Jair Ventura on Vitória home debut: We'll fight till the end | OneFootball

Vitória wrapped up preparations on Wednesday afternoon for the clash against Ceará, valid for the 26th round of the Campeonato Brasileiro. The match will take place this Thursday at 7:00 PM (Brasília time), at Barradão, and will mark Jair Ventura’s debut as head coach of the red-and-black in home games. The team currently sits in 18th place, with 22 points, and is coming off a 3-1 defeat to Grêmio in Porto Alegre.

The Vitória coach led the team for the first time last Sunday, against the Tricolor from Rio Grande do Sul. Now, making his home debut and with the support of the fans, he is betting on the strength of Barradão to start the turnaround.

“Having this crowd on our side will be good. So others can suffer a little of what I’ve already suffered. We know the strength of our home, and playing with the fans we have every chance to win. As long as there’s a chance, we’ll fight until the end and give our all here so Vitória can stay in Série A,” said the coach.

With the support of the fans, the Leão seeks to get back to winning ways in Salvador to move away from the relegation zone.

Final adjustments at Barradão

In Wednesday’s training session at the stadium, Jair Ventura took all the players onto the pitch and oversaw the first activities, which began with the traditional rondo and physical activation drills. Next, he led tactical exercises, simulating game situations and testing strategies planned to face Vozão.

The preparation was divided into two main stages. First, a defensive set-piece drill, focusing on neutralizing the opponent’s aerial plays. Then, with only the starting players, the coach rehearsed offensive set-pieces for corners and free kicks. Meanwhile, the other players took part in small-sided games under the guidance of the coaching staff.

After training, the squad went to the Vidigal Guimarães training center. The main new addition to the squad is the Italo-Ecuadorian Kike Saverio, a recent signing who came up through Barcelona’s youth academy. In addition to him, Dudu and Pepê return after serving suspensions.

The probable starting lineup for Vitória is: Lucas Arcanjo; Cáceres, Lucas Halter, Camutanga and Ramon; Dudu, Pepê and Aitor Cantalapiedra; Erick, Osvaldo and Renato Kayzer.

The opponent

Ceará comes in on a high after beating São Paulo 1-0 and sits in 11th place with 31 points. The head-to-head record between the teams shows balance: in 42 matches, Vitória has won 15, Ceará 14, and there have been 13 draws. In the last six encounters, each team has won three times.

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