Paulo Henrique Ganso, Pedro Raul, Giorgian de Arrascaeta, and Victor Cuesta playing pool in a beer ad - Brahma

By: Miguel Echebarrena, Fidel de Sousa Montiel and Theo Bastos (Grade 4)

Rio de Janeiro is home to four of the biggest football clubs of Brazil, with millions of fans spread throughout the country. As the months pass, the national and international championships are starting to take place, so let’s take a look at the current state of the four “Carioca” big clubs.

Fluminense: The “tricolores” won last year’s Libertadores cup, a big conquest for the team. Being coached by Fernando Diniz, the former coach of the Brazilian national team, Fluminense has also won the “Recopa Sulamericana” at the beginning of this year. However, it seems that this season things will be more challenging for them as the club demonstrates a clear drop of performance in comparison to last year, besides the fact that they are in a 12-game losing streak in derbies, being eliminated by Flamengo in the semifinals of “Campeonato Carioca”.

Botafogo: ‘’Fogão’’ went from heaven to hell in a few months last season. The team had a 13-point advantage and still managed to lose the title. This year, Botafogo seems to be slowly recovering from that blunder, having entered the Libertadores for the first time in seven years due to good performances from Junior Santos, as well as winning Taça Rio against Boavista, and a victory in a derby against Fluminense. It’s hard to tell at the moment how Botafogo is going to perform this year, as they have just lost their Libertadores debut at home, but the club has a good squad of players that can make the difference.

Flamengo: The team is known as the best and richest team in South America, having won the Libertadores cup 3 times, but with their star player, Gabriel Barbosa, being suspended due to attempted drug test fraud, his future is uncertain. After a calamitous season, “Mengão’’, at the hands of the coach Tite, seems to have drastically improved. At the finals of Campeonato Carioca, Flamengo displayed a high standard roster with star players, such as De la Cruz recently acquired from River Plate. The club’s expectations for this year are high, as in spite of the draw against Millonarios in the Libertadores debut that left the fans with a bitter taste, ‘’Mengão’’ has demonstrated a football of quality that can win titles.

Vasco: Following a brave campaign to escape from being relegated, the ‘’cruzmaltino’’ situation has not improved very much. The club has been eliminated by Nova Iguaçu in the semifinals of the “Carioca” and has struggled to qualify against ‘’Agua Santa’’, a team from the fourth division, in “Copa do Brasil”. The situation is dire and if things do not improve, Vasco will spend another year trying to fight against the relegation zone. Their hope ascended since they bought the french player Dimitri Payet, the team’s star player.

And how about you? What team do you support? How are your expectations for this season?

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