Underdog Day Afternoon: Atlético-PR, Ponte Preta & Sport thriving in the early madness of the Brazilian season

The Brazilian season is but six games old and already there is a feeling of familiarity to the proceedings. Not because the table is beginning to take shape in any predictable way – of which more in just a moment – but rather because of an all-too-familiar malaise in the division's dugouts.

It started with Luiz Felipe Scolari, sacked by Grêmio after two weeks of the campaign. Fluminense binned Ricardo Drubscky just a day later, before Flamengo axed Vanderlei Luxemburgo. Then came a whole week of respite, followed by four dismissals in a week. Marcelo Oliveira got the chop despite having guided Cruzeiro to back-to-back titles. Hemerson Maria and Marquinhos Santos paid for shaky starts with Joinville and Coritiba respectively. Then, on Tuesday, Palmeiras lost patience with Oswaldo de Oliveira.

So here we are, six games into the season and with seven managerial heads having rolled. It's like Game of Thrones, only far less interesting and with more defensive tactics.

Luckily, there have been some chinks of light amid the gloom. While the likes of Cruzeiro, Santos and Grêmio have floundered in the opening weeks, a number of less celebrated sides have taken the chance to stake a claim in the upper echelons of the table.

In my latest for WhoScored, I look at the surprise packages of the season thus far.