1996 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A

Season	1996
Champions	Grêmio (2nd title)
Relegated	None
Copa Libertadores de América	Grêmio Cruzeiro (Copa do Brasil champions)
Matches played	290
Goals scored	787 (2.71 per match)
Top goalscorer	Paulo Nunes Renaldo (16 goals each)
← 1995 1997 →

The 1996 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A was the 40th edition of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, was played between August 8 and December 15, 1996. It had 24 teams and divided into two stages. In the first one, every team played against each other once. After 23 rounds, top eight clubs qualified to next stage, and the bottom two were supposed to be relegated, but CBF decided to keep Fluminense and Bragantino in Série A after the season was over. Final stage was played in elimination system with home-and-away matches. The club with better record during first stage had the advantage to qualify in case of a draw. In the end, Grêmio won their second championship in history based on this rule. They were defeated by runners-up Portuguesa 2-0 at Morumbi Stadium, but came back on second leg, winning by the same score at their home ground, Olímpico Stadium in Porto Alegre.

Standings and Results

First stage

Team		Pts	G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Cruzeiro	44	23	13	5	5	31	17	14
2	Guarani	43	23	13	4	6	23	14	9
3	Palmeiras	43	23	12	7	4	42	20	12
4	Atlético Paranaense	39	23	12	3	8	41	28	13
5	Atlético Mineiro	39	23	12	3	8	39	32	7
6	Grêmio	38	23	11	5	7	42	27	15
7	Goiás	37	23	11	4	8	37	27	10
8	Portuguesa	36	23	11	3	9	32	29	3
9	Internacional	35	23	10	5	8	31	27	4
10	Sport	35	23	10	5	8	32	31	1
11	São Paulo	35	23	9	8	6	39	32	7
12	Corinthians	32	23	7	11	5	20	19	1
13	Flamengo	30	23	9	3	11	24	31	-7
14	Coritiba	29	23	9	3	11	25	30	-5
15	Vitória	29	23	8	5	10	32	39	-7
16	Paraná	28	23	8	4	11	26	30	-4
17	Botafogo	28	23	7	7	9	33	35	-2
18	Vasco da Gama	27	23	8	3	12	37	43	-6
19	Juventude	27	23	8	3	12	31	37	-6
20	Santos	27	23	7	6	10	26	31	-5
21	Criciúma	23	23	6	5	12	31	39	-8
22	Bahia	23	23	5	8	10	25	35	-10
23	Fluminense	22	23	6	4	13	26	50	-24
24	Bragantino	19	23	5	4	14	26	48	-22
Pts – points earned; G – games played; W - wins; D - draws; L - losses; GF – goals for; GA – goals against; GD – goal differential

	Teams qualified for next stage
	Teams relegated to Série B 1997

Final stage

	Quarterfinals						Semifinals					Finals
	1	Cruzeiro	0	1
	8	Portuguesa	3	0
							Atlético Mineiro	0	2
							Portuguesa	1	2
	4	Atlético (PR)	1	1
	5	Atlético Mineiro	3	0
												Portuguesa	2	0
												Grêmio	0	2
	3	Palmeiras	1	1
	6	Grêmio	3	0
							Grêmio	3	2
							Goiás	1	2
	2	Guarani	1	1
	7	Goiás	3	0

Grêmio won based on their better record during first stage.

Campeonato Brasileiro 1996 Champions
Grêmio 2nd Title

Top scorers

#	Player	Team	Goals
1	Paulo Nunes	Grêmio	16
	Renaldo	Atlético Mineiro
3	Túlio	Botafogo	13
	Paulo Rink	Atlético Paranaense
5	Djalminha	Palmeiras	12
	Aílton	Guarani
7	Oséas	Atlético Paranaense	11
	Müller	São Paulo
	Mabília	Criciúma
	Leandro Machado	Internacional
	Rodrigo Fabri	Portuguesa