Corinthians: league clash and Paulista decider this week | OneFootball

The Corinthians will have another busy week ahead. Unlike other rivals, who will spend the next few days preparing exclusively for the quarterfinals of the Campeonato Paulista, Timão will not only play in the State Championship but also in a round of the Brazilian Championship.

After defeating São Bernardo in the last round of the Paulista, Corinthians will have the postponed game of the second round of the Brasileirão. The match had to be postponed due to the Supercopa do Brasil, which Corinthians won against Flamengo on February 1st at the Mané Garrincha Stadium.

Corinthians will face Athletico-PR next Thursday (19th), at 7:30 PM (Brasília time), at Arena da Baixada, for the second round of the Brasileirão. The game was initially scheduled for the 18th but had to undergo a new date change "due to the limitation of police personnel on the originally scheduled date for the match," according to a note released by the Paraná club.

Thus, Timão will continue with the schedule of two games per week, unlike its rivals. The alvinegro squad will have three days of preparation for the match, with a trip to Curitiba (PR) scheduled for Wednesday (18th).

Paulista Knockout Stage

Corinthians will have very little recovery time for the quarterfinals of the Campeonato Paulista. This is because, after facing Athletico-PR and returning to the São Paulo capital, the Alvinegro will already have the State Championship knockout match over the weekend.

Timão advanced to the quarterfinals of the Paulista with the fifth-best campaign in the State Championship, totaling 14 points – with three wins, three draws, and two losses. Thus, they will face Portuguesa.

The rules of Brazilian football establish a minimum interval of 48 hours (two days) between two matches of the same team. Therefore, the tendency is for Timão to face Lusa on Sunday, with the date and time to be confirmed by the FPF (São Paulo Football Federation) in the coming days.

Even so, the home advantage for the quarterfinals is already defined. With a better campaign than Corinthians (by one more point), Portuguesa will be the host of the match.

Given the busy schedule, Portuguesa and Corinthians will have different preparations for the decision. Lusa will focus on the quarterfinals, while Timão will divide its attention with the Brasileirão. Coach Dorival Júnior admitted the possibility of not being able to count on all the starting players for the match.

“Portuguesa will have the whole week to work. We will play on Thursday, arrive at the training center at dawn, and seek recovery on Friday and Saturday, so that on Sunday we are in a condition to be on the field. A player is not a machine. It's not a complaint, it's set and we have to accept it. We have to do our best so that we can have the best on the field. Who will they be? It's hard to know. I don't know if we will have the entire team recovered for the match against Portuguesa. We have to wait for each moment, drawing what we have best,” he analyzed.

Upcoming Corinthians Matches

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