A few weeks ago, I discovered that Pato Branco, a small city
in (I’m sorry, I meant the Capital of) Southwest Paraná actually has a football
team. Not only this, but they are in the
second division of the Campeonato Paranaense (which has three divisions.) I joked that if Atlético Paranaense (first
division team from the state captal, Curitiba) didn’t improve, we might be
watching them play away games in Pato Branco.
Ha ha ha, as if…
Hold on a minute, “relegated” you say??
Almost… After a
terrible run in the Campeonato Paranaense, (including a home defeat against
Maringá, a team that is currently in serie D – the 4th division – of
the Campeonato Brasileiro, the national championship, see http://maried-a-brazilian-support-group.blogspot.com/2015/03/atletico-atletico.html
) the unthinkable happened, and they are now in the special group of four teams
fighting to avoid being relegated to the second division. A division so low that the Globo Esporte website (first stop for Brazilian
football results and tables) does not even mention its existence! As a loyal (albeit new) fan of Atlético, I may
now have to bookmark the website for the Federação Paranaense de Futebol to
follow the state championship!
This group of four struggling teams is called descenso –
descent. All four begin with 0 points
and play each team twice – home and away – with two teams surviving and two
being relegated. Atlético got off to a
good start, beating Prudentópolis 2-0, but this is a situation that no top
flight team should be in.
If Atlético don’t get their act together, I may be planning
my next trip to Pato Branco to coincide with an away game!
