São Paulo bid for Ponte Preta’s home game, FPF blocked move | OneFootball

The victory over Primavera last Saturday (7th) gave São Paulo control over its destiny in the Campeonato Paulista: all they need to do is beat the already relegated Ponte Preta next Sunday (15th), and the team will qualify for the knockout stage, regardless of the other results in the final round.

However, the decisions next Sunday will still involve a wide range of scenarios. According to the portal ‘UOL‘, at the initiative of its president, Harry Massis Júnior, São Paulo reportedly approached the Federação Paulista de Futebol (FPF) to try to buy the home advantage for the game against the team from Campinas, but they couldn't even make an official proposal, as the Paulistão regulations prohibit changes to the schedule less than ten days in advance.

The Ponte Preta directors were even willing to listen to an offer, since their team no longer had a chance to avoid relegation and could have some financial return, but, in light of article 17 of the regulations, the FPF blocked any further discussions.

The Tricolor can finish the group stage anywhere from third to 13th place, but these extremes do depend on a combination of results.

To finish in third place, in addition to beating Macaca in Campinas (SP), São Paulo will need Bragantino to lose to Novorizontino, Portuguesa to lose to Mirassol, Corinthians not to beat São Bernardo, Guarani not to beat Palmeiras, and Botafogo not to beat Capivariano.

On the other hand, to finish as low as possible, São Paulo would need to lose to Ponte and also see wins from Santos, Mirassol, São Bernardo, and Primavera, plus at least a draw from Capivariano.

After the penultimate round, four clubs are already qualified for the quarterfinals: Novorizontino, Palmeiras, Bragantino, and Portuguesa. Nine others are competing for the remaining four spots.

Besides, obviously, Ponte Preta, only Noroeste and Velo Clube are already eliminated, but Primavera is still at risk of relegation, with Mirassol and São Bernardo already safe, although they could still be caught by Velo Clube — all thanks to the matchup between Primavera and Noroeste in the final round.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.