Corinthians ready for Copa do Brasil last-16 first leg, says midfielder | OneFootball

On the morning of this Saturday (1), Corinthians wrapped up, at CT Dr. Joaquim Grava, its preparations for the next match of the 2026 season. On Sunday night (2), at 7:30 p.m. (Brasília time), Alvinegro will visit Internacional at Beira-Rio Stadium for the first leg of the Copa do Brasil round of 16.

The Corinthians squad began the day’s training session in the Flexform Briefing Room, where the coaching staff showed tactical instruction videos on the strengths and weaknesses of the Colorado side. After strength work in the gym, followed by a warm-up on the pitch, head coach Fernando Diniz led two tactical exercises. Finally, set-piece plays were also practiced.

Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians

After the end of the session, midfielder André Luiz, who came through Timão’s youth academy and has been one of the team’s standouts since being promoted to the senior squad in mid-2025, spoke with Corinthians TV – the club’s official YouTube channel – and looked ahead to the clash against the team from Rio Grande do Sul. Wearing the No. 49 shirt, he said that whoever makes fewer mistakes will advance. In total, he has seven goals and two assists in 45 appearances (29 as a starter) for Timão. In 2026, he is the team’s second-leading scorer with five goals.

“We’re going to approach it in the best way possible. We trained hard this week to go there (Beira-Rio) and play a good match. The guys who recovered from the game against Athletico are 100% ready to go in strong. It’s a game of details, it’s a knockout match. I believe it will be decided in the details. Whoever makes fewer mistakes will come away with qualification,” he said.

For the match, Corinthians should have back left-back Matheus Bidu, attacking midfielder Rodrigo Garro, and striker Pedro Raul. On the other hand, the absentees will be left-back Hugo Farias (in physical transition after recovering from knee cruciate ligament surgery), defensive midfielder Alex Santana (pubis pain), midfielders Vitinho (left knee meniscus surgery) and Zakaria Labyad (left knee meniscus and ACL injury), as well as forwards Kayke Ferrari (recovering from cruciate ligament surgery), Yuri Alberto (right hamstring injury) and Memphis Depay (still negotiating a contract renewal).

In the previous stage of the Copa do Brasil, Corinthians got past Barra-SC by winning both matches 1-0. In the first leg, at Ressacada, Alvinegro beat the opponent with a goal from Jesse Lingard. In the return leg, in Itaquera, Timão saw striker Yuri Alberto score the only goal of the match.

So far, the club from Parque São Jorge has earned R$ 5 million in prize money in the knockout competition, with R$ 2 million coming just from participation in the fifth stage and the rest from securing a place in the round of 16. If they advance to the quarterfinals, they will pocket another R$ 4 million.

It is worth noting that Alvinegro are the reigning champions of the tournament (1995, 2002, 2009 and 2025), since last year they beat Vasco da Gama 2-1 at the Maracanã, taking home just over R$ 100 million in total from the title run.

Corinthians and Internacional have already faced each other in three different Copa do Brasil editions (1992, 2009 and 2017). Timão came out on top in 2009, when they met in that year’s final, with Alvinegro winning 4-2 on aggregate. In the first match, they won 2-0 at Pacaembu with goals from Jorge Henrique and Ronaldo. At Beira-Rio, the game ended in a 2-2 draw, with André Santos and Jorge Henrique getting on the scoresheet.

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