Grêmio cruised to a 3-1 victory over Sport Recife at Ilha do Retiro on Thursday night thanks to goals from Anderson Pico, Leandro and Marquinhos. This victory saw then move to 2nd place in the Brasileirão table, but remain 9 points behind leaders Fluminense.
Vanderlei Luxemburgo, head coach of Grêmio, was happy with the 3 points but admits that winning the title is out of their hands. He told Porto Alegre newspaper Zero Hora:
“We have to do our part and get to 74 points, but Fluminense are very competent. They have a very mature squad and we must understand that things not only depend on us. I always thought the title is in our DNA.
“If the league finished today, we will have qualified for the Libertadores. On Sunday we’ll need 40, 45 thousand fans at Olímpico!”
On Sunday Grêmio host Botafogo at the Olímpico and could be boosted by the return of Gilberto Silva, Elano and Ze Roberto, all of whom missed the Sport game.
