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After a six-week break from the Brasileirão, which saw them compete in the FIFA Club World Cup, Palmeiras returned to league play on Wednesday against Mirassol.
The Verdão were desperate to come away with a victory and close the distance on the top, having entered the Club World Cup on the back of consecutive defeats to Flamengo and Cruzeiro.
Palmeiras would then proceed to draw 0-0 to Porto and beat Al Ahly 2-0 in New Jersey before traveling to South Florida, where they would erase a two-goal deficit and hold Inter Miami to a 2-2 draw. As a result, they achieved top spot in their group and confirmed a Round of 16 match-up with Palmeiras, where Paulinho’s 100th-minute goal saw them prevail 1-0. They remained in Philadelphia for their quarterfinal fixture, where they would erase an early deficit courtesy of a thunderbolt from Estêvão, only for a late own goal to see eventual champions Palmeiras secure a 2-1 victory.
They would wait another 12 days before competing in their next match against Mirassol. Everyone waited with bated breath to see if Palmeiras could cope with the loss of Estêvão, who joined Chelsea after the Club World Cup for a fee of €34 million plus €23 million in performance-based incentives.
After all, the Brazil international had only just been named as the best player in the entire league in 2024.
However, Palmeiras coach Abel Ferreira maintained his confidence that his group was strong enough to recover from the sale, stating: “The star player is all of us. When I was a footballer, I never liked seeing my teammates work so hard just for one player to shine. That’s not how I see football or life. It makes me very happy when you say the star is the team. We all work hard for a common goal. It’s not my dream or my victory; it’s our dream and our victory. Whoever is selected, wherever we play, and against whomever we play, we play to win — that’s our motto.”
Palmeiras were heavily favored to come away with the victory against newly promoted side Mirassol, and they nearly opened the scoring after eight minutes as Felipe Anderson stung the palms of Walter in goal. They continued to push Mirassol deeper with their aggressive press and persistent shooting, and they finally got their rewards in the 54th minute as Facundo Torres teed up Richard Ríos, who took his time and choreographed a world-class through ball to Raphael Veiga, who obliged with a sublime backheel flick to Torres, who converted the opener.
But whilst Palmeiras had ample opportunities to add a second goal, they were unable to convert and allowed Mirassol to remain in the contest. Eventually, the visitors punished Palmeiras with a free kick in the 72nd minute, playing it short to Neto Moura, who delivered a looping pass into the box for João Victor, who met it with a powerful header. All Francisco da Costa needed to do was get the slightest of touches on the ball in order to tap in the equaliser.
Despite having 16 shots to Mirassol’s four, Palmeiras were unable to come away with the three points at the Allianz Parque. They sit fifth in the league standings, one point behind Bahia, four behind Bragantino, Cruzeiro and Flamengo (it should be noted that all of those teams have played one more game than Palmeiras apart from Bragantino, who have played two more).
They’ll be looking to get back to winning ways on Sunday with a home match against Atlético-MG as they look to push for top spot in the Brasileirão.
