This confirmed the end-of-cycle of Renato Portaluppi in the club. The iconic coach led Grêmio into great achievements, but it seems that he lost momentum at the club, as this season ended up showing.
The final 6th place hides up the immense problems that this team had during the season. Grêmio became a very bleak and predictable team in attack, and was only able to pick points thanks to their strong defensive players. Tricolores picked 8 draws in the first 12 rounds and only 2 wins.
Eventually, Grêmio improved, and went on into an impressive series of 16 games without defeats, from October to late January. However, not only they failed to impress on the pitch (there was always the feeling Grêmio was never in complete control in the games), they were also eliminated from Libertadores during the period.
Some injury and Covid issues led to the team dropping the levels once again and, from round 29 to 34, Grêmio picked no wins at all, and at this time it became clear that there was also a problem with motivation among key players.
The last rounds were irregular, as Grêmio was resting their players for the two games that may save the entire season: Grêmio will face Palmeiras in the end of February to dispute Brazilian Cup final.
All in all, Grêmio is on a crossroad, at this point. Several players spend more time in medical department than on the pitch; a few others (Pepê, Jean Pyerre, Matheus H.) should push for a departure to Europe; and Renato Portaluppi will either leave or be forced to reshape his own approach to the management of the team.
