# 1988 Campeonato Gaúcho

The 68th season of the Campeonato Gaúcho kicked off on February 20, 1988, and ended on June 26, 1988. Fourteen teams participated. Holders Grêmio won their 26th title. Brasil de Pelotas and Guarany de Cruz Alta were relegated.

## Participating teams

| Club | Stadium | Home location | Previous season |
| Aimoré | Cristo-Rei | São Leopoldo | 2nd (Second level) |
| Brasil | Bento Freitas | Pelotas | 6th |
| Caxias | Centenário | Caxias do Sul | 4th |
| Esportivo | Montanha | Bento Gonçalves | 3rd |
| Grêmio | Olímpico | Porto Alegre | 1st |
| Guarany | Taba Índia | Cruz Alta | 1st (Second level) |
| Internacional | Beira-Rio | Porto Alegre | 2nd |
| Internacional | Presidente Vargas | Santa Maria | 9th |
| Juventude | Alfredo Jaconi | Caxias do Sul | 5th |
| Lajeadense | Florestal | Lajeado | 12th |
| Passo Fundo | Vermelhão da Serra | Passo Fundo | 10th |
| Pelotas | Boca do Lobo | Pelotas | 11th |
| São Paulo | Aldo Dapuzzo | Rio Grande | 8th |
| Santa Cruz | Plátanos | Santa Cruz do Sul | 7th |

## System

The championship would have three stages.:
* First phase: The fourteen clubs were divided into two groups of seven. In the first round, teams from one group played against teams from the other group once. In the second round, the teams from each group played in single round-robin format against the others in their group. In each round, the two best teams in each group would dispute a knockout phase, played in one-legged ties, to define the round champions, who would receive one bonus point for the Final quadrangular. The six best teams in the sum of both rounds qualified into the Final hexagonal and all the non-qualified teams would play the Relegation tournament.
* Relegation Tournament: The eight remaining teams played each other in a double round-robin system; The teams that had finished 7th and 8th in the First round received two bonus points and the teams that had finished 9th and 10th received one bonus point. the two teams with the fewest points were relegated.
* Final hexagonal: The six remaining teams played each other in a double round-robin system; the team with the most points won the title.

## Championship
### First phase
#### First round
##### Group 1

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Pelotas | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 9 | Qualified |
| 2 | Juventude | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 9 | Qualified |
| 3 | Aimoré | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 8 | |
| 4 | Internacional | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 7 | |
| 5 | Guarany de Cruz Alta | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 13 | −3 | 6 | |
| 6 | Internacional de Santa Maria | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 5 | |
| 7 | Esportivo | 7 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 5 | |

##### Group 2

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Caxias | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 12 | Qualified |
| 2 | Grêmio | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 10 | Qualified |
| 3 | Santa Cruz | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 9 | |
| 4 | São Paulo | 7 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 7 | |
| 5 | Passo Fundo | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 6 | |
| 6 | Brasil de Pelotas | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 10 | −6 | 3 | |
| 7 | Lajeadense | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 7 | −6 | 2 | |

##### Semifinals

| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Grêmio | 2–0 | Pelotas |
| Caxias | 1–1 (p. 4-3) | Juventude |

##### Finals

| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Caxias | 1–2 | Grêmio |

#### Second round
##### Group 1

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Internacional | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 8 | Qualified |
| 2 | Internacional de Santa Maria | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 7 | Qualified |
| 3 | Guarany de Cruz Alta | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 6 | |
| 4 | Aimoré | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 6 | |
| 5 | Juventude | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 6 | |
| 6 | Pelotas | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 5 | |
| 7 | Esportivo | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 4 | |

##### Group 2

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Grêmio | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 5 | +14 | 10 | Qualified |
| 2 | Santa Cruz | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 7 | Qualified |
| 3 | Caxias | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 11 | −3 | 6 | |
| 4 | Passo Fundo | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 5 | |
| 5 | Brasil de Pelotas | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 5 | |
| 6 | São Paulo | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 9 | −5 | 5 | |
| 7 | Lajeadense | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 4 | |

##### Semifinals

| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Internacional | 3–0 | Santa Cruz |
| Grêmio | 1–0 | Internacional de Santa Maria |

##### Finals

| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Grêmio | 3–1 | Internacional |

#### Final standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Grêmio | 13 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 28 | 10 | +18 | 20 | Qualified |
| 2 | Caxias | 13 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 14 | +3 | 18 | Qualified |
| 3 | Santa Cruz | 13 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 16 | Qualified |
| 4 | Internacional | 13 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 4 | +6 | 15 | Qualified |
| 5 | Juventude | 13 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 15 | Qualified |
| 6 | Pelotas | 13 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 8 | +2 | 14 | Qualified |
| 7 | Aimoré | 13 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 14 | Relegation Tournament |
| 8 | Internacional de Santa Maria | 13 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 12 | Relegation Tournament |
| 9 | Guarany de Cruz Alta | 13 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 15 | 18 | −3 | 12 | Relegation Tournament |
| 10 | São Paulo | 13 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 17 | −5 | 12 | Relegation Tournament |
| 11 | Passo Fundo | 13 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 15 | −4 | 11 | Relegation Tournament |
| 12 | Esportivo | 13 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 9 | Relegation Tournament |
| 13 | Brasil de Pelotas | 13 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 16 | −9 | 8 | Relegation Tournament |
| 14 | Lajeadense | 13 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 13 | −7 | 6 | Relegation Tournament |

### Relegation tournament

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Internacional de Santa Maria | 14 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 8 | +6 | 20 | |
| 2 | Esportivo | 14 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 18 | 12 | +6 | 19 | |
| 3 | Aimoré | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 17 | 19 | −2 | 17 | |
| 4 | Passo Fundo | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 15 | 12 | +3 | 16 | |
| 5 | Lajeadense | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 18 | 14 | +4 | 13 | |
| 6 | São Paulo | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 14 | −3 | 13 | |
| 7 | Brasil de Pelotas | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 17 | −6 | 11 | Relegated |
| 8 | Guarany de Cruz Alta | 14 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 17 | −8 | 9 | Relegated |

### Final hexagonal

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Grêmio | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 7 | +5 | 15 | Champions |
| 2 | Internacional | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 6 | +7 | 13 | |
| 3 | Pelotas | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 10 | −2 | 11 | |
| 4 | Santa Cruz | 10 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 8 | −1 | 9 | |
| 5 | Juventude | 10 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 10 | −3 | 8 | |
| 6 | Caxias | 10 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 6 | |