Palmeiras draws with Bahia and worsens crisis.

The atmosphere at Palmeiras is anything but good. Off the field, there's even speculation about a possible departure of coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. On the field, the team played well, but it wasn't enough to defeat Bahia at the Canindé stadium in São Paulo, in the 17th round of the Brazilian Championship. The 1-1 draw did nothing to help the team in the standings – they remain in sixth place with 28 points – and also angered the fans, who booed and insulted the players at the end of the match.

To make matters worse for Palmeiras, the team will have several players unavailable for the derby against São Paulo next Sunday at Morumbi Stadium. No fewer than four players will be unable to face their rivals – midfielder Valdivia, left-back Gerley, and defender Thiago Heleno received their third yellow cards, and striker Dinei suffered an injury.

For Bahia, the result in São Paulo can be considered good. In the standings, they are in 13th place with 20 points, further away from the relegation zone, which is headed by Santos with 15 points, precisely their next opponent - on Sunday, at the Pituaçu stadium in Salvador.

THE GAME - The day before the match, Felipão announced that the attack would feature Kléber, Dinei, and Maikon Leite. At the last minute, the coach removed the latter and started with Luan playing wider on the left. However, just 6 minutes in, Dinei got injured and had to be replaced by Maikon Leite, who added more speed to Palmeiras' attack.

In fact, within a two-minute span, Palmeiras had two good scoring chances. At 11 minutes, Kléber shot just wide of Marcelo Lomba's goal. At 13 minutes, Maikon Leite had the opportunity, hitting a beautiful low shot from the edge of the area, but the ball struck the right post of the Bahia goal.

With tight marking from both sides, the game became more balanced after 15 minutes and, except for some flashes of brilliance from Kléber or Maikon Leite, what was mostly seen until the final moments of the first half were fouls, some quite violent. It wasn't until the 42nd minute that Palmeiras had another real scoring chance. Kléber shot from outside the area and the ball again stubbornly hit the post, failing to go in, of Bahia's goal.

After the break, Palmeiras continued to play slightly better than their rivals and were rewarded with a goal. In the 8th minute, Cicinho advanced down the right and crossed low into the six-yard box. Valdivia anticipated defender Paulo Miranda and slotted the ball into the right corner past Marcelo Lomba to open the scoring.

With the advantage, Palmeiras decided to adopt a more cautious approach and allowed Bahia to take control of the game. The result was an incredibly wasted chance by Diones in the 14th minute, and the equalizing goal in the 21st. Carlos Alberto took a free kick from the left, the Palmeiras defense stood still, and defender Titi, in an offside position, headed the ball before Marcos could reach it.