Corinthians under-20s coach on Derby loss in Brasileirão, senior duo | OneFootball

On the afternoon of last Wednesday (8), Corinthians hosted Palmeiras at Estádio Alfredo Schürig, Fazendinha, in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Brazilian Under-20 Championship, and ended up losing 1-0. With the result, Timão will need to win by at least one goal in the second match to take it to penalties. If they want to advance directly, they will have to beat their rival by two or more goals.

Right after the match, Timãozinho head coach William Batista gave an interview to the press in the mixed zone at Fazendinha and analyzed the result, stressing that nothing has been decided yet for the return leg. The coach also mentioned the return of midfielder Dieguinho (18) and forward Gui Negão (19), both Sons of Terrão who are already part of the senior squad and had not played in the category since July and May 2025, respectively.

Photo: Rodrigo Gazzanel/Agência Corinthians

“We knew it was going to be a difficult game, a derby in which we could achieve good things, even because of Dieguinho and Gui (Negão) dropping down. I think the first half reflected that a little, we managed to have more of the ball than we did during the championship. We managed to build some combined plays, a little less through direct play, which we ended up using more throughout the year. From there, we created some goal chances in the first half. I think more pre-chances than actually clear-cut chances.”

William Batista also spoke about the team’s away form in the Brazilian Under-20 Championship as one of the reasons to believe in qualification. So far, they have five wins, three draws, and only one defeat. The return leg will take place next Thursday, the 16th, at 3 p.m. (Brasília time), at Arena Barueri.

“I think everything is still open. A 1-0 result, a simple win for us there takes the decision to penalties. And a two-goal win gives us direct qualification. We were the second-best away team in the championship, I think our away campaign was spectacular. We’re going to play on synthetic turf, but in this championship we also played three or four games on synthetic turf: Bahia, Cruzeiro, and Botafogo. They were matches in which we did very well on the kind of field we’ll play on Thursday. We are prepared and ready. As Renato Paiva said last year at the Club World Cup: ‘the cemetery of football is full of favorites.’ So we’re ready for the second game, to play a great match and deserve qualification in the return leg,” he began.

Later, he was asked about the presence of Dieguinho and Gui Negão in the second game of the quarterfinal knockout tie. Next Sunday (12), at 4 p.m. (Brasília time), Corinthians’ senior team will take the field to face FC Cascavel in Paraná in a friendly match. Officially, Alvinegro will return to action on July 23, at 7:30 p.m., at Neo Química Arena, against Remo, to close out the first half of the Brazilian Championship. Currently, Timão sits in 10th place in the national tournament with 24 points — six wins, six draws, and six losses — with 18 goals scored and 19 conceded.

“We (the coaching staffs) have been thinking together. That has been really nice on the part of Diniz, Marcelo Paz, and Damiani, who is our academy director. It’s nice because there is only one Corinthians. I think it’s great when the club manages to mobilize around the senior team and the under-20s, as it has been doing. Corinthians benefits from that, everyone gets stronger. It will be decided. That decision has to be made day by day, according to Diniz’s needs. I want to stress his importance here too, because he’s a guy who has helped us a lot. He and Paz have helped us a lot, they’ve been thinking a lot about the under-20s. It’s rare to see that from a senior team coach, and it has been really nice to see that from Diniz. The senior team has a friendly at the weekend. And we’ll wait and see how all of that plays out for next Thursday. We also have Portuguesa in the Paulista Championship on Sunday. And it’s important for us to have a good game, get a good result, and stay near the top of the Paulista Championship,” he continued.

Then, the Sons of Terrão coach spoke about the confusion during one of the substitutions in the second half, when midfielder Luiz Gustavo Bahia should have left the field instead of attacking midfielder Gui Amorim for the entrance of Luiz Fábio “Favela.”

“We passed along the number and the wrong one ended up going up on the board. It was actually very similar to what happened in our rival’s game at our stadium. It was pretty similar at the time. Amorim ended up coming off quickly, and he wasn’t supposed to come off — Bahia was supposed to come off. But it’s part of the game. We can’t dwell too much on that aspect or let it weigh on us too much. It wasn’t the substitution that was supposed to be made, but it ended up happening. And it’s not in our hands.”

Finally, William Batista commented on aspects that the Corinthians team should change to face Palmeiras in the second leg of the knockout stage: “I wouldn’t talk about the main change, because if they hear it, they’ll know what it is. Corinthians will go in to win the game, we need to win the game. They have a one-goal advantage and a draw, and we will go in looking to play our game and try to win the game. Everything is still open, today’s game showed that everything is still open. They won 1-0, but it could have been us who took the lead. One goal decided by a detail, as happens in a derby and in a knockout tie. So everything is still open and we’re going into the second game knowing what we need to do. And also, the way our rival celebrated, the way they dropped deep in the last five minutes, says a lot about the respect they have for us right now. They know that any slip-up can knock them out of the championship and qualify us.”

After facing Palmeiras at home in the first leg of the Brasileirão Under-20 quarterfinals, Timão now turns its focus back to the first phase of the Paulista Championship in the category. Next Sunday (12), at 10 a.m. (Brasília time), Alvinegro visits Portuguesa at Estádio Municipal Salvador Russani, in Atibaia, São Paulo, for the fifth round of the opening stage of the state tournament. At the moment, Alvinegro is second in Group 1 with 10 points — four goals scored and none conceded.

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