Palmeiras line-up: Paulinho trains indoors, doubt for Libertadores

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Nosso Palestra

·3 May 2026

Palmeiras line-up: Paulinho trains indoors, doubt for Libertadores

Palmeiras returned to training on the morning of this Sunday (03) at the Academia de Futebol, after drawing 1-1 with Santos Futebol Clube on Saturday (02) at Allianz Parque in the Brazilian Championship. With no time for regrets, the squad has already begun preparations for the clash against Sporting Cristal, scheduled for Tuesday (05) at 7 p.m. (Brasília time) at Alejandro Villanueva Stadium in Lima, for the Copa Libertadores.

Verdão currently sits in second place in Group F, with five points earned — the result of one win and two draws — and sees the match in Peru as crucial to moving closer to qualification.

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After the derby, the players who showed greater physical wear carried out recovery work at the recovery and neuroscience center. The rest of the squad went onto the pitch, where they took part in physical activities followed by technical drills in small spaces.

Forward Paulinho, who returned to action against Santos after surgery on his right leg, followed a specific schedule with the Health and Performance Center indoors at the training facility. The green-and-white delegation will travel to Lima later this Sunday, after lunch. On Monday (04), training will take place at 4 p.m. (local time) at the Peruvian national team’s training center.

Forward Paulinho traveled with the team, but he is still a doubt for the Conmebol Libertadores match.

One of the new faces in the derby was young Luis Pacheco, who came on in the 74th minute in place of Andreas Pereira. The Academy graduate played an active role in the team’s improvement in the second half and praised the opportunity he received.

“I want to thank God and all the coaching staff for the opportunity. In our daily work, I always try to train well, they (the players) always help me, and I’m very grateful to be able to play and be with them. At halftime, the staff spoke to us, we switched gears and came back focused for the second half so that, with the support of the fans, we could get the equalizer. We almost got the comeback, but now we have to move on because we can’t dwell too much on what’s already happened, but rather on what’s coming next.”

Looking ahead to the next challenge, the player stressed the need for total focus on the continental competition.

“We’re going to switch gears — now it’s Libertadores, the Brazilian Championship only comes back on the weekend. We have to focus on getting another win, which could be very important for qualification.”

Palmeiras’ record in Peru is overwhelmingly favorable. The club has won its last five matches in the country, including games against Alianza Lima, Melgar, Universitario, and Sporting Cristal itself. Peru is in fact the foreign country where Verdão has won the most: 28 victories in 42 matches, along with 97 goals scored — numbers that reinforce confidence ahead of the decisive clash.

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