Lucas Andrade eyes best Copinha run as Palmeiras face Ituano | OneFootball

In his third São Paulo Junior Football Cup as the coach of Palmeiras, Lucas Andrade is close to matching his best campaign in the competition. The Verdão faces Ituano this Saturday (17th) at 10 am (Brasília time) at Arena Crefisa Barueri, in the round of 16 of the Copinha. If they qualify, 2026 will become the best campaign with Lucas on the bench, alongside 2025.

Leading Palmeiras since July 2023, the coach was in charge of the team in 2024 and 2025. In the first edition, they were eliminated early in the third phase against Aster Itaquá-SP, with a 1-0 defeat. In 2025, they were eliminated in the quarterfinals against Grêmio, by 3-2.

The coach, however, was part of Paulo Victor Gomes' technical staff in the Copinha's back-to-back championship wins in 2022 and 2022. As PV's assistant, he took over as the main coach after Paulo accepted an invitation from América-MEX.

The coach is in his second stint at Palmeiras — the first occurred between 2016 and 2020, as coach of both the Under-14 and Under-15 teams.

Lucas has accumulated 126 games as the coach of the São Paulo club's Under-20 team, considering official matches, with 89 wins, 24 draws, and 11 losses. Champion of the Under-20 Brazilian Championship in 2024 and 2025, the coach has already won the Under-20 Paulista (2023) and the Under-15 Paulista (2017 and 2019).

Campaign in the 2026 Copinha

Palmeiras has played five matches in the competition so far, with three wins and two draws, scoring 20 goals and conceding six – the team's top scorer in the tournament is the forward Sorriso, with five goals. The Under-20 team of Palestra has reached a streak of 23 unbeaten matches, with 17 wins and six draws in this period – the category's last defeat occurred in July 2025.

The Academy's Creations are in pursuit of their third Copinha title. In 2022, Verdão won the tournament for the first time by thrashing Santos 4-0 in the final at Allianz Parque, with goals from Endrick, Giovani, and Gabriel Silva (twice). The following year, they achieved the back-to-back title with a 2-1 victory over América-MG in the final at Canindé, with goals from Ruan Ribeiro and Patrick.

See Palmeiras' upcoming matches in the Copinha:

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.