Corinthians defender looks ahead to Santos derby away in the Brasileirão | OneFootball

Corinthians is seeking a recovery in the Brazilian Championship after losing to Coritiba by a score of 2-0 last Wednesday night (11th), in the fifth round of the national tournament, at Neo Química Arena. On the afternoon of this Sunday (15th), at 4:00 p.m. (Brasília time), the Alvinegro will visit Santos at Vila Belmiro for the sixth round of the competition. Currently, the Corinthians team is in tenth place with seven points—five goals scored and five conceded.

In an interview with Corinthians TV, defender Gabriel Paulista emphasized the importance of bouncing back this season after the negative result in midweek and looked ahead to the Alvinegro derby in Baixada Santista. This year, the teams faced each other in the first phase of the Paulistão, also at Vila Belmiro, and the match ended in a 1-1 draw. The club from Parque São Jorge had complete control of the game for the full 90 minutes on that occasion, but in the end, they were ‘punished’ with a free-kick goal from their rival.

Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians

“When it comes to a derby, the expectations are always high, and we want to turn around what happened in the last match. So we are ready and prepared both physically and psychologically. We want to play a great game. We’re going after the three points, which is the most important thing, and we know how difficult it will be. In the Paulista Championship match, we played really well, unfortunately it was a draw, even though we deserved the win. But that’s the mentality: to go to Vila and get the three points, which is our main goal,” he said.

Gabriel Paulista joined Corinthians at the start of this season after terminating his contract with Besiktas, Turkey, where he spent two seasons. Developed in the youth systems of Taboão da Serra and Vitória, the defender left Brazil for Villarreal, Spain, in 2013. He then played for Arsenal (England), Valencia (Spain), and Atlético de Madrid (Spain), before arriving in Turkish football. Now an undisputed starter in Corinthians’ defense, he has played 11 matches for the club so far and has already won a title: the 2026 Supercopa do Brasil, against Flamengo, at Mané Garrincha Stadium in Brasília.

After facing Santos away from home, Corinthians will keep its focus on the national competition. That’s because, next Thursday (19th), at 9:30 p.m. (Brasília time), at Arena Condá, they will face Chapecoense in the seventh round of the Brasileirão. Three days later, on Sunday (22nd), they will take on Flamengo at Neo Química Arena at 8:30 p.m., for the eighth round of the tournament, in a rematch of the Supercopa final.

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