notably in 1993, 1996 and 2000) or because of lawsuits filed by clubs to prevent them being relegated (1997 and 2000).
However,since 2003, the Serie A has been disputed in a double round-robin format. In other words, each team play against each other home and away, and the team with most points is declared champion.There is no final match, which is a very controversial subject. Prior to 2003, the Brazilian championship has traditionally been decided with some type of playoff format (most commonly the "Octagonal", where the top 8 regular season teams comprise a single elimination tournament), rather than the European model of points accumulated over a season.
Although some purists complain that this system lacks the drama of playoffs and finals, the championship has so far shown to be well balanced, without the limited number of clubs dominating the league as found in many European leagues.
In 2005, each team played 42 games, 21 home and 21 away, for a total of 462 games. The champion and runner-up automatically qualified for the 2006 Copa Libertadores.
The third and fourth placed teams may also represent Brazil in the Libertadores by defeating foreign clubs to be determined by the South American government in pre-tournament trials. The champion and 5th through 11th placed teams also win the right to represent Brazil in the Copa Sudamericana, another South American championship of lower stature. The four last ranked teams (19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd) were relegated to the following year's Serie B.
Eleven matches of the 2005 competition were annulled due to a match fixing scandal and had to be replayed.For the 2006 season, the number of contestants was reduced to 20, and CBF claims it to be the "definitive" format.
The first winners of the Brazilian Serie A were Atletico Mineiro with Sao Paulo runners up. There were only 7 teams competing (out of the 20 that applied) due to a backlash in match fixing which left teams dropping out of the Brazilian football federation. Botafogo finished third.
The current Brazilian league isn't dominated by any current team but a few surprises seem to pop up but over the 5 years Gremio have won twice so seem to be the team to beat. In the leagues 36 years of running there have been no more than 16 different title winners. The Serie B division may be the intermediate version of Brazilian football but there have been a few great fixtures over the years resulting in teams who should be promoted actually being relegated to semi-professional.
Want A Good Challenge - Take over Internacional domestic sleeping giants having finished runners upon the last 2 consecutive seasons can you end the wait and bring home the first league title since 1979?
Mission Impossible - Take over relegation candidates Avai who have restricted cash and players. Avai haven't won a major trophy in their history so can you end the 86 year wait and deliver.
Players to Watch…
In Brazil top players are snatched by top clubs but try looking in Serie B for great young talent, the only problem is a lack of defenders, so try finding a few hard tackling midfielders and make them into centre halves, as good quality isn't easy to find.
Top Players in Brazil…
Renato Augusto
Morais
Ramon
Alê
Kerlon
So as the Brazilian future unfolds are you going to play a part in it?
Author: DanDainty
Sports Interactive Ltd 2006 Commercial reproduction, distribution or transmission of any part or parts of this website or any information contained therein by any means whatsoever without the prior written permission of SI is not permitted. Championship Manager® is the registered trade mark of Eidos Interactive Limited.