With little respite, São Paulo will face the semi-finals of the São Paulo State Championship.

The quarter-finals of this competition are a winner-or-loser, and from the semi-finals onwards, two legs must be played home and away.

In the event of a draw between the two legs, no extra time will be taken and a penalty shootout will be awarded.

Most of the South American competition format is not played in extra time, and the Copa Libertadores game is also played in the knockout stage of two legs, if the two legs are not decided, then go straight to the penalty.

The reason why there is a rule not to play extra time is because the South American clubs are too intensive, and the teams are generally tired and have physical worries.

The most competitive league in Europe is the Premier League. 38 Premier League games, FA Cup, League Cup, and European competitions for teams with good results. If all the games go hand in hand, there will always be 60 games to play in that season.

Therefore, Wales star Bale once said in an interview that one of the main reasons why Premier League teams are not competitive in the Champions League is that they are too densely scheduled.

However, the intensity of the Premier League's matches is nothing compared to Brazil's.

Take São Paulo this season, although there is no need to play the Rio-Sao Paulo match, there are 11 matches in the São Paulo State Championship (if it reaches the final), 46 matches in the Brazilian Liga and 14 matches in the Copa Libertadores if it reaches the final, which is already 71 games. There is also the Copa do Brasil, which is again more than a dozen......

That's why Brazil's giants often have two matches a week or even three matches a week. Last season, São Paulo had another national tournament in the afternoon and a Copa do Brasil in the evening, and had to give up one of them. This kind of ridiculous and strange thing can only be encountered in Brazil.

So São Paulo has a lot of experience in two or even three matches a week.

In the home game against Santista, despite the fatigue of the whole team, the trident, who had only played 45 minutes in the last game, was still alive and well. Fabiano scored a hat-trick with an overhead kick and Ricardo scored twice and provided an assist as Sao Paulo won 5-0.

Unfortunately, however, Fabiano was injured in this match. Although the injury is not serious, it will require a break of a few weeks.

In the second leg, Sao Paulo, who had already won the match, sent a lineup composed almost entirely of substitutes, and won 1-0 away from home to get a ticket to the final.

Before they had a few days of rest, on March 9, they faced their opponent in the final, Corinthians.

From February 26 to now, in just 11 days, they have played 4 games, an average of less than 3 days, and it can be said that they are already tired.

Of course, Corinthians are not having a good time, and they are also facing a two-front battle. Corinthians also won both games in the group stage of the Copa Libertadores, but in the São Paulo state game, they will have to stumble a lot.

There has also been a change of manager and a major change, but Corinthians' form this season has been significantly worse than that of Sao Paulo.

In the group stage of the São Paulo State Championship, they finished second and almost missed the knockout round. In the quarter-finals, they only narrowly beat the underdog Barbarense at home. From the semi-finals onwards, they gradually found a little bit of form.

However, in the face of Sao Paulo's old rival, Corinthians' players are like chickens and do not need to mobilize at all.

In a pre-match interview, midfielder Fabinho said: "We haven't been in good form this season. However, as long as they face Sao Paulo, the whole team can play at their best. ”

New signing Amaral also said: "I understand the significance of this derby and am willing to give everything for the win. ”

Corinthians' new coach Júnior also vowed to do so: "Sao Paulo are strong, but we will give our full attention and we will give the fans a good two-legged match to win the first title of the season." ”

However......

“Goalllllll！！！” The commentator's passionate shout echoed, "Just 6 minutes into the game, Licardo scored a goal by taking advantage of a mistake by a Corinthian defender!" ”

"Rogerio rose to the top and Ricardo caught up with the ball with incredible speed to get a one-on-one chance, he shook off goalkeeper Doni and smashed the ball into the empty net! It was Licardo's 10th goal in the competition! ”

"The experience of wearing the national team shirt has made Ricardo more mature! After returning from the national team, he scored in three consecutive games! ”

After all, this round of the game was Corinthians' home stadium, so after a brief panic, Corinthians quickly adjusted, played steadily, and advanced step by step.

Today they fielded a 352 formation rarely seen in Brazil, with three attacking and defensive midfielders Fabinho, Wanpeta and Fabricio hoarding in the middle, while attacking mainly relied on two wing-backs, Rogerio and Moreno.

However, Rogerio made a mistake in the opening game, which affected his form, and under the onslaught of Ricardo, he always seemed to be shrinking and unable to attack, which seriously affected Corinthians' attacking efficiency.

And Sao Paulo today let the 18-year-old teenager Tardelli start in place of the injured Fabiano, although Tardelli is very hard, but the strength is indeed lacking, does not have the ability to start, play very reluctantly, which makes Sao Paulo's offensive also a little unable to play.

In the back and forth of grinding and chirping between the two sides, the game went to halftime.

At the start of the second half, Rojas made a substitution, bringing on Elton for Tardelli and putting Ricardo up front as a central striker.

The substitution worked wonders. Elton naturally couldn't compete with Kaka for the ball, so Kaka was completely activated, and he frequently cut in at high speed in the back row to create chances, leaving the three Corinthians in the middle of the crowd embarrassed.

In the 69th minute, Kaka inserted the ball at high speed and handed the ball to Licardo, who pulled out of the penalty area, Licardo did not stop the ball, and directly plugged it diagonally, Kaka followed up with a push and hit the ball into the dead corner.

In the 81st minute, Kaka again rushed to the edge of the penalty area with the ball, and then distributed the ball to Ricardo, who pulled to the edge of the big penalty area. After Ricardo took the ball, he took advantage of the situation to pass Anderson, and successfully hit the goal from a small angle, rewriting the score to 3:0.

The Pakambu Stadium was as silent as death, and no one could accept the reality that their team had lost 3-0 at home.

After the game, the Sao Paulo players celebrated the championship in advance in the dressing room, and the difference of three goals was impossible for the opponent to catch up.

On 12 March, São Paulo welcomed the Copa Libertadores once again, travelling north to the city of Quito to take on Ecuador's Atlético Nacional.

With Ricardo's suspension and Fabiano's absence due to injury, Sao Paulo looked a little weak in attack, and Atlético Nacional was not able to break through Sao Paulo's goal, and the two sides ended up in a 0-0 draw.

With seven points from two wins and one draw in three games, and six clean sheets, Sao Paulo only need to win at home to América Cali in their next game to secure a place in the group.