Corinthians decline defensively, poor return with André Ramalho starting | OneFootball

Corinthians’ 3-1 defeat to Botafogo last Sunday (17), at Nilton Santos stadium, once again raised concerns over the team’s defensive problems in the Brazilian Championship. One of the points noted after the match was the performance of the defensive system when André Ramalho starts among the first eleven.

Selected by Fernando Diniz in Rio de Janeiro, the center-back was involved in one of the plays that led to Botafogo’s third goal and extended a run of negative numbers for Corinthians with him in the starting lineup.

Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians

This season, the pair considered first-choice by the club is Gabriel Paulista and Gustavo Henrique. With both playing together from the start of matches, Corinthians have played 19 games and conceded only 14 goals. That stretch also includes ten clean sheets and an average of more than 120 minutes without conceding.

The picture changes, however, in games where André Ramalho appears in the starting lineup in place of Gabriel Paulista. According to a survey released by the Fiel Imprensa profile, Corinthians took the field seven times with the No. 5 as a starter and conceded seven goals in that period, while also managing only two clean sheets.

In addition to the defensive drop-off, the team’s overall performance also shows lower numbers. In Corinthians’ last ten Brazilian Championship matches featuring André Ramalho, the club won only twice, along with two draws and six defeats.

Another eye-catching figure is that the only wins in this stretch came in matches in which the defender started on the bench. The center-back came on only in the closing stages of the victories over Vitória, still in 2025, and Athletico-PR, already this season. The statistics were published by the “Dan, o maluco” profile on social media platform X.

Corinthians’ last win with André Ramalho starting a match came in September 2025. On that occasion, Timão beat Fluminense 1-0 at the Maracanã in the Brazilian Championship.

In the match against Botafogo, the defender was directly involved in the play that sealed the result. In the 25th minute of the second half, Villalba beat André Ramalho for pace down the left before crossing into the box. After Kauan Toledo failed to finish, Arthur Cabral pounced on the loose ball to score the Rio side’s third goal.

With the negative result in Rio de Janeiro, Corinthians remained on 18 points and dropped to 17th place in the Brazilian Championship, entering the relegation zone. The club was overtaken by Santos on tiebreak criteria.

Now, the black-and-white squad turns its attention to the Copa Libertadores. The next match will be this Thursday (21) at 9:30 p.m. against Peñarol at Campeón del Siglo stadium in Uruguay, in the fifth round of the continental competition’s group stage.

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