alongside Jucilei, while Bruno César left for Benfica. The team, already without Elias and soon to be without Dentinho, who would leave the club for Shakhtar Donetsk, needed an overhaul. Tite enlisted the help of Portuguese international – and native Brazilian – Liédson, who returned to Brazil to join Corinthians. 2011 Campeonato Paulista Soon after its Libertadores defeat, Corinthians had to face their rivals, Palmeiras, on the Campeonato Paulista. With Tite's job on the line, Corinthians won the derby by 1 goal to 0. Picking up important victories on the competition, Corinthians had qualified to the final stage of the Paulistão, defeating Oeste in the quarter-finals, Palmeiras in the semi-finals, and drawing against Santos on the first leg of the finals. Santos, however, won 2–1 in the second leg of the final match, winning their second state title in a row. 2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Off to an impressive start on the Brasileirão with a ten-game undefeated streak, Corinthians spent most of the first half of the 2011 season as the leader of the competition, in spite of moments of instability, such as its defeats against Avaí and rivals Palmeiras, coupled with draws against lower table clubs such as Ceará. With a diminished performance during the second half of the season, Tite's job as a coach was being questioned by the fans, after repeated losses and a two-loss streak against Fluminense and Santos. The club president, Andrés Sanchez, did not budge and kept backing Tite's status as manager. Facing São Paulo in a derby match, Tite decided to remove club captain, the defender Chicão from the starting 11. The match ended in a goalless draw, quelling the demands of the fans and helping maintain Tite's managing position. Earning important, but sometimes lackluster, results, including a 0–0 draw against direct competitors for the title Vasco da Gama, Tite's Corinthians went on undefeated until the 29th round, when it lost to Botafogo. In the 33rd round, Corinthians lost against América-MG, in a great upset. América, virtually relegated and firmly entrenched on the last place of the league, played at home, but decided to sell all of their game tickets to the opposing fans to improve finances, as América's matches typically had very low fan attendance. In front of a capacity crowd of corintianos, América defeated Corinthians 2–1, finally improving its condition on the league table. With five games to go until the end