Loss to Santos rings alarm bells, exposes São Paulo's dire derby form | OneFootball

The comeback loss to Santos on Friday (2) laid bare that São Paulo are going through one of their most delicate periods in direct clashes against local rivals this century.

With the recent run of negative results, the Tricolor side has reached unfavorable statistical marks that had not been seen in a decade.

By piling up five consecutive defeats against their traditional opponents, the club matched a drought not seen since the period between October 2015 and March 2016. In nearly a century of professional history, this is only the seventh time São Paulo have reached such a mark. The institution’s absolute negative record belongs to the two-year spells of 1936–1937 and 1939–1940, when the team suffered seven straight defeats in Paulista derbies.

The broader recent record also reflects this instability: the team managed just one win in their last 12 matches against direct rivals. Historically, worse numbers than this stretch had only been seen on seven previous occasions, notably between 1936 and 1938, when the club recorded just one victory over a span of 22 derbies.

On the national stage in the 2026 season, São Paulo lead the negative defensive rankings among teams in Brazil’s Serie A. The Tricolor share with Botafogo the unwanted distinction of being the club with the highest number of derby defeats this year, with six losses. In addition, the São Paulo side sit top of the ranking of most porous defenses in those clashes in 2026, having conceded 15 goals, ahead of the Rio club (14) and Avaí (12).

The current slump reflects a trend seen over recent years. In the overall tally of wins in Paulista derbies played this century, São Paulo rank fourth among the state’s four big clubs, with 88 victories, behind Corinthians (92), Palmeiras (97), and Santos, who lead the statistic with 98 wins since 2001.

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