Palmeiras doctor rules out Paulinho v Jacuipense: ‘We’ll wait longer’

In partnership with

Nosso Palestra

·22 April 2026

Palmeiras doctor rules out Paulinho v Jacuipense: ‘We’ll wait longer’

Palmeiras completed preparations on Wednesday morning (22) at the Football Academy for their debut in the Brazil Cup against Jacuipense. The match will be played this Thursday (23) at 7:30 p.m. at Allianz Parque, with the return leg scheduled for May 13 in Londrina, Paraná.

On the field, the coaching staff led a positional tactical training session focused on movement and strategic adjustments for the clash, followed by a technical drill on a reduced-size pitch with three teams. Left-back Jefté, in physical transition after a right thigh injury, took part in the activities as normal.

Video OneFootball

Paulinho’s situation

The main talking point, however, continues to be forward Paulinho. Currently going through a physical reconditioning process, the player has returned to full training with the squad, but his presence for the match has not yet been confirmed.

The club’s medical coordinator, Pedro Pontin, explained the current stage of the No. 10’s recovery.

Paulinho has been training with the squad since the beginning of the month, progressively increasing his workload as part of his physical reconditioning process. He has already reached competitive levels, but we have chosen to wait a little longer so that the player can adapt to the current workload.

According to Pontin, the monitoring is done daily and takes into account the player’s physical responses to the activities.

We assess every day whether there is any discomfort after the activities and monitor his progress to understand when he will, in fact, be ready for matches. Paulinho’s response has been appropriate, with natural discomfort during the phases of increased workload.

The doctor also stressed the need for caution due to the forward’s recent history.

This care is necessary in special recovery processes like his, in which there is a prolonged period of inactivity, also taking into consideration the time he was injured at his previous club.

According to the medical department, the plan will continue to be individualized until he is fully cleared.

That is why the player’s body, when impacted by different workloads, needs longer periods of recovery and control of possible symptoms until it reaches stability. Over the next few days, he will continue following his individualized schedule, doing a large part of the activities with the first team and preparing to be available to the coaching staff.