Corinthians boss on Memphis, Bidu fatigue before Paulistão decider

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Central do Timão

·23 February 2026

Corinthians boss on Memphis, Bidu fatigue before Paulistão decider

By Henrique Vigliotti/Central do Timão Editorial Team

Coach Dorival Jr gave a press conference after the 1-1 draw between Corinthians and Portuguesa, and the black-and-white team’s advancement on penalties by 8-7, with Hugo Souza shining by saving the last decisive kick to secure their place in the state semifinals.

When talking about the fatigue of Memphis Depay and Matheus Bidu, Dorival Jr highlighted the lack of preseason and the sequence of matches faced by Timão at the start of this season: “Bidu is going into his seventh match. Memphis, without having had a preseason, also hasn’t reached his peak. The difficulties will be even greater. We haven’t had a free week. At every moment, thank God, we have the possibility of a decisive match. We are doing everything within our reach. Cruzeiro played yesterday, we played today. We’ll face them on Wednesday, with a day and a half more recovery than us. It makes a huge difference, but we’re obliged to go there and give our best. If we hadn’t scored the equalizer, they’d say it’s just complaining. I’m already anticipating the situation.”

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Photo: Alexandre Schneider/Getty Images

It’s worth noting that Memphis was replaced by Pedro Raul and, already on the bench, started icing his left knee. Matheus Bidu left the field at the 44th minute of the second half and also used ice on both ankles as he headed to the bench.

Dorival Jr also updated the physical and technical situation of Moroccan midfielder Zakaria Labyad, a name initially suggested by Memphis: “He is working based on physical conditioning. He was out for a longer period, and needs to regain strength. I don’t want to make any evaluations. Fabrizio progressed faster because he was already working, so he was on the bench. If he had to come in, he would have, but not yet at his best. We need to be patient with Zakaria so he can reach his best condition. Starting tomorrow, we’ll begin a new phase with Zakaria.”

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