Football Season Guide

Internacional’s 2025 season was disastrous and disappointing by the club’s standards. They finished 16th in Série A, narrowly avoiding relegation and missing out on continental qualification, in a campaign marked by defensive fragility, inconsistent results and changes in dugout. They reached the round of 16 in both the Copa do Brasil and the Copa Libertadores before elimination, making 2025 a terrible year for 'Colorado'. Despite a quite season, Alan Patrick was still the club's main player, for he doesn't seem to know how to play bad, even in the most critical circumstances. Important injuries, especially in the goalkeeper position, also helped for Inter's failure in 2025. Uruguayan manager Paolo Pezzolano is back to Brazilian football after having helped Cruzeiro to return to Série A in 2022. He is known for his positivity, high pressing style and obsession with quick attacking transitions. It might just be the ideal fit for a International team who won't be able to be dominant in most games and some quick attackers like Carbonero, Vitinho and Tabata should like his system. Internacional lost their main defender of last season, Vitão, to current champions Flamengo. Striker Ricardo Mathias, who was starting to become more important and could be having a definite affirmation in 2026, was precociously sold to Arabian football. Felix Torres arrived to replace Vitão, but he will need to do much better than what he did at Corinthians in 2025. Rodrigo Villalba and Paulinho de Paula are two very serious additions to midfield. Striker Derik Lacerda is close to signing in, from Cuiabá. Midfielders Alan Rodriguez and Alan Patrick, together with goalkeeper Sergio Rochet are the top players of Colorado. Rafael Borré has a high profile status, but he needs to be more regular to achieve something with the red shirt.