Football Season Guide

After some continental titles (Sulamericana in 2018 and 2021) and some megalomaniac projects by their controversial chairman, 'Furacão' has been losing some relevance in League, having given up the project of regularly challenging the top teams in the country. Athlético reached Parana State's championship final after a remarkable defeatless run: 14 wins and just 1 draw. In continental competition, Furacão started Libertadores with an away goalless draw. Furacão's new coach is Paulo Turra, who is expected to continue Scolari's pragmatic philosophy, having been his assistant for 6 years. He didn't change Scolari's rigid 4-2-3-1 with Fernandinho teaming up with Erick in the midfield duo. Athlético PR didn't have a busy transfer market. Fernando was brought in from second division Chapecoense to replace the left-back of recent seasons, Abner, who left for Europe. Madson and Kaique Rocha are decent additions for defence, but unlikely to challenge for the XI positions. Having kept pretty much almost the entire team from last season is Furacão's strongest asset for the new campaign. Having been a ferocious centre-half, Turra should try to improve an already established defensive system, with Heleno and holding midfielder Fernandinho as anchors. Fans are a bit disappointed by the fact that there hasn't been any big signing that would improve the team's quality for the new season. 34-year-old Heleno doesn't have any recognizable replacement on the short term, and he is known to have plenty injuries during the season. Vítor Roque is still not an established player in Furacão's XI, but he is expected to explode during the season before moving to a big team in Europe. Terans and Cannobio were irregular, last season, but there are hopes for them to establish as big attacking names this time around.