Juventus session marks shift, São Paulo to favour training games in break | OneFootball

São Paulo has reshaped its strategic planning for the mid-season break. The club’s board, which had initially planned to hold two public friendlies against Brazilian Serie A teams during the pause for the World Cup, chose instead to prioritize closed-door training matches.

The first of those took place this Saturday (27), against Juventus. The teams played a training match split into two 45-minute halves, which coach Dorival Júnior used to make different observations without separating starters from substitutes at this early stage of preparation for the second half of the season.

The final score was not disclosed. It is known, however, that at one point the match was tied 2-2, with Tapia and André Silva scoring São Paulo’s goals.

The next match of this kind will take place on July 4 against Bragantino in Atibaia, São Paulo state, where the opponent is holding its mid-season training camp.

The change in approach follows a request from Dorival, who sees the break in the calendar as the first real opportunity to implement new tactical concepts, adjust the team’s positioning, and assess the squad in greater depth.

São Paulo’s leadership believes that the controlled training environment, without the presence of fans and the pressure of a result, is better suited for testing formations and making technical stoppages for real-time corrections. Following a practice adopted by the club in recent years, the scores of these activities are not expected to be officially disclosed.

Extended schedule and cancellation of match at the Maracanã

The squad has less than 30 days of preparation before the official resumption of competitions, scheduled for July 22 against Athletico-PR in the Brazilian league. The mid-season break is longer than the preseason held in January, when the coaching staff had less than ten days of work before the team’s debut in the Campeonato Paulista.

As a result of the new technical directive, negotiations to hold a friendly against Fluminense at the Maracanã have been put on hold. The event had been arranged by Superbet, the main sponsor of both clubs. Although the talks have not been formally ended, São Paulo has slowed the pace of discussions, and the current expectation is that the proposal will be rejected.

Historic drought in friendly matches

The confirmation of the cancellation of public matches preserves the club’s long gap in the format of official friendlies. São Paulo has not played a match of this kind since January 2016, when it beat Cerro Porteño 1-0 in Paraguay.

On Brazilian soil, the last friendly took place in 2013, in a 1-0 defeat to Flamengo. The drought in São Paulo state stretches back to 2003, when Tricolor beat Ituano 2-1 in Itu — five months after the last match of this kind held at Morumbis Stadium, a 1-1 draw against Libya’s Al-Ittihad.

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