Corinthians boss on RB Bragantino loss before Majestoso derby

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Central do Timão

·18. Januar 2026

Corinthians boss on RB Bragantino loss before Majestoso derby

By Fabio Luigi / Central do Timão Editorial Team

Corinthians was defeated by Red Bull Bragantino 3-0 on the night of last Thursday (15th), at the Cícero de Souza Marques Stadium, in the second round of the first phase of the Paulistão 2026. The result left the Corinthians team in eighth place – the last within the qualifying zone for the knockout stage of the tournament.

Right after the match, coach Dorival Júnior gave a press conference and was asked about a possible impact of the setback against Massa Bruta for the Majestic classic this Sunday (18th), at 4 pm (Brasília time), at Neo Química Arena, in the third round of the Paulista Championship. The coach believes that the midweek defeat 'should not affect anything'.

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Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians

“It should not affect anything. Just like the victory we had over the weekend, we didn't bring it to today. We need to have calmness and balance and play football close to what we did over the weekend. I have no doubt that we will have a ready, established, and recovered team, so that we can have not one, but God willing, two great games in the sequence of the competition,” he began.

He was then asked about Corinthians' possible interest in midfielder Alisson, 32, who belongs to São Paulo. The midfielder, in fact, worked with Dorival Júnior in 2023, when they both won the Copa do Brasil that year by beating Flamengo in the final. In that season, the player started playing as a midfielder and perhaps experienced the best moment of his career. Without a place in the Morumbi team since last year, the number 25 will not be listed for the Majestic this Sunday, according to ge.globo.

“He is a great player, but he is with our rival at the moment. I think we have to respect every situation. And, the boards, they talk. Players who interest São Paulo or, that belong to Corinthians, or Corinthians being interested in players from São Paulo. The conversations, they, they naturally flow within a normality and with great respect from the directors,” he continued.

Later, the coach responded about the debut forecasts of right-back Pedro Milans, 23, who was at Penãrol, Uruguay, and midfielder Matheus Pereira, who joined Alvinegro on loan until the end of the season and was officially announced last Friday (16th). The full-back, however, has not yet been officially announced. In his response, he mentions Gabriel Paulista, 35, who was the club's first reinforcement for 2026 and was playing regularly at Besiktas, Turkey.

“No, no forecast at all. First, we will prepare them. We need to know the moment of each one, they will have to go through exams, tests, so that later, yes, we can have them in condition. I think Gabriel was a very different situation. He was already playing, had no fear of being on the field, made a good presentation and the trend is for growth, as he is a player who will be, I have no doubt about it, very important throughout the season”, he continued.

Finally, Dorival Júnior avoided going into detail when asked about midfielder José Martínez, who is still waiting for the reissuance of his Venezuelan passport in his home country to be able to return to Brazil in the coming days: “Martinez is an enigma. I don't know. Until now I don't know, and I don't have a position.”

Check below other responses from the coach:

Pedro Raul and Gui Negão playing together

“Regardless of that, we played with Gui Negão and Yuri. We had mobility, movement, space attack. We are at the beginning of work with Pedro Raul and Gui returning to play after a good period. We need to have a little patience so that we can find the paths within each one's characteristics. It's very little training for them to already respond in the game.”

Influence on the choice of athletes in the face of defeat and the presence of some of them in the Majestic

“Look, I can't make an assessment based on one match. I have to be aware, balanced. And, I am responsible for the results. Rest assured. Every negative result, the responsibility is the coach's. The options were ours. I can't change this condition. Playing a match today, two and a half days, putting the same team, to be able to play in practically two consecutive classics, a third now, against the Red Bull team. And, I think we are dealing with the difficulties of the day and trying to alleviate them, working so that we can reduce this, this initial damage.”

“I already warned that we would have some difficulties at the beginning. We will have them, you can be sure of that. Due to all these details that we talked about, I know it's bad. We all want immediate results, just like the result of Ponte. I said: 'let's be calm, because it's just a beginning' and that's what will happen. Two complicated, difficult games. I hope we can have an even stronger team for these two matches.”

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