Bottomless pit: tragic year, Dorival winless v Brazilians since Feb | OneFootball

The 2-1 comeback defeat to Grêmio on the afternoon of last Saturday (8), in Porto Alegre (RS), once and for all laid bare São Paulo’s crisis and the team’s entry into the fight to avoid relegation in this year’s Brazilian Championship.

And part of Tricolor’s nightmare spell runs through its coach. At the Morumbi club since May, Dorival Júnior has posted alarming numbers in this year’s edition of the country’s top football competition: he has now gone six months without knowing what it means to beat a Brazilian club, a stretch that also included his time with rival Corinthians.

The negative streak began in the very first two months of the season. Dorival’s last win against a Brazilian rival came on February 19, when, in charge of Corinthians, he beat Athletico-PR 1-0 away from home.

After that, the coach went on a run of eight games without a win with the black-and-white side (five draws and three defeats), culminating in his dismissal from Parque São Jorge on April 5, right after a 1-0 loss to Internacional.

Hired by São Paulo on May 15, the experienced manager has been unable to stop the team’s free fall. In the Brasileirão, Dorival’s record in charge of Tricolor is dismal: in six matches played, there have been two draws and four defeats, for a return of just 13.3% of the points contested (he won only two out of 15 possible).

Poor Post-Crespo Form

São Paulo’s collapse in the Brasileirão stands in direct contrast to the competition’s promising start. Argentine manager Hernán Crespo began the Série A campaign with an 83.3% return, taking 10 of the 12 points available in the first four rounds.

However, friction with the board and early exits in the Paulista Championship and in last year’s knockout tournaments resulted in his sudden and surprising dismissal on March 9, something the fans never understood.

Since Crespo’s departure, São Paulo’s path in the league has become a statistical nightmare:

Hernán Crespo: 10 points from 12 available (83.3% return).

Roger Machado: 14 points from 33 available (42.4% return).

Dorival Júnior: 2 points from 15 available (13.3% return).

The effect of this instability on the bench is clear in the standings. São Paulo has managed only one win in its last 13 matches across all competitions and is on an eight-match winless run in the Brasileirão.

From the last 24 points contested in the national competition, the team has collected a meager three points — a return of 12.5%.

São Paulo’s last win in the Brasileirão came back on April 25, when it beat Mirassol at Brinco de Ouro.

With 26 points and sitting in 12th place, Tricolor now sees the gap to the relegation zone dangerously shrink to four points. To reach the notorious 45-point mark that supposedly keeps teams safe from relegation to Série B, São Paulo will need to collect 19 of the 48 points still left to play for before the end of the championship.

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