Bahia to start two ex-São Paulo players, not Rodrigo Nestor | OneFootball

Rival of São Paulo in the upcoming round of the Brasileirão, Bahia finished their preparations this Friday (24th) for the match that will take place at Morumbi on Saturday (25th) at 9:30 PM (Brasília time). And Rogério Ceni is expected to field two former Tricolor players.

No, this is not about Rodrigo Nestor, who is currently on loan from São Paulo to Bahia, but is allowed to play against his former club due to the contract signed between the teams, which is expected to result in the northeastern team purchasing the midfielder developed in Cotia. According to the local press, the player is likely to start on the bench.

Coach Ceni is also dealing with some absences in the squad, though not as many as the Tricolor. Even so, he remains without Caio Alexandre, Everton Ribeiro, Ruan Pablo, David Duarte, and Erick Pulga.

Thus, Bahia is expected to take the field with some familiar faces for the Tricolor fans, midfielder Michel Araújo, the Uruguayan who had an unremarkable stint at Tricolor, and Willian José, now a veteran striker at 33 years old, who played for São Paulo between 2011 and 2012, back when his current coach Rogério was still defending the club’s goal.

Therefore, a likely Bahia lineup is: Ronaldo; Gilberto, Gabriel Xavier, Ramos Mingo, and Luciano Juba; Acevedo, Jean Lucas, and Michel Araújo; Ademir, Sanabria (Tiago or Kayky), and Willian José.

The match, despite a certain distance between the teams in the standings, is quite decisive for both sides, who are fighting for a spot in the 2026 Copa Libertadores. Bahia is in 5th place, while Tricolor sits 9th in the table.

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