Palmeiras turn 111, eyeing titles despite squad overhaul | OneFootball

Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras celebrates, this Tuesday, August 26, 2025, 111 years of history. An early gift was the 3-0 victory over Sport in the Brazilian Championship, a result that extends the team's unbeaten run in the tournament to eight games.

In the match, Verdão debuted their third kit, launched last Monday, in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the club representing the Brazilian National Team in a 3-0 win over Uruguay, in a friendly played on September 7, 1965—one of the many memorable moments in their 111 years of existence.

This season, the club is undergoing a major squad overhaul. With many departures and arrivals, Palmeiras is still trying to find its best formation to continue fighting for the Brazilian Championship, where it is the runner-up, and for the Libertadores, a tournament in which it has reached the quarterfinals, aiming to snatch at least one trophy to maintain its champion routine of recent years.

On the eve of its anniversary, the club went through turbulent times—with protests and demands—and reached August without having won any titles yet. Since 2020, Palmeiras has won at least one title per year. A finalist for the sixth consecutive year, it let the Paulista Championship slip away and was knocked out of the Copa do Brasil early, in the round of 16, with Corinthians being the nemesis in both instances.

And, in fact, it is against their archrival that Verdão will play their first match at 111 years old. The Derby is scheduled for next Sunday at 6:30 pm (Brasília time). The ball will roll for the 22nd round of the Brasileirão at Neo Química Arena. In the tournament race, Verdão aims to maintain its unbeaten streak and keep chasing Flamengo, who are four points ahead.

In the year it turns 111, Palmeiras also cherishes a special moment: the participation in the first edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, held in the United States. In a group with Al Ahly (EGY), Porto (POR), and Inter Miami (USA), Verdão advanced as group leader. In the round of 16, they beat Botafogo with a goal from Paulinho—currently recovering from surgery on his right leg—but ended up falling in the quarterfinals to Chelsea.

Strong investment and overhaul

Palmeiras celebrates its fifth anniversary with the same coaching staff, led by coach Abel Ferreira. Since October 2020 at the helm, the coach has never had to deal with such a major overhaul as this season and is still trying to give his squad the best possible shape.

Unlike previous years, Palmeiras “let go” of its experienced leaders and closed some cycles. Between the end of last year and now, the club has said goodbye to 16 players. They are: Caio Paulista (loan), Dudu, Estêvão, Fabinho, Gabriel Menino, Jhon Jhon, Lázaro, Marcos Rocha, Mateus, Mayke, Naves (loan), Richard Ríos, Rony, Vanderlan Vitor Reis, and Zé Rafael.

On the other hand, the club was aggressive in the market with major investments, bringing in names like Vitor Roque and Paulinho, who hold the titles of the club’s most expensive signings. Also arriving were Bruno Fuchs (loan), Carlos Miguel, Emiliano Martínez, Facundo Torres, Khellven, Jefté, Lucas Evangelista, Micael, and Ramón Sosa. In addition, the club is negotiating the arrival of Andreas Pereira from Fulham.

In total, this year, the club has already invested just over R$ 600 million. In this context, Palmeiras is also negotiating the stay of coach Abel Ferreira. President Leila Pereira, whose term runs until the end of 2027, wants to extend the coach’s contract until the end of her administration. The agreement is underway and only awaits the coach’s signature.

Highlight of recent years, U-20 has “decision” scheduled on the anniversary

Palmeiras has been a benchmark when it comes to youth categories and the discovery of talents. Abel Ferreira, in fact, has been making use of several U-20 players to compose his squad, such as defender Benedetti, full-back Arthur, and forwards Riquelme Fillipi, Luighi, and Thalys.

The U-20 team, coached by Lucas Andrade, also competed in this year’s U-20 Libertadores, but lost the final to Flamengo, who became world champions in the category. The coach, however, has a chance to win the Brazilian title in the category for the second consecutive time this Tuesday, in a decisive match against Bragantino, which takes place at 9 pm at Allianz Parque.

Women’s team still chasing the Brazilian title and alive in the Paulista

The Palmeiras women’s team has also had a good season, which earned coach Camilla Orlando an invitation to coach the Brazilian U-20 women’s national team. The coach will leave the club at the end of this year to take charge of the national team. Meanwhile, she is chasing two titles with the Palestrinas.

Palmeiras is in the semifinals of the women’s Brazilian Championship. In the first leg, they lost 3-1 to Cruzeiro, but have the return leg to try to turn things around and reach the grand final. The teams will face each other again on Sunday at 10:30 am at Arena Independência. Meanwhile, in the State Championship, a tournament in which they are the current champions, they are in second place in the first phase, with 13 points from seven games.

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