The Brazilian league’s most consistent squad of the year successfully defended its championship on Wednesday, while the team that once welcomed the late Pelé was demoted for the first time, capping one of the league’s most thrilling seasons.

For the twelfth time, Palmeiras emerged as Brazilian champions after a 1-1 draw at Cruzeiro. At the Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte, the 18-year-old Endrick gave Palmeiras the early advantage with his 11th goal of the season. Nikao equalized in the 80th minute.

In the same stadium where Pelé’s burial was held in January, Santos suffered another setback when they were demoted after losing to Fortaleza 2-1 at home.

Palmeiras won this year’s championship after rival Botafogo blew a 13-point lead in the rankings and striker Endrick, who is expected to sign with Real Madrid, scored multiple important goals.

After winning his second Brazilian league title with Palmeiras, Endrick told reporters, “People said I won this, but I wouldn’t be able to do this by myself.” “I was furious at the beginning of the year and gave too much weight to what other people thought. I should not have done that, I realized later. I became a little older.

Endrick is anticipated to play for Real Madrid in the upcoming campaign.

For the Sao Paulo-based team, Portuguese coach Abel Ferreira captured his ninth championship. His contract expires at the end of the next year, but according to Brazilian media, he is probably going to accept an offer from Al-Sadd in Qatar.

Flamengo and Atlético Mineiro, who had little chance of taking home the trophy in the previous round, lost their games. Due to such setbacks, Luis Suárez’s Gremio emerged as runners-up. The Uruguayan striker, who will shortly announce his team for next season, scored two goals in a 3-2 victory over Fluminense.

With 70 points, two more than Gremio, Palmeiras became victorious. With 64 points, Botafogo, who led for 31 of the 38 rounds, came in fifth place. The Rio team finished the season with an 11-game losing streak after losing 3-1 at Internacional.

Santos finished with 43 points, one fewer than Bahia, who defeated Atletico Mineiro 4-1, and two fewer than Vasco da Gama, who prevailed over Bragantino in another intense match.

In the 39th minute, Mario Sergio gave the visitors the lead. Messias’ equalizer in the 58th minute gave Santos confidence that they may force Bahia, a Manchester City Group club, or Vasco da Gama, a component of the 777 fund, into relegation.

However, Juan Martin Lucero’s effort from almost halfway handed Fortaleza the victory.

The moment Santos supporters attempted to storm the field, sending players running for their locker rooms, the game was over. Later, in the seaside city west of Sao Paulo, there were clashes between police and supporters outside, and multiple cars and buses were set on fire.

Neymar, who came up via Santos’ academy, shared photos of himself on social media while he heals from a knee injury.

After his childhood team was demoted, the striker for Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia and Brazil wrote, “We will smile once again.”

In the Copa Libertadores final, Palmeiras defeated Santos just three years prior.

Paulinho of Atletico Mineiro scored the most goals (20) to finish first in the league. Tiquinho Soares of Botafogo and Luis Suárez both have 17 goals.