Unbeaten at rivals Palmeiras, Allan Barcellos jabs at São Paulo over move | OneFootball

Leading the Brazilian U-20 Championship and still unbeaten since taking over Palmeiras’ youth setup, coach Allan Barcellos continues to find success—now from the other side.

In just over a month at his new club, Barcellos has already coached Palmeiras in eight matches without tasting defeat. He took over the lead in the national youth league after a 1–0 win over Corinthians in a derby played this Tuesday (19). Meanwhile, his successor at Tricolor, Júlio Baptista finally managed to get his first win with São Paulo’s U-20 side.

After a turbulent departure from Tricolor following the club’s unfulfilled promise to gradually integrate Barcellos into the senior team, the coach was full of praise for his new home while also taking some subtle digs at São Paulo.

“There is enthusiasm, a very good energy when it comes to bringing the U-20s and the senior team closer together. Here, we all have a clear direction and believe in this process,” Allan Barcellos said in an interview with Globo Esporte.

“Perhaps, in this short time since I’ve been experiencing this transition process, it has been the smoothest transition. Because of the openness, but also because of the communication link, the way people are treated, the clarity the club has, and the care the club takes with this bottleneck in the transition between the U-20s and the senior team,” he continued.

“Palmeiras does not want to lose, does not want to let any detail slip in that regard, because I think this is the most difficult moment within a club’s development process.”

One of the main difficulties Allan pointed out in making that process work at his former club was the distance between the Barra Funda and Cotia training centers, where São Paulo houses its youth players.

“It is very much related to a method within a transition stage for young players that is very demanding, which is from the U-20s to the senior team. So in the end, we don’t talk much, and when we are at different training centers, that communication becomes even more distant,” he said.

However, Barcellos did not fail to express his affection for Tricolor, where he won the 2025 Copa São Paulo and the U-20 Copa do Brasil in the same year.

“I’m very grateful to São Paulo, to the people who were there, the fans and the players—especially the players, who may not even realize it, but how much they taught us and continue to teach us, so I’m very grateful to the institution,” the coach said.

Tricolor is still feeling the effects of Barcellos’ departure. The club even took a while to officially announce Baptista, who is still seeking better results with the youth team at the start of his tenure.

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