Centre-back duo overlooked by Dorival Júnior in Corinthians’ recent matches

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Central do Timão

·23 September 2025

Centre-back duo overlooked by Dorival Júnior in Corinthians’ recent matches

By Daniel Keppler / Central do Timão Editorial Team

Throughout the current season, Corinthians has been suffering from serious instability in the squad, preventing coaches from repeating line-ups due to injuries and suspensions. However, in recent weeks, a pattern has been repeating in the black and white defense: the almost absence of minutes for Cacá and Félix Torres, whether starting games or coming on during matches.

The minute count of both reflects this absence: according to data from Central do Timão, the two defenders, together, were on the field for only 87 minutes in the last nine Corinthians matches, with 55 minutes for Cacá and 32 minutes for Félix Torres. Additionally, 82% of this time (71 minutes) occurred in just one game: the 1-0 victory over Athletico-PR in the Copa do Brasil.

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On the other hand, in six games of this recent series, both did not play a single minute, remaining on the bench. Even João Pedro Tchoca played more during this period, totaling 119 minutes – 90 of which in the Timão's 2-0 victory over Athletico-PR in the Copa do Brasil, in which he was a starter – in yet another sign of the loss of space for Cacá and Félix Torres with Dorival Júnior.

The situation, however, does not represent the same level of status change for both athletes, as Félix Torres, for example, never had a high minute count with the current Corinthians coach. In the 27 games under his command, the Ecuadorian totaled only 458 minutes, of which 327 minutes as an improvised right-back and only 131 minutes in his usual position.

On the other hand, Cacá's recent minute count represents a clear change compared to the beginning of Dorival's work. This is because, while Gustavo Henrique was injured, it was Cacá who was chosen by the coach to form the black and white center-back duo with André Ramalho – this duo played together in nine of the 12 Corinthians games in which Gustavo Henrique was unavailable due to some injury or muscle fatigue, repeating for the last time in the 1-1 draw against Fortaleza, where Timão rested starters.

With the return of Gustavo Henrique, the athlete took his place in the starting lineup replacing Cacá, and has not left since, forming the starting center-back duo of Corinthians with André Ramalho in no less than ten of the team's last 13 games. Besides the match against Fortaleza, the other exceptions occurred in the 1-1 draw against Botafogo (another game with a mixed team) and in the 2-0 victory over Athletico-PR in the Copa do Brasil, due to a virus that kept André Ramalho even off the bench.

Regarding performance, curiously, there are no noticeable differences. In the ten games with the duo Gustavo Henrique and André Ramalho, Corinthians won five games, drew two and lost three, scoring 11 goals and conceding nine, recording a point efficiency of 56.7% and an average of 0.9 goals conceded per game.

It is worth noting that, in this sequence, are included the two Derbys won by Timão in the Copa do Brasil with an aggregate score of 3-0, in addition to four away victories. On the negative side, however, it is important to point out the performance at Neo Química Arena, where Alvinegro won only four of the 12 points disputed with the duo in defense.

On the other hand, in the 11 games where the starting center-back duo of Corinthians was Cacá and André Ramalho, the team won five times, drew four and lost two, scoring 11 goals and conceding seven, thus recording a point efficiency of 57.6% and an average of 0.6 goals conceded per game – a considerably better rate.

It is worth highlighting the duo's unbeaten record at Neo Química Arena, where the team recorded four victories and two draws in the six games where the defense was formed by the two athletes. However, it was also during this sequence that Corinthians scored only one point against América de Cali-COL and Huracán-ARG, in a performance that sealed the team's elimination in the group stage of the South American Cup, as well as the defeat to São Paulo by 2-0 in the Brasileirão.

In the other six games under Dorival's command, Corinthians alternated the center-back duo. Two of them were played with Cacá and Tchoca (1-1 against Botafogo and 0-0 against Atlético-MG), one with Gustavo Henrique and Tchoca (2-0 against Athletico-PR), one with Gustavo Henrique and Cacá (1-2 against Red Bull Bragantino), one with Cacá and Félix Torres (1-2 against Mirassol) and, finally, one with André Ramalho and Tchoca (1-0 against Racing-URU).

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