2021 Campeonato Carioca

Campeonato Carioca
Season	2021
Dates	16 January 2021 - 22 May 2021
Champions	Flamengo (37th title)
Relegated	America; Americano FC; Cabofriense; Friburguense; Sampaio Corrêa; Macaé
Copa do Brasil	TBD
Série D	TBD
Matches played	108
Goals scored	283 (2.62 per match)
Top goalscorer	Alef Manga (9 goals)
Biggest home win	Portuguesa 5–1 Bangu
Biggest away win	Madureira 1–5 Flamengo; Macaé 0–4 Fluminense
Highest scoring	Americano 4–4 Friburguense (8 goals)
Longest winning run	Nova Iguaçu (4 games)
Longest unbeaten run	Cabofriense (9 games)
Longest winless run	Macaé (All games)
Longest losing run	Macaé (8 games)
Highest attendance	0
Lowest attendance	0
Average attendance	0
	← 2020 2022 →

The 2021 Campeonato Carioca de Futebol was the 118th edition of the top division of football in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The competition is organized by FERJ. It began on 16 January 2021 and ended on 22 May 2021. The tournament was played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic in Brazil. In order to lower the number of matches to be played, this edition of the Campeonato Carioca faced another change in format and regulations.^[1]

Flamengo, the defending champions, won a record-breaking 37th Campeonato Carioca title and their third title in a row.

Participating teams

Club	Home city	Manager	2020 result
America	Rio de Janeiro (Tijuca)	Josué Teixeira	15th
Americano	Campos dos Goytacazes	Caé Cunha	14th
Bangu	Rio de Janeiro (Bangu)	Marcelo Marelli	8th
Boavista	Saquarema	Leandrão	4th
Botafogo	Rio de Janeiro (Botafogo)	Marcelo Chamusca	5th
Cabofriense	Cabo Frio	Rogério Corrêa	12th
Flamengo	Rio de Janeiro (Gávea)	Rogério Ceni	1st
Fluminense	Rio de Janeiro (Laranjeiras)	Roger Machado	2nd
Friburguense	Nova Friburgo	Cadão	13th
Macaé	Macaé	Eduardo Allax	11th
Madureira	Rio de Janeiro (Madureira)	Alfredo Sampaio	6th
Nova Iguaçu	Nova Iguaçu	Carlos Vitor	1st (Série B1)
Portuguesa	Rio de Janeiro (Governador)	Felipe Surian	9th
Resende	Resende	Sandro Sargentim	10th
Sampaio Corrêa	Saquarema	Tinoco	2nd (Série B1)
Vasco da Gama	Rio de Janeiro (Vasco da Gama)	Marcelo Cabo	7th
Volta Redonda	Volta Redonda	Neto Colucci	3rd

Format

The competition format suffered several alterations in each stage, in order to minimize the number of matches to be played. The relegation play-offs, Taça Independência and Torneio Extra were scrapped, and the main phase will be played in a single round-robin, instead of a double one.

Preliminary stage

The preliminary stage of the tournament was contested as a double round-robin among the four worst-placed teams of the 2020 competition and the two teams promoted from the 2020 Série B1. The winner of the preliminary stage qualified for the main phase of the competition while the remaining five were relegated to the 2021 Série A2 (the second tier being rebranded from B1 to A2).^[2]

Main stage

In the main competition, the twelve clubs will play each other on a single round-robin. This round-robin will be the Taça Guanabara. The last placed club will be relegated to the 2021 Série A2. While the top four clubs qualify for the final stage, the next four clubs (5th to 8th places) will qualify for the Taça Rio. In the Taça Rio, the 5th-placed club will face the 8th-placed club, and the 6th-placed will face the 7th-placed. In the final stage, the winner of the Taça Guanabara will face the 4th-placed club, while the runners-up will face the 3rd-placed club.^[3]

In both of these four-team brackets (the Taça Rio and the final stage), the semifinals and finals will be played over two legs, without the use of the away goals rule. In the semifinals of both the Taça Rio and the final stage, the better placed teams on the Taça Guanabara table will advance in case of an aggregate tie. In the finals of both brackets, there will be no such advantage; in case of an aggregate tie, a penalty shoot-out will take place.^[4]

Preliminary stage

America, Americano, Cabofriense and Friburguense were the four lowest placed teams in the 2020 Campeonato Carioca main tournament. Nova Iguaçu and Sampaio Corrêa qualified from the 2020 Série B1. The preliminary stage was contested from 16 January 2021 to 20 February 2021.^[5]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Nova Iguaçu	10	7	2	1	12	5	+7	23	Advanced to 2021 Taça Guanabara
2	Cabofriense	10	6	3	1	17	10	+7	21	Relegation to 2021 Série A2
3	Sampaio Corrêa	10	4	2	4	10	9	+1	14
4	America	10	2	6	2	12	13	−1	12
5	Americano	10	3	1	6	13	17	−4	10
6	Friburguense	10	0	2	8	11	21	−10	2

Source: FERJ
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) goals scored; 5) head-to-head results; 6) disciplinary record; 7) random draw.

Home \ Away	AME	AMO	CAB	FRI	NIG	SAM
America		3–1	1–1	4–4	1–1	1–1
Americano	3–0		3–2	2–1	1–3	1–2
Cabofriense	0–0	2–1		2–1	1–0	2–1
Friburguense	1–2	1–1	2–5		0–1	1–2
Nova Iguaçu	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–0		1–0
Sampaio Corrêa	0–0	2–0	0–1	1–0	1–2

Source: FERJ
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Main stage

Taça Guanabara

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Flamengo (Q)	11	7	2	2	23	10	+13	23	Taça Guanabara Champion and advance to semifinals
2	Fluminense (Q)	11	7	1	3	20	11	+9	22	Advance to semifinals
3	Portuguesa (Q)	11	6	3	2	20	8	+12	21
4	Volta Redonda (Q)	11	6	3	2	17	12	+5	21
5	Vasco da Gama (Q)	11	4	5	2	21	15	+6	17	Advance to Taça Rio semifinals
6	Nova Iguaçu (Q)	11	4	3	4	16	15	+1	15
7	Botafogo (Q)	11	3	6	2	14	9	+5	15
8	Madureira (Q)	11	3	6	2	13	16	−3	15
9	Resende	11	3	2	6	11	21	−10	11
10	Boavista	11	2	5	4	14	16	−2	11
11	Bangu	11	1	3	7	5	18	−13	6
12	Macaé (R)	11	0	1	10	6	29	−23	1	Relegated

Source: FERJ
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) goals scored; 5) head-to-head results; 6) disciplinary record; 7) random draw.
(Q) Qualified; (R) Relegated

2021 Taça Guanabara champions
Flamengo 23rd title

Taça Rio – Final stage

Semi-finals					Finals

5	Vasco da Gama	0	2	2

8	Madureira	1	1	2
					5	Vasco da Gama	1	0	1 (3)

					7	Botafogo	0	1	0 (0)
6	Nova Iguaçu	0	0	0

7	Botafogo	0	1	1

2021 Taça Rio champions
Vasco da Gama 11th title

Final stage

Semi-finals					Finals

1	Flamengo	3	4	7

4	Volta Redonda	0	1	1
					1	Flamengo	1	3	4

					2	Fluminense	1	1	2
2	Fluminense	1	3	4

3	Portuguesa	1	1	2

2021 Campeonato Carioca champions
Flamengo 37th title

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Alef Manga	Volta Redonda	9
2	Gabriel	Flamengo	8
3	Luiz Paulo	Madureira	6
	Pedro	Flamengo
	Anderson Künzel	Nova Iguaçu
	Germán Cano	Vasco da Gama
	Fred	Fluminense
4	Gabriel Pec	Vasco da Gama	5
	Rodrigo Muniz	Flamengo
	Chay	Portuguesa
	João Carlos	Volta Redonda
	Vitinho	Flamengo

Source:FERJ

References

^ "FERJ - Campeonatos". Retrieved 7 March 2021.
^ FERJ - Regulamento Impresso - Fase Preliminar
^ FERJ - Regulamento Impresso - Fase Principal
^ FERJ - Regulamento Impresso - Fase Principal
^ FERJ - Tabela - Fase Preliminar

[1] "FERJ - Campeonatos". Retrieved 7 March 2021.

[2] FERJ - Regulamento Impresso - Fase Preliminar

[3] FERJ - Regulamento Impresso - Fase Principal

[4] FERJ - Regulamento Impresso - Fase Principal

[5] FERJ - Tabela - Fase Preliminar

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