So yesterday I was scrolling through football stuff online when this question popped in my head: who’s been better lately, Sao Paulo or Internacional? Honestly, I couldn’t really tell off the top of my head. Seemed like a good thing to dig into for a blog post.
First Stop: Memory Lane (Didn’t Help Much)
I started by just trying to remember their recent games. Like, both teams play in the Brazilian Serie A, right? Internacional is from Porto Alegre, Sao Paulo is… well, Sao Paulo. Easy stuff. But recalling who actually won what? Total blur. My brain just wasn’t giving me clear answers. Needed facts, not foggy memories.
Grabbing the Tools
Time to hit my usual go-to websites for football stats. You know the ones – the big platforms everyone uses. Opened up maybe three or four different tabs. Wasn’t looking for ancient history, just the last 10 games or so for each team, across all competitions. Figured that’s recent enough to show current form.
The Initial Hunt & Major Frustration
Started punching in the team names. Sao Paulo first. Results load… okay, good, I can see their matches. Went straight for the league results tab. Found their most recent fixtures in Serie A. Then tried clicking over to see Copa do Brasil games… nothing. Huh? I scrolled, clicked another tab on the site for cup competitions… still showing me league stuff. It was like the site only wanted me to see Serie A stats. Tried a different website. Same mess! Copa Libertadores? Copa Sudamericana? Good luck finding that recent data mixed in easily.
Here’s what I saw most places:
- Sao Paulo was often listed with just league games: say 5 wins, 3 draws, 2 losses.
- Internacional would pop up with maybe slightly less: like 4 wins, 4 draws, 2 losses.
But I KNEW they both played cup games too! Those results were totally missing or buried deep. So annoying. How can you see the real picture if half the games aren’t counted?
The Slightly Better Site (Phew)
Finally stumbled onto one site – not flashy, kinda old-school looking actually – that actually grouped results together. It had “All Competitions” right there as an option. Clicked it. Boom! Finally got lists showing everything: league, cups, whatever.
Pulled down the stats for each club over their last 10 actual games:
- Sao Paulo (Last 10 Games All Comps): Wins: 6 Draws: 2 Losses: 2
- Internacional (Last 10 Games All Comps): Wins: 3 Draws: 4 Losses: 3
That was way different than the league-only scraps I got earlier.
Looking Beyond Just W/D/L
Just wins and losses didn’t feel like enough. Wanted some real fighting spirit stats. So I dug a little deeper on that same site. Scanned for things like:
- Goals Scored & Conceded (Who’s leaky? Who’s sharp?)
- How often do they win when they score first?
- Record at home vs away.
Didn’t get super deep, but enough to add flavor. Internacional seemed a bit more solid defensively lately overall, but Sao Paulo was definitely putting more goals in the net and winning more often. Their home games especially seemed like a fortress.
Putting It Together
Staring at those numbers, the answer felt pretty clear for the very recent stretch. Sao Paulo had more wins, scored more goals, and was generally getting better results week-to-week across all the games they played. Internacional wasn’t terrible, just… okay? Some draws in there, fewer wins.
Why Bother Getting So Granular?
Honestly? Because I’ve been burned before. Remember that trip I took to Brazil a couple years ago? I got stuck chatting with these hardcore fans in a bar in Rio. They started grilling me about match stats. I tried winging it based on half-remembered headlines… total dumpster fire. Got corrected on basically everything. Felt like a total fraud! Ever since then, if I’m gonna talk about who’s “better lately,” I make damn sure I check all the games properly. Learned my lesson the embarrassing way!
So yeah, based on all that hunting and number-crunching across different comps, right now, Sao Paulo definitely has the stronger recent form.
