Palmeiras took this Wednesday (4) an important step towards winning their 27th state title. In Barueri, in the first leg of the Campeonato Paulista final against Novorizontino, the Alviverde team won 1-0 and secured the advantage of playing for a draw in the second leg.
Flaco López, in the 35th minute of the first half, scored the only goal of the game. Already ahead, Palmeiras saw Carlos Miguel save a penalty, from Robson, in the final minutes of the opening stage and prevent a draw. In the second half, Gustavo Gómez found the net, with a header, but the move ended up being canceled for offside.
The minimum score, however, was enough to represent a balanced confrontation, decided in detail.
The victory also had symbolic weight. In the first phase, Novorizontino had won 4-0 — the worst defeat of the Abel Ferreira era. The campaign of the yellow and black team, however, shows that the result was not accidental: after eliminating Santos in the quarter-finals, they beat Corinthians in the semi-finals and confirmed their consistency in reaching the decision.
The finalists will face each other again on Sunday (8), at 8:30 pm (Brasília time), at the Doutor Jorge Ismael de Biasi stadium, in Novo Horizonte.
Runner-up in 2025 and finalist in the competition for the seventh consecutive year, Palmeiras is trying to expand its successful history in the competition and also prevent the team from the interior from winning its first cup in the tournament.
The final extends a remarkable streak for the capital club. Since 2020, Palmeiras has played its 17th championship decision and is looking for its 12th title in the period. The only one present in all Paulista finals since then, the team is trying to win its fifth state trophy in the last seven editions — it was champion in 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024, and runner-up in 2021 and 2025.
Under the command of Abel Ferreira, this is the coach’s 16th final for the club. Owner of ten titles with Palmeiras, the Portuguese can stand alone as the most successful coach in Alviverde history. The team also maintains a largely favorable record in knockout matches against Novorizontino: they have won all four previous knockout clashes between the two teams.
