The Brasileirao is launched, the most competitive tournament on the continent that will have 31 Argentines and the arrival of Sampaoli

With

distributed in 17 of the 20 participating clubs and the recent landing of

, the most powerful soccer league in America,

, will begin its 67th edition this Saturday, in which Palmeiras will begin the difficult task of defend the title against very powerful applicants, although in some cases conflicting, such as Flamengo, and others that will seek to surprise, such as Atlético Mineiro and Fluminense.

Verdão

is the most winning team in this competition (it won it 11 times) and aspires to add a new star with a squad that presents few new faces and without two men who were vital last season: midfielders Danilo and Gustavo Scarpa (

the best player of the last tournament) were acquired by the English Nottingham Forest.

“I am used to doing more with less.

Fortunately we have many resources, the club gives us many conditions”, highlighted the Portuguese Abel Ferreira, coach of the São Paulo team, who retains the base of the team that won the 2020 and 2021 editions of the Copa Libertadores in his squad.

They were joined last year by one of the great promises of world football: striker Endrick.

The youthful Endrick is one of the great attractions of this edition of the Brasileirão.

Photo: Miguel Schincariol / AFP.

The barely 16-year-old boy has already been acquired by Real Madrid in exchange for 72 million euros, although he will only leave for Spain when he turns 18, in July 2024. This year he overcame a weak start to the season and scored two of the five goals with which his team beat the modest Água Santa in the finals of the Paulista Championship that ended on Sunday.

In January, Palmeiras, which has José Manuel López from Corrientes on its squad, had lifted the Brazilian Super Cup after beating Flamengo.

Precisely

(one of the three teams that do not have Argentine players, along with Cruzeiro and Cuiabá) seems to be the opposite in terms of results in 2023, since they not only lost that Super Cup, but also left empty-handed in the South American Recopa (lost to Independiente del Valle), the Club World Cup (lost in the semifinals to Al-Hilal Saudi) and the Carioca Championship (was defeated by Fluminense in the final on Sunday).

That defeat against his arch-rival led to the dismissal on Tuesday of his coach, the Portuguese Vítor Pereira, who had replaced Dorival Júnior, commander in the 2022 Libertadores and Copa do Brasil titles, and the arrival this Friday of Jorge

, recently thrown in the Seville of Spain.

Beyond this crisis,

has an elite squad, with figures such as Gabriel Barbosa, Pedro, Bruno Henrique, Everton Ribeiro, the Uruguayan Giorgian de Arrascaeta and the Chilean Arturo Vidal, so he cannot be ruled out as a candidate. to the crown.

Eduardo Coudet, one of the two Argentine coaches in the Brasileirão, together with striker Hulk, a figure of Atlético Mineiro.

Photo: Douglas Magno / AFP.

Also with a heavy payroll,

's Atlético Mineiro (one of the three Argentine coaches, along with Juan Pablo Vojvoda in Fortaleza) wants to embroider his third star by appealing to what remains of the structure that allowed him to win his first in 2021 league in half a century.

Beyond some sparks with the leadership,

was able to build a balanced team that has a fearsome offense, with the veteran Hulk as a flag and with Matías Zaracho as one of his best companions.

With fewer resources and a squad without so many stars,

, who hasn't won the national tournament since 2012. The team led by Fernando Diniz captivates with their good play and has a relentless scorer: Germán Cano.

The former player from Colón was the top scorer in 2022 of the 100 most important national leagues in the world and this year, with his 16 shouts, he led Flu to the title

the Carioca Championship.

One step further back, Inter from Porto Alegre, runner-up of the Brasileirão in 2022, Athletico Paranaense and Corinthians, who also aspire to fight at the top, begin the race.

On the other hand,

and it will be difficult for them to be protagonists.

For his part, Gremio, on his return to the first division, puts his hopes in the goals of the Uruguayan Luis Suárez.

Rodrigo Battaglia joined Atlético Mineiro two weeks ago.

Photo: Atlético Mineiro Press.

As has been the case in recent years, the Brazilian market reopened this season for Argentine players, who already number 31 in the top flight.

Several landed in recent weeks, such as

(Atlético Mineiro) or

(Botafogo), who will play the Brasileirão for the first time.

Others already have a good run in this country, such as Germán Cano, Víctor Cuesta (Botafogo) or Walter Kannemann, who has worn the Gremio jacket for seven years, with which he lived experiences as dissimilar as winning the Copa Libertadores in 2017 and relegation in 2021.

The 31 Argentines who will play the Brasileirão

• Emmanuel Martinez (America from Minas Gerais)

• Martin Benitez (America from Minas Gerais)

• Tomas Cuello (Athletico Paranaense)

• Renzo Saravia (Atletico Mineiro)

• Rodrigo Battaglia (Atletico Mineiro)

• Matias Zaracho (Atletico Mineiro)

• Cristian Pavon (Atletico Mineiro)

• Lucas Mugni (Bay)

• Victor Cuesta (Botafogo)

• Joel Carli (Botafogo)

• Leonel Di Placido (Botafogo)

• Fausto Vera (Corinthians)

• Marcelino Moreno (Coritiba)

• German Cano (Fluminense)

• Emanuel Britez (Fortress)

• Tomás Pochettino (Fortress)

• Juan Martin Lucero (Fortress)

• Silvio Romero (Fortress)

• Julian Palacios (Goias)

• Walter Kannemann (Guild)

• Franco Cristaldo (Guild)

• Fabricio Bustos (International)

• Gabriel Market (International)

• Jose Manuel Lopez (Palmeiras)

• Kevin Lomonaco (Red Bull Bragantino)

• Gabriel Carabajal (Saints)

• Alan Franco (Sao Paulo)

• Giuliano Galoppo (Sao Paulo)

• Jonatahn Calleri (San Pablo)

• Manuel Capasso (Vasco da Gama)

• Luca Orellano (Vasco da Gama)

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