Football Season Guide

Bahia escaped relegation in last season not by much. They have finished 16th (last of safe places) with just 1 more point than Santos, 17th place, and all thanks to an epic last round home win over top team Atlético, while Santos was losing at home to mid-table Fortaleza. Tricolores failed to win the State Championship, losing in the final to their strong rivals Vitória. Tricolor Baiano played a total of 23 games in 2024, 15 wins, 3 draws and 5 defeats, so far. Coach Rogério Ceni was brought in this season, already after the star of State Championship. Ceni has been known mostly for his excellent two spells at Fortaleza, but also for failing when managing bigger teams (most ntably, Flamengo). Ceni should be a good fit at Bahia, as they have a similar profile to that of Fortaleza. Ceni has been implementing a 4-2-3-1 formation, with the holding midfielder Rezende playing as left-back. Éverton Ribeiro arrived this season to be the team's absolute reference, He picked the no.10 shirt and will be the technical lighthouse for the team. However, there were other important new signings that are allowing the fans to dream of a (much) better performance than that of 2023. Cuesta and Arias are two experienced but still very valid options for the back where Kanu remains a strong rock. Jean Lucas and Caio Alexandre are excellent new signings and Estupiñan is a quality striker that is taking some time to adapt to Brazilian football. One should not forget that the team had already some very interesting players on the ranks, such as the versatile Rezende, the full-back Gilberto, the skillful midfielder Cauly and four important forwards, all looking to improve from poor performances last season: Biel, Ademir, Juba and Everaldo.