Champions League-Inspired Format: Upsets & Demotions | R7 Esportes

Paulistão 2026, which starts this Saturday (10), promises to be the most difficult edition in recent years. Calendar changes CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) for this season they caused a reduction in dates in the state championships, previously played on 16 dates, there will only be 11 until the big decision.

With this, the São Paulo Football Federation adopted a model similar to that of the league phase of the UEFA Champions League, implemented in the 24/25 season. The 16 participants will be in a single group.

At the end of eight rounds in the first phase, the top eight on the leaderboard go to the knockout stage, which starts in the quarterfinals and goes until the final. The last two placed teams are relegated to the Series A2.

During the draw, the teams were divided into four pots and will have to face three teams from the same pot. This way, the classics between São Paulo, Corinthians, Santos and Palmeiras, all in Pot 1, will be mandatory.

Few games, more pressure

The first classic will take place in the second round between Palmeiras and Santos next Wednesday (14). Both teams debut this Saturday against Portuguesa and Novorizontino, respectively. While Corinthians plays this Sunday (11) against Ponte Preta at home and São Paulo will have the difficult task of visiting Mirassol also on Sunday.

Just over a month separates the start of the competition from the end of the group stage, which makes the Campeonato Paulista more competitive at short range.

Furthermore, three rounds of the group stage will be played simultaneously with the Brasileirãowhich should force teams to use mixed teams and spare starters in some of the competitions.

O first clash between Corinthians and Palmeirasfor example, is scheduled for the penultimate round, on February 8th, when the Brazilian Championship will already be heading towards the third round.

Big Four fixtures

First round

10/01 – Santos x Novorizontino

10/01 – Portuguesa x Palmeiras

11/01 – Corinthians x Ponte Preta

11/01 – Mirassol x São Paulo

Second round

14/01 – Palmeiras x Santos

15/01 – Bragantino x Corinthians

01/15 – São Paulo x São Bernardo

Third round

17/01 – Palmeiras x Mirassol

01/18 – Corinthians x São Paulo

18/01 – Guarani x Santos

Fourth round

20/01 – Novorizontino x Palmeiras

21/01 – São Paulo x Portuguesa

22/01 – Santos x Corinthians (eve of the Super Cup between Flamengo and Corinthians)

Fifth round

01/24 – Palmeiras x São Paulo

01/25 – Santos x Bragantino

01/25 – Velo Clube x Corinthians

Sixth round – after the start of the Brasileirão (January 28)

01/31 – Corinthians x Capivariano

01/31 – Botafogo-SP x Palmeiras

02/01 – São Paulo x Santos

Seventh round

07/02 – São Paulo x Primavera

02/08 – Noroeste x Santos

02/08 – Corinthians x Palmeiras

Eighth round

02/15 – Santos x Velo Clube

02/15 – Ponte Preta x São Paulo

02/15 – São Bernardo x Corinthians

02/15 – Palmeiras x Guarani

*Under the supervision of Camila Juliotti

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