Bahia and Jequié face each other in the 1st round of the Bahia Championship on the night of this Wednesday, January 17, 2024, starting at 9:30 pm. The match will be played at Arena Fonte Nova, in the city of Salvador.
Bahia
Current Bahian champion and owner of 50 state titles in its history, Bahia arrives as a great power in the dispute for the trophy also in 2024 and promises to do well after its board invests in important signings to further strengthen its squad.
In the previous season, in addition to the Bahian title, Tricolor da Capital also managed to fulfill its main objective of escaping relegation to Series B of the Brazilian Championship by adding important points in the final stretch, with the right to an overwhelming victory over the good Atlético-MG team in the decisive round.
Their most recent duel was the 4-1 triumph over Atlético-MG, being fundamental for the club’s stay in the national elite and filling them with confidence to start 2024 in the best possible way.
The team is led by coach Rogério Ceni and should already have some starters in its first round.
There were 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats in the last 5 officially played matches, beating Corinthians and Atlético-MG, in addition to drawing with Athletico-PR and losing to São Paulo and also to América-MG.
Playing as home team, the Bahia team has a recent record with 5 wins, 3 draws and only 2 defeats in the last 10 matches played.
Jequié
Jequié, on the other hand, faced Bahia in the state elite in 2018 and 2019, but does not have good memories, considering that they lost 6-1 and 5-0, respectively.
The team then fell to the second division of Bahia, but managed to record a good campaign last season to confirm their return to the state elite in August 2024, when they beat Jacobina 2-1 on aggregate in the grand final of the second division.
There were 2 wins, 2 draws and only 1 defeat in the last 5 games played officially, beating Jacobina and Grapiuna, drawing with Jacobina and also with Grapiuna, in addition to losing to Vitória da Conquista.
In the last 10 times they entered the field as visitors, the Jequié team recorded a recent campaign with 2 wins, 4 draws and 4 defeats.
Conclusion:
Owner of an infinitely greater purchasing power than their opponent, Bahia arrives for this duel with enormous favoritism, especially after celebrating their permanence in the national elite at the end of last year, in addition to also having the tradition of having already won 50 titles state championships and arrives motivated in search of the second consecutive championship in a debut against the modest Jequié, who was in the second division.