Obligation to win? How Paraná Clube arrives for the classic with Athletico

Paraná Club enter the Paraná Cup as one of the teams with the best chemistry among the eight participants. Most of the opponents had their squad reformulated after eliminations in Series D, while Athletico and Londrina focus on the Brazilian Championship and will use an alternative team, made up of young people.

The first mission is the classic against Athletico this Saturday (29), at 3:30 pm, at Arena da Baixada. Even at their rival’s home, Tricolor enters the field confident that they can end their streak of almost ten years without a victory in the classic and they don’t care who their opponents are on the other side.

It is worth noting that Furacão will use the under-20 team in the Copa Paraná for the second consecutive year. After poor results in the first semester, Furacão reformulated the youth categories and brought in Spanish coach Daniel Llácer.

“Because it’s a classic, we have an obligation to give our best, no matter if we come with the main team or the youth team. We know the quality of the Athletico team and we’re going to do our best, knowing their difficulties when proposing the game. I believe that, by giving our best, we’ll come away with the result to give us confidence”said striker Vini Ribeiro, recently arrived at Paraná Clube.

Paraná Clube’s preparation for the Copa Paraná

The technician Czech had a month of interseason and continues with the base that gained access to the elite of the Campeonato Paranaense in the first semester. The main losses were defender Thiago Dombroski, who returned to Poland, and striker João Felipe, who signed with the Thai club.

On the other hand, Tricolor reinforced the squad with players who stood out against opponents in the Second Division, including midfielder Coutinho and striker Vini Ribeiro. Another new addition is midfielder Bruno Vinícius, who was on the field in the last classic against Athletico, in January 2025.

“The maintenance of the squad is good and this makes us train more and more to get the space. This takes the training up a notch to see who comes out playing”, highlighted Vini Ribeiro, who stood out in the State for Patriotas.

“What Paraná did [de manter o elenco] It is very important for performance in the championship, the team already knows each other. We feel comfortable at this point and enter the field knowing what to do. The Czech leaves our squad light and has the comfort of working well during the week. With the squad and the interaction, I have no doubt that we will have a good game”, added striker Daniel Cruz, one of the remaining players.

To integrate the squad, Tcheco carried out activities against the under-20s of Paraná and played three training games, with 7-0 defeats over Hope Internacional’s reserves and 5-1 against Nação-SC, in addition to a goalless draw with Marcílio Dias-SC.

Paraná Clube’s probable lineup for its debut in the Copa Paraná has: Julian; Lucas Serafini, Salazar, Vitor Mota (Matheus Santana) and Bruno Dip; Bruno Vinícius, Vinicius Michelon and Elvis (Thiaguinho); Ruan Lima, Daniel Cruz and Vini Ribeiro.