Atletico Mineiro beat Bahia 3-2 on Thursday to win their first Brazilian league title in 50 years.
Diego Costa, 33, played his part alongside Hulk, 35, in helping Mineiro win their first league title in 50 years and in the process destroy the Flamengo/Santos axis that has dominated this league in recent times.
Atletico were 2-0 down after 66 minutes but scored three times in the last 17 minutes, the last two from winger Keno, to give them an unassailable 11-point advantage at the top of the Brazilian Serie-A with their closest rivals having three matches to play.
Keno was the key man on the night but it was Hulk, the scorer of Atletico’s first goal, who was at the heart of their title run.
The 35-year-old has enjoyed an unforgettable season, scoring 18 goals to top the Serie A scoring charts, since joining the team in February.
Diego Costa also bolstered the strike force further when he joined the club in August. In the 14 games that he featured in some capacity for Atletico, the serial-winning striker still managed a respectful five goal contributions to the course.
After leading the club to their first and only Copa Libertadores, head coach, Alexi Stival, commonly known as Cuca further cemented his name in the Atletico pantheon.
The last time Atletico won the Brazilian title was in 1971, the year Brazil inaugurated its first national league after decades of prioritising state championships.
The club have two more league matches to play and then will aim to do the double with the Copa do Brasil, which is played over two legs against Athletico Paranaense on Dec. 12 and 16.
Atletico have the second-best attack and the best defence in the league, losing just 10 games in a calendar year of 82 matches.
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