São Paulo face Flamengo in a clash of hoodoos to kick off the Brasileirão | OneFootball

São Paulo opens its participation in the Brazilian Championship on the night of this Wednesday (28) against Flamengo, at Morumbi, and the much-feared opponent from Rio can serve as motivation for the team, as it represents some ongoing taboos. For better or for worse.

Starting with the bad. The Tricolor hasn't won in a Brasileirão debut since 2022. On that occasion, they defeated Athletico-PR at their home by 4 to 0.

Since then, in the following four years, only setbacks. In 2023, the club fell to Botafogo playing in Rio de Janeiro (RJ). And since then, the warning signal has been on for São Paulo fans.

The duel against Flamengo will represent the third consecutive time that the Tricolor will debut in the main national competition playing at home. And this doesn't mean it's a good thing: in 2024, they lost to Fortaleza. Last year, they ended in a goalless draw with Sport.

On the other hand, if Flamengo has been proclaimed as the team to beat in the country, São Paulo can take pride in the recent positive record against them.

It's been four games since the Tricolor last experienced a loss to the Rio opponent when playing as the host. There are four games in total.

Since September 2023, the Tricolor has drawn twice and defeated the Rubro-Negro in the other two games, and even managed to win the Copa do Brasil against the Rio team, in 2023, at their stadium.

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