Football Season Guide

Serie A
Brazil
Serie A
2017
Atletico Goianiense
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Atletico Goianiense

In


Wanderson (Def, Jeju Utd), Daniel Borges (Def, Botafogo FC), Willians (Att, Matsumoto Yama), Abuda (Mid, Pont Preta), Betinho (Mid, Tombense, on loan), Negueba (Att, Grêmio), Roger Carvalho (Def, Tombense, on loan), Alípio (Att, Tombense, on loan), Felipe Garcia (GK, ASEEV), Bonfim (Def, Johor Darul Ta'zim II), Walter (Att, FC Porto, on loan)

Out


Magno Cruz (Mid, Jeju Utd), Lino (Def, Oeste), Raul (Def, Mirassol (SP)), Pedro Bambu (Mid, Goiás EC), Patric (Att, Gamba Osaka), Gilsinho (Att, Avispa Fukuoka), Jonathan (Def, EC Agua Santa, end of loan), Lucas Crispim (Att, Santos FC, end of loan), Silva (Mid, Internacional, end of loan)

By finishing top of the pile in the Serie B last season, Atlético Goianiense are back in the top tier of Brazilian football. They were not the favourites to win that second division title in 2016, but they surpassed expectations and stormed to promotion. However, a lot of that momentum has been lost in the off-season. Not only did they fall out at the semi-final stage of the uncompetitive Goiano State Championship, but they also lost a number of their key players and their replacements have hardly convinced, with the club only really able to sign free agents or players on loan. The fact that they have held onto promotion-winning coach Marcelo Cabo does, though, provide some cause for optimism, but it remains to be seen just how far he can take this team. It also must be a concern that Atlético Goianiense’s home Estádio Serra Dourada is a very large ground but often a very empty one. As such, it is unlikely that the team will receive much of a home advantage – like the last time they played at this level in 2012, when they won on just five occasions – and that is where relegation battles are usually won and lost.

Target


Atlético Goianiense’s objective will be to avoid relegation, but this will be an incredibly difficult task. Many teams have struggled with the difference in quality in the top level in recent seasons and coach Cabo will have to do something special to keep this team out of the bottom four.