Tuesday's Showdown with Sao Paulo a Must-Win for Reykjavik

[Jiggy]

Reykjavik continues to inch ever so slightly closer to table leader Uniao Sao Paulo.

At 11-2-2, Reykjavik United now stands just 6 points behind. The difference is mathematical and obvious. Sao Paulo has two more wins than Reykjavik, and Reykjavik is still suffering to overcome the hole that a couple of early season losses put them in.

For their part, Sao Paulo has staved off defeat in all 15 of their contests thus far, winning 13 and drawing two – one of which was against Reykjavik. It is going to take Sao Paulo losing a few games between now and the end of the season for Reykjavik to realistically have a chance to catch them.

With only three matches left to play, Tuesday’s direct showdown between these two clubs will likely be determinative if Reykjavik is unable to hand Sao Paulo its first loss of the season. A draw would leave Reykjavik still 6 points down in the table with only two games left to play, meaning Reykjavik would have to win out AND Sao Paulo would have to lose out just to force the standings into a tie breaker.

However, should Reykjavik win on Tuesday, things would get very interesting. Reykjavik would close the season against CD Tenochtitlan and Hollywood FC, while Sao Paulo would have matches against Hollywood FC and CA Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires and Tenochtitlan both currently reside among the bottom half of the table, while Hollywood FC sits in fourth with a 9-2-4 record.

Should Reykjavik beat Sao Paulo on Tuesday, Hollywood FC is positioned to be the club who can dictate the league finish – depending on their results against each club, respectively.

This 6-point gap in the table is extremely large considering the number of games left to play, but not altogether insurmountable.

Tuesday is a must win for Reykjavik no matter how you slice things, though.

[Wiggli]

What USP has done this season is truly remarkable. I knew they’d continue the positive momentum shown in prior seasons and be able to compete for the league title, but I didn’t think they’d establish such a clear lead. I saw it more as a 3 or 4 team race, but as you say it’s only Reykjavik that can realistically challenge USP’s dominance this season and that would require an impressive feat.
 
It is great that there are so many exciting games heading into the conclusion of the league. You point out the head to head with Reykjavik and USP, and then the matches each of those contenders have against Hollywood. As a Hollywood player I wish we could have achieved a little more this season, but things are starting to come together it seems. And we still are playing meaningful games with a chance to dictate the outcome of the league.
 
In any case I expect these matches to be great fun to watch. The dominance of Reykjavik and Black Forest that I observed when I joined the league is certainly under threat. USP has established themselves, and a number of teams can challenge on any given match day. The quality of the matches has been very fun to watch, thanks for bringing some attention to these key final games.