Botafogo FR

Celebrated national title in 2024. A real achievement as 'Fogão' had been without major trophies for decades. After having been very close from the title in 2023, this time the Lone Star team did it, under an extremely competent guidance of Portuguese manager Artur Jorge. More than winning Série A, Botafogo add an historical win in Libertadores, making 2024 perhaps the most brilliant year for the club, ever. 2025 should be a difficult year for Fogão. It started with very bad news, as Artur Jorge left the helm. Chairman John Textor didn't bring anyone for the first months and the result was a poor start of year: finished 9th in Campeonato Carioca and lost the Sul-Americana Supercup with a clear 0-4 defeat in aggregate to Racing Club. Botafogo signed with Renato Paiva to start the league, but it is surely a bit latter than it should, as Paiva won't have much time to prepare the league season before it starts. Paiva has been having a successful career in Mexico, but had a questionable spell on his only experience in Brazil, with Bahia in 2023. Many important players have left, notably winger Luiz Henrique and attacking midfielder Thiago Almada. Junior Santos, Tiquinho Soares and Eduardo had lost a bit their importance on the team, last season, but their departure is also damaging for Botafogo. To cope with these departures, Textor brought wingers Artur and Nathan Fernandes, strikers Elias Manoel and Rwan Cruz, attacking midfielder Santiago Rodriguez and centre-half Jair. Goalkeeper Leo Linck should be a good challenger for John.