| Competition: | Campeonato Brasileiro Série A |
| Season: | 2011 |
| Winners: | Corinthians 5th Campeonato Brasileiro title 5th Brazilian title |
| Relegated: | Atlético Paranaense Ceará América-MG Avaí |
| Continentalcup1: | Copa Libertadores |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Santos (title holder) Corinthians Fluminense Flamengo Internacional |
| Continentalcup2: | Copa Sudamericana |
| Continentalcup2 Qualifiers: | São Paulo Figueirense Coritiba Botafogo Palmeiras Grêmio Atlético Goianiense Bahia |
| Matches: | 380 |
| Total Goals: | 1017 |
| League Topscorer: | Borges (23 goals) |
| Biggest Home Win: | Cruzeiro 6-1 Atlético Mineiro (December 4)[1] Coritiba 5–0 Botafogo (September 11) Cruzeiro 5–0 Avaí (August 13) Palmeiras 5–0 Avaí (June 19) Corinthians 5–0 São Paulo (June 16) |
| Biggest Away Win: | Atlético Mineiro 0–4 Internacional (June 30) Figueirense 0-4 Fluminense (November 20) |
| Highest Scoring: | Santos 4–5 Flamengo (July 27) Fluminense 5-4 Grêmio (November 16) |
| Longest Wins: | 7 games — Corinthians (June 12–July 28) |
| Longest Unbeaten: | 16 games — Flamengo (May 21–August 18) |
| Longest Winless: | 12 games - Cruzeiro (August 28-current) |
| Longest Losses: | 5 games — Botafogo (November 5–current) |
| Highest Attendance: | 63,871 — October 2, 2011 (São Paulo 1-2 Flamengo) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 732 — July 31, 2011 (América (MG) 1-3 Coritiba) |
| Average Attendance: | 14,600 |
| Prevseason: | 2010 |
| Nextseason: | 2012 |
The 2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (officially the Brasileirão Petrobras 2011 for sponsorship reasons) was the 55th edition of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the top-level of professional football in Brazil. It began on May 21 and was scheduled to end on December 4.[2] Fluminense comes in as the defending champion having won the 2010 season.
For the ninth consecutive season, the tournament will be played in a double round-robin system. The team with most points will be declared the champion. The bottom-four teams will be relegated for the following season.
The Série A will serve as a qualifier to CONMEBOL's 2012 international tournaments. The top-two teams in the standings will qualify to the Second Stage of the 2012 Copa Libertadores, while the next third and fourth place in the standings will qualify to the First Stage. The next eight best teams in the standings will earn berths to the Second Stage of the 2012 Copa Sudamericana.
Vitória, Guarani, Goiás and Grêmio Prudente were relegated to the 2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série B after finishing in the bottom four spots of the table at the end of the 2010 season. Goiás were relegated to the Série B after eleven seasons of continuous membership in the top football league of Brazil, while Vitória ended a three-year tenure in Série A and Grêmio Prudente ended a two-year appearance. Guarani made their immediate return to the second level.
The four relegated teams were replaced by four 2010 Série B sides. Champions Coritiba, made their immediate return to Série A, runners-up Figueirense, who returned after two years, third placed Bahia, who returned to the top flight after seven seasons at lower levels, and fourth placed América Mineiro, who returned to the league for the first time in eight years.
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Replaced by | Date of appointment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santos | Adílson Batista | Sacked | February 27 | Pre-season | Muricy Ramalho | April 8 | |
| Fluminense | Muricy Ramalho | Resigned | March 13 | Pre-season | Abel Braga | June 8 | |
| Ceará | Dimas Filgueiras | Contract ended | March 31 | Pre-season | Vágner Mancini | April 1 | |
| Atlético Goianiense | Renê Simões | Sacked | April 1 | Pre-season | Paulo César Gusmão | April 3 | |
| Atlético Paranaense | Geninho | Sacked | April 4 | Pre-season | Adílson Batista | April 5 | |
| Internacional | Celso Roth | Sacked | April 8 | Pre-season | Falcão | April 14 | |
| Bahia | Vágner Benazzi | Sacked | April 10 | Pre-season | Renê Simões | April 14 | |
| Avaí | Silas | Left to sign with Al-Arabi | June 8 | 20th | Alexandre Gallo | June 14 | |
| Cruzeiro | Cuca | Sacked | June 19 | 18th | Joel Santana | June 20 | |
| Grêmio | Renato Gaúcho | Sacked | June 30 | 12th | Júlio Camargo | July 2 | |
| Atlético Paranaense | Adílson Batista | Sacked | July 2 | 20th | Renato Gaúcho | July 4 | |
| São Paulo | Paulo César Carpegiani | Sacked | July 7 | 3rd | Adílson Batista | July 16 | |
| América (MG) | Mauro Fernandes | Sacked | July 11 | 18th | Antônio Lopes | July 12 | |
| Internacional | Falcão | Sacked | July 18 | 8th | Dorival Júnior | August 12 | |
| Atlético Goianiense | Paulo César Gusmão | Personal problems | July 21 | 17th | Hélio dos Anjos | August 12 | |
| América (MG) | Antônio Lopes | Resigned | August 1 | 20th | Givanildo Oliveira | August 2 | |
| Grêmio | Júlio Camargo | Sacked | August 4 | 15th | Celso Roth | August 4 | |
| Atlético Mineiro | Dorival Júnior | Sacked | August 7 | 14th | Cuca | August 8 | |
| Avaí | Alexandre Gallo | Sacked | August 18 | 19th | Toninho Cecílio | August 22 | |
| Vasco da Gama | Ricardo Gomes | Health problems (temporarily) | August 28 | 4th | Cristóvão Borges (caretaker) | August 29 | |
| Atlético Paranaense | Renato Gaúcho | Resigned | September 1 | 19th | Antônio Lopes | September 1 | |
| Cruzeiro | Joel Santana | Sacked | September 2 | 11th | Emerson Ávila | September 2 | |
| Bahia | René Simões | Sacked | September 2 | 16th | Joel Santana | September 4 | |
| Ceará | Vágner Mancini | Sacked | September 11 | 15th | Estevam Soares | September 14 | |
| Cruzeiro | Emerson Ávila | Sacked | September 26 | 16th | Vágner Mancini | September 26 | |
| São Paulo | Adílson Batista | Sacked | October 16 | 6th | Émerson Leão | October 24 | |
| Ceará | Estevam Soares | Sacked | October 23 | 17th | Dimas Filgueiras | October 24 | |
| Avaí | Toninho Cecílio | Sacked | November 14 | 20th | Edson Neguinho (caretaker) | November 14 | |
| Botafogo | Caio Júnior | Sacked | November 17 | 5th | Flavio Tenius (caretaker) | November 17 |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Club | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center rowspan=1 | 1 | Borges |  Brazil | Santos | 23 |
| align=center rowspan=1 | 2 | Fred | Brazil | Fluminense | 22 |
| align=center rowspan=1 | 3 | Deivid | Brazil | Flamengo | 15 |
| align=center rowspan=3 | 4 | Leandro Damião | Brazil | Internacional | 14 |
| Ronaldinho | Brazil | Flamengo | 14 | ||
| William | Brazil | Avaí | 14 | ||
| align=center rowspan=3 | 7 | Sebastián Abreu | Botafogo | 13 | |
| Kempes | Brazil | América-MG | 13 | ||
| Neymar | Brazil | Santos | 13 | ||
| align=center rowspan=4 | 10 | Anselmo | Brazil | Atlético Goianiense | 12 |
| Liédson | Corinthians | 12 | |||
| Walter Montillo |  Argentina | Cruzeiro | 12 | ||
| Thiago Neves | Brazil | Flamengo | 12 | ||