SAO PAULO (AP) — One of the Brazilian league’s most exciting seasons came to an end Wednesday as the strongest team of the year named its name and the club that houses the late Pele was relegated for the first time.
Palmeiras drew 1-1 at Cruzeiro and are Brazilian champions for the twelfth time. The 18-year-old Endrick scored his 11th goal of the season to give Palmeiras an early lead and Nikao equalized in the 80th minute at Belo Horizonte’s Mineirao Stadium.
Santos’ relegation after a 2-1 home loss to Fortaleza was another setback for the club at the stadium where Pelé’s funeral was held in January.
This year’s name went to Palmeiras after striker Endrick, who will sign for Real Madrid, scored several key goals and rival Botafogo squandered a 13-point lead in the table.
“People were saying he had won, but he wouldn’t do it alone,” Endrick told reporters after his second Brazilian league appearance with Palmeiras. “At the beginning of the year, I cared too much about what other people said, I got angry. “, I learned that I shouldn’t do that. I’ve aged a bit.
Endrick is expected to join Real Madrid for the next season.
Portuguese coach Abel Ferreira got his ninth appointment for the Sao Paulo club. His contract expires at the end of next year, but Brazilian media have reported that he will most likely settle for an offer from Qatar’s Al-Sadd.
Atletico Mineiro and Flamengo, who had little chance of winning the trophy on the last matchday, lost their matches. Those defeats put an end to Luis Suarez’s Gremio, just after the 3-2 win over Fluminense, the Uruguayan striker, who will soon know where he will play next. year, he scored twice.
Palmeiras finished with 70 points, two more than Gremio. Botafogo, which led 31 of the 38 laps, was fifth with 64 points. The Rio de Janeiro club lost 3-1 at Internacional, ending the season on an 11-game winless streak.
Santos finished with 43 points, one from Bahia, which beat Atletico Mineiro 4-1, and two behind Vasco da Gama, winner of another tense clash with Bragantino.
Mario Sergio opened the scoring in the 39th minute. Messias equalized in the 58th minute to give Santos hope of putting either Vasco da Gama, which is part of the 777th fund, or Bahia, a club in Manchester City’s group, into relegation. position.
But Juan Martin Lucero gave Fortaleza a win with a shot from near halfway.
The attack ended when Santos fans attempted to invade the field, forcing the players to run towards the locker room. Police and their supporters then clashed in the open air and several cars and buses were set on fire on the beach in the city of Sao Paulo.
Neymar, who rose from Santos’ academy, posted pictures of himself watching the match as he recovers from a knee injury.
“We will smile again,” wrote a striker from Brazil and Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal after his boyhood club was relegated.
Only three years ago Palmeiras beat Santos in the Copa Libertadores final.
Atletico Mineiro’s Paulinho finished the league as top scorer with 20 goals. Suarez and Tiquinho Soares of Botafogo scored 17 goals each.
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