1979 Campeonato Gaúcho

The 59th season of the Campeonato Gaúcho kicked off on March 7, 1979 and ended in December 16, 1979. Twenty teams participated. Grêmio won their 21st title. 14 de Julho de Passo Fundo and Cachoeira were relegated.

Participating teams

Club	Stadium	Home location	Previous season
14 de Julho	Vermelhão da Serra	Passo Fundo	13th
Avenida	Eucaliptos	Santa Cruz do Sul	3rd (Second level)
Brasil	Bento Freitas	Pelotas	16th
Cachoeira	Joaquim Vidal	Cachoeira do Sul	2nd (Second level)
Caxias	Centenário	Caxias do Sul	3rd
Esportivo	Montanha	Bento Gonçalves	4th
Estrela	Walter Jobim	Estrela	9th
Farroupilha	Nicolau Fico	Pelotas	17th
Gaúcho	Wolmar Salton	Passo Fundo	10th
Grêmio	Pedra Moura	Bagé	11th
Grêmio	Olímpico	Porto Alegre	2nd
Guarany	Estrela D'Alva	Bagé	14th
Internacional	Beira-Rio	Porto Alegre	1st
Internacional	Presidente Vargas	Santa Maria	12th
Juventude	Alfredo Jaconi	Caxias do Sul	5th
Novo Hamburgo	Santa Rosa	Novo Hamburgo	6th
Pelotas	Boca do Lobo	Pelotas	7th
Riograndense	Eucaliptos	Santa Maria	1st (Second level)
São Borja	Vicente Goulart	São Borja	8th
São Paulo	Aldo Dapuzzo	Rio Grande	15th

System

The championship would have four stages.:

• First phase: The twenty clubs played each other in a double round-robin system. The eight best teams qualified to the Final phase, with the best teams in each round and the team with the best overall record earning one bonus point. the other teams in the sum of both rounds would dispute the Torneio de Descenso.
• Torneio de Descenso: The twelve teams would be divided into two groups of six teams, in which each team played the teams if its own group in a double round-robin system. The team with the fewest points in each group would qualify to the Torneio da Morte.
• Torneio da Morte: Played in two-legged knockout ties. In the Semifinals, the two teams from the Torneio de Descenso would play each other, with the loser being relegated, and in the Finals, the winner of the Semifinals would play against the runners-up of the Second level, with the winner qualifying to the First level.
• Final phase: The eight remaining teams played each other in a double round-robin system; the team with the most points won the title.

Championship

First phase

Extra point playoff

Juventude v Esportivo

25 July 1979

Juventude	1 – 0	Esportivo
Cacau

Alfredo Jaconi, Caxias do Sul

Torneio de Descenso

Torneio da Morte

	Semi-finals						Final
	Cachoeira	1	2	3
	14 de Julho de Passo Fundo	0	0	0
							14 de Julho de Santana do Livramento (e)	2	1	3
							Cachoeira	0	1	1

Semifinals

Cachoeira v 14 de Julho de Passo Fundo

21 October 1979

Cachoeira	1 – 0	14 de Julho de Passo Fundo
Neves  40'

Joaquim Vidal, Cachoeira do Sul Referee: José Mocellin

14 de Julho de Passo Fundo v Cachoeira

25 October 1979

14 de Julho de Passo Fundo	0 – 2	Cachoeira
		Paulo Afonso  50' Idelmiro  60'

Vermelhão da Serra, Passo Fundo Referee: Leonel Antônio Pandolfo

Cachoeira advances; 14 de Julho de Passo Fundo relegated

Finals

14 de Julho de Santana do Livramento v Cachoeira

9 December 1979

14 de Julho de Santana do Livramento	2 – 0	Cachoeira
Leopoldo  44', 77'

João Martins, Santana do Livramento Referee: Ruy Silva Cañedo

Cachoeira v 14 de Julho de Santana do Livramento

16 December 1979

Cachoeira	1 – 1 (a.e.t.)	14 de Julho de Santana do Livramento
Badeco  70'		Tourinho  98'

Joaquim Vidal, Cachoeira do Sul Referee: Zeno Escobar Barbosa

14 de Julho de Santana do Livramento promoted; Cachoeira relegated