# 2018 Campeonato Paulista

The 2018 Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Profissional da Primeira Divisão - Série A1 was the 117th season of São Paulo's top professional football league.

## Format

* In the first stage the sixteen teams are drawn, with seeding, into four groups of four teams each, with each team playing once against the twelve clubs from the other three groups. After each team has played twelve matches, the top two teams of each group qualify for the quarter-final stage.
* After the completion of the first stage, the two clubs with the lowest number of points, regardless of the group, will be relegated to the Campeonato Paulista Série A2.
* Quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals are played in a two-legged home and away fixture, with the best placed first stage team playing the second leg at home.
* In case of a draw in any knockout stage, the match will be decided by a penalty shoot-out.

### Tiebreakers

The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings:
* Higher number of wins;
* Superior goal difference;
* Higher number of goals scored;
* Fewest red cards received;
* Fewest yellow cards received;
* Draw in the headquarters of the FPF.

## Teams

| Club | Home city | Manager | 2017 result |
| Botafogo-SP | Ribeirão Preto | Léo Condé | 6th |
| Bragantino | Bragança Paulista | Marcelo Veiga | 2nd (Série A2) |
| Corinthians | São Paulo (Tatuapé) | Fábio Carille | 1st |
| Ferroviária | Araraquara | PC Oliveira | 14th |
| Ituano | Itu | Vinícius Bergantin | 10th |
| Linense | Lins | Márcio Fernandes | 7th |
| Mirassol | Mirassol | Moisés Egert | 9th |
| Novorizontino | Novo Horizonte | Doriva | 8th |
| Palmeiras | São Paulo (Perdizes) | Roger Machado | 3rd |
| Ponte Preta | Campinas | Eduardo Baptista | 2nd |
| Red Bull Brasil | Campinas | Ricardo Catalá | 13th |
| Santo André | Santo André | Sérgio Soares | 11th |
| Santos | Santos | Jair Ventura | 5th |
| São Bento | Sorocaba | Paulo Roberto Santos | 12th |
| São Caetano | São Caetano do Sul | Pintado | 1st (Série A2) |
| São Paulo | São Paulo (Morumbi) | Diego Aguirre | 4th |
Source: Futebol Paulista

## First stage

* Key to colours in group tables
* Group winners and runners-up advance to the quarter-finals
* Two bottom teams (independent of group) are relegated

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Corinthians | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 17 | 8 | +9 | 23 | knockout stage |
| 2 | Bragantino | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 17 | knockout stage |
| 3 | Ituano | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 17 | |
| 4 | Linense | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 13 | 20 | −7 | 10 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | São Paulo | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 11 | +1 | 17 | knockout stage |
| 2 | São Caetano | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 14 | −6 | 15 | knockout stage |
| 3 | Ponte Preta | 12 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 12 | |
| 4 | Santo André | 12 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 18 | −7 | 8 | |

### Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Palmeiras | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 19 | 8 | +11 | 26 | knockout stage |
| 2 | Novorizontino | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 17 | +1 | 20 | knockout stage |
| 3 | São Bento | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 17 | |
| 4 | Ferroviária | 12 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 11 | 12 | −1 | 13 | |

### Group D

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Santos | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 13 | +4 | 18 | knockout stage |
| 2 | Botafogo-SP | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 11 | −2 | 16 | knockout stage |
| 3 | Red Bull Brasil | 12 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 11 | −1 | 13 | |
| 4 | Mirassol | 12 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 13 | −4 | 12 | |

## Knockout stage
### Bracket

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| C1 | Palmeiras | 3 | 5 | 8 | | | | | | | | | | |
| C2 | Novorizontino | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| C2 | Novorizontino | 0 | 0 | 0 | C1 | Palmeiras | 1 | 1 | 2 (5) | | | | | |
| | | | | | D1 | Santos | 0 | 2 | 2 (3) | | | | | |
| D1 | Santos | 0 | 0 | 0 (3) | D1 | Santos | 0 | 2 | 2 (3) | | | | | |
| D2 | Botafogo-SP | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | | | | | | | | | | |
| D2 | Botafogo-SP | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | | | | | | C1 | Palmeiras | 1 | 0 | 1 (3) |
| | | | | | | | | | | A1 | Corinthians | 0 | 1 | 1 (4) |
| A1 | Corinthians | 2 | 2 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | A1 | Corinthians | 0 | 1 | 1 (4) |
| A2 | Bragantino | 3 | 0 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| A2 | Bragantino | 3 | 0 | 3 | A1 | Corinthians | 0 | 1 | 1 (5) | | | | | |
| | | | | | B1 | São Paulo | 1 | 0 | 1 (4) | | | | | |
| B1 | São Paulo | 0 | 2 | 2 | B1 | São Paulo | 1 | 0 | 1 (4) | | | | | |
| B2 | São Caetano | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | |
* Campeonato Paulista 2018 Champion
* Corinthians 29th Title

## General table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Corinthians (C) | 18 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 23 | 13 | +10 | 32 | Finals |
| 2 | Palmeiras | 18 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 30 | 11 | +19 | 38 | Finals |
| 3 | São Paulo | 16 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 15 | 13 | +2 | 23 | Eliminated in the semifinals |
| 4 | Santos | 16 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 19 | 15 | +4 | 23 | Eliminated in the semifinals |
| 5 | Novorizontino (B) | 14 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 18 | 25 | −7 | 20 | Eliminated in the quarterfinals |
| 6 | Bragantino | 14 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 20 | Eliminated in the quarterfinals |
| 7 | São Caetano (B) | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 16 | −7 | 18 | Eliminated in the quarterfinals |
| 8 | Botafogo-SP | 14 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 11 | −2 | 18 | Eliminated in the quarterfinals |
| 9 | São Bento | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 17 | |
| 10 | Ituano (B) | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 17 | |
| 11 | Ferroviária | 12 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 11 | 12 | −1 | 13 | |
| 12 | Red Bull Brasil | 12 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 11 | −1 | 13 | |
| 13 | Ponte Preta | 12 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 12 | |
| 14 | Mirassol | 12 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 13 | −4 | 12 | |
| 15 | Linense (R) | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 13 | 20 | −7 | 10 | Relegation to Paulista Série A2 |
| 16 | Santo André (R) | 12 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 18 | −7 | 8 | Relegation to Paulista Série A2 |

## Awards
### Team of the year
#### Player of the Season

The Player of the Year was awarded to Jailson.

#### Young Player of the Season

The Young Player of the Year was awarded to Rodrygo.

#### Countryside Best Player of the Season

The Countryside Best Player of the Year was awarded to Bruno Moraes.

#### Top scorer of the Season

The top scorer of the season was Miguel Borja, who scored seven goals.

## Top scorers

    As of 17 April 2019
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1. | Miguel Borja | Palmeiras | 7 |
| 2. | Bruno Moraes | Botafogo-SP | 5 |
| 2. | Matheus Peixoto | Bragantino | 5 |
| 3. | Dudu | Palmeiras | 4 |
| 3. | Gabriel | Santos | 4 |
| 3. | Juninho | Novorizontino | 4 |
| 3. | Keno | Palmeiras | 4 |
| 3. | Rodriguinho | Corinthians | 4 |
| 3. | Safira | Novorizontino | 4 |
| 3. | Willian | Palmeiras | 4 |
| 3. | Wilson | Linense | 4 |