Bola Rolando: Operário still dreams of G6, but reality demands much more

The 33rd round of the Serie B ended and made the drawing of the final straight of the championship even clearer. At the top, the fight for access gains increasingly defined contours. For the Operário Ferroviário, however, the moment calls for fewer bills and much more football.

The Phantom is 48 points in 10th place, with five games left until the end of the first phase. Mathematically, there is still a possibility of reaching the G6. In practice, however, it is very difficult to imagine the Worker making this difference in front of the football presented in the last rounds.

There is no point in deceiving the fan.

Londrina lets victory escape and gets even more complicated

The round ended with a 2-2 draw between Athletic and Londrina on Tuesday night (13).

The result had a particularly bitter taste for the Shark. Already in the final straight of the match, Londrina managed to turn to 2 to 1, but practically in the sequence suffered the draw.

In a corner charge, the ball crossed the area and encountered a free Athletic player on the second beam to score head.

Londrina have reached 29 points and remain in 18th place. Avaí, first team within the relegation zone, has 36. Botafogo-SP, first out of Z4, adds 41.

With only 15 points still available, the London situation is extremely delicate.

Three teams stand out in the fight for direct access

At the top, three teams opened up an important advantage.

Vila Nova leads with 61 points, while Novorizontino and Juventude appear with 60.

They are, for me, the top three teams in the competition right now.

Vila Nova managed to stay practically throughout the Serie B among the first places and has a very consistent work.

Novorizontino is perhaps the most complete team in the competition. It has secure defense, organized midfield, offensive force and different players appearing to decide.

The 5-1 win over the Ponte Preta once again showed that strength.

Already the Youth supports its campaign mainly by defensive consistency and remains firm in the dispute.

Of these three, two will get direct access. The other will, of course, remain very strong in the slaying contest.

Fortaleza and Criciúma are also very close

Just behind appear Fortaleza, with 57 points, and Criciúma, with 56.

I also see the two teams practically inserted in this decisive dispute.

Especially a very disputed spot remains.

Atlético-GO is sixth, with 53 points, followed by CRB, with 52, and Sport, with 51.

This is where the main battle for the last position of the G6 is concentrated at the moment.

They are teams that arrive better, have more regularity and are closer mathematically.

Worker and Goiás were left behind

Goiás and Operário appear with 48 points.

Is there a mathematical possibility? It exists.

But football needs to be analyzed beyond the calculator.

To get close to 61 or 62 points, a track that will probably allow him to play a place in the G6, the Phantom would practically have to make a perfect campaign in this final straight.

And, looking at recent performance, I don’t see enough signs to believe that.

The Worker comes from a very bad sequence and lost 2 to 0 to Goiás at Germano Krüger in the last round.

Three losses and one draw in the last four games.

More worrying than the results is the drop in performance.

The team still needs to rebuild

Alberto Valentim is trying to reorganize the team at the most difficult moment of the championship.

Players like Miranda and Zuluaga, among others who have spent periods with little time, need to recover competitive pace.

In addition, the coach tries to fit parts, find a more balanced system and make the collective work again.

All of this with only five games left.

Is it possible to make a recovery? Sure. Yeah.

Football always allows surprises.

But right now, I don’t see any sporting reason to put the Worker among the favorites to make it to the G6.

America-MG is the next challenge

The next match will be against América-MG on Saturday (17), at 6.30 pm, at the Independência stadium, in Belo Horizonte.

Even with America-MG already downgraded, playing in Independence is never easy.

The Worker needs, before looking at Atletico-GO, CRB, Sport or any other competitor, to return to play better.

You need to regain intensity.

You need to find a collective organization again.

And above all, he has to win.

Then there will still be important opponents ahead, including Athletic, Novorizontino and Sport.

In other words, the table does not help either.

A good Series B, but probably without G6

This does not mean that the season of the Worker has been a failure.

On the contrary.

The Phantom has good conditions to finish in the top ten of the Serie B, position compatible with what was imagined as the initial goal for the competition.

The problem is that, at a certain point, the championship allowed us to dream of something bigger.

This dream still exists mathematically.

But today it depends on a very big transformation within the field.

If the Worker wins four or five matches in this final straight, the conversation obviously changes.

Only, looking at what the team has been presenting, I can’t put that possibility as likely.

The Worker must first return to playing football at a high level.

Then, if there's still time, you can go back and do the math.