Brasileirão wrap: Jardim starts with win; Abel and Paiva share the spoils, Pepa’s Sport hold São Paulo; Nuno Moreira goal helps Vasco see off Caixinha’s Santos | OneFootball

The new Campeonato Brasileiro 2025 got underway this weekend, with Leonardo Jardim marking his debut in the top flight by guiding Cruzeiro to victory. Meanwhile, last season’s top 2 each had a Portuguese on the bench as Abel Ferreira’s Palmeiras were held to a goalless draw by champions Botafogo, now led by Renato Paiva.

Elsewhere, there was a Portuguese goalscorer for Vasco da Gama as the Rio de Janeiro club handed Pedro Caixinha’s Santos a defeat on his Serie A debut. For promoted side Sport, led by Pepa and with a trio of Portuguese players, there was a solid opening-day draw at Sao Paulo.

Work to do for Jardim as Cruzeiro make winning start

One new big managerial name in Brazilian football is Leonardo Jardim, the well-travelled Portuguese who took charge of Cruzeiro over the summer break. Jardim was hired on a two-year contract at the start of February, having enjoyed great success in the Middle East, where he won the Saudi title and the Asian Champions League with Al Hilal, before lifting the UAE Pro League with Al Shabab.

On Saturday, Jardim was at the Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto in Belo Horizonte as Cruzeiro welcomed newly-promoted Mirassol on Matchday 1 of the new campaign. Early goals by Dudu (14’) and former Benfica man Gabriel Barbosa (22’) put Jardim’s side in control, but the visitors missed a penalty before pulling one back in first-half stoppage time through Lucas Ramon, leading to a narrow win for Cruzeiro.

“We certainly showed some good things, and some not so good things,” Jardim said after the match. “I've already said that I didn't like the last 10 minutes of the first half at all because we lost the pressure and let the opponent control the game with the ball. We certainly haven't done so well for the beginning. The beginning is always the most difficult moment, I believe in progression.”

Having finished last term in 9th place, it will be interesting to follow the expectations of Raposa across the new season. Cruzeiro came into the weekend a little more rusty than some of the other big clubs, having not played a competitive match for 40 days since an underwhelming performance in the Minas Gerais state championships during Jardim’s early days in charge.

Fixing a leaky defence remains one of the 50-year-old’s biggest tasks. Cruzeiro have failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last ten official matches – the latest being the win over Mirassol. With little time to recover, next up for Cruzeiro is a trip to Argentina on Tuesday to play Unión Santa Fé in the first match of the Copa Sudamericana group stage.

Paiva happier than Abel after big two draw

Last season’s top two faced off in São Paulo on Sunday, with Brazilian and South American champions Botafogo handed a tough fixture at Palmeiras to mark Renato Paiva’s Serie A debut on the bench. Paiva has taken on the daunting job of replacing fellow Portuguese Artur Jorge at Botafogo, who lifted both the Campeonato Brasileiro and Copa Libertadores last term.

The teams played out a 0-0 draw at Allianz Parque, but the visitors earned more praise for their showing under Paiva. Botafogo played with similar intensity and dynamism which encapsulated their historic season under Jorge last term, something Paiva was happy to see on his first outing.

“I'm not satisfied with the result, but I'm sure that it will once again confirm that this is a group of champions,” he said. “There were demonstrations of talent at various times. Not only technical talent, but tactical talent. But also in honouring this badge. That's how they won the titles and that's how they'll continue to win. Botafogo is back, the team that honours its fans. Although I repeat, I’m not satisfied with the result.

“I'm a very honest person. It would be very unwise to come here and change what was done in a game plan that gave the club two titles. But two players left, my job is to understand the characteristics of the players who arrived and see if it was possible to continue in the same way.

“We live a lot of this "play this way", "play that way", I like my team to be complete. We want a Botafogo to be balanced without taking away individuality.”

Abel looking for spark

In the opposing dugout, Abel Ferreira faced tougher questions about his Palmeiras side, who after finishing without a trophy last term and losing the Paulista State Championship to Corinthians last week, come into the new season under pressure. Abel’s team are struggling to score goals, with just one (via a penalty) across their last four matches, including three straight blank scoresheets.

Media reaction has focused on a lack of incision, particularly due to major summer signing Vitor Roque from Barcelona having a tendency to involve himself in build-up rather than providing the penetrative runs the team lacks. Speaking to journalists after the draw, Abel, who was without regulars Marcos Rocha, Gustavo Gómez, Mauricio and Paulinho, admitted his players must be more proactive.

“I told the players in the circle that we did it at the end and sometimes we need to attack further behind our opponent,” Abel said. “Our team is lacking in running in behind, attacking more with machete movements. We are doing the opposite, getting closer, touching and that is not what we have to do.

“We need to have all the players available, maybe a win to give us a bit of confidence. We came from the Paulista final and we didn't have much time to prepare these players. Botafogo had a week or 15 days to prepare for the game. And we are coming from a final that was difficult for us, we knew the game was going to be difficult. We didn't play against just any opponent and our spirits weren't good.

“We are far from our level and that's a good thing. Because we have a lot to work on. We have to be more effective, because in the end the most obvious opportunity was ours, we didn't score, we have to be focused on what we have to do to stay in each competition until the end.”

Nuno Moreira on target as Vasco beat Caixinha’s Santos

Whilst Brazil has become accustomed to Portuguese managers dominating the coaching landscape in the country, the arrival of Luso players has been a little slower to emerge. That appears to be changing in 2025, with a small but growing contingent across various clubs in the Campeonato Brasileiro.

One of those making his mark is former Vizela and Casa Pia winger Nuno Moreira, who scored for Vasco da Gama this weekend in their 2-1 home victory over Santos. The result inflicted an early defeat on new Santos boss Pedro Caixinha, who switched from fellow São Paulo outfit RB Bragantino during the summer break.

Caixinha’s side got off to a good start at Estádio São Januário, taking advantage of a mistake in Vasco’s build-up play to go ahead on 21 minutes through Argentine Alvaro Barreal. Santos continued to threaten in the first period, leading to audible frustration from the home crowd, but the game changed after the interval.

Moreira, who cost Vasco €3.5m from Casa Pia in February, levelled things up early in the second half with a brave back-post header. It meant goals in consecutive games for the 25-year-old, who found the net against Flamengo in Vasco’s last outing during the Carioca State Championships.

Vasco continued to look for the winner, denied initially by a truly astonishing save by Santos goalkeeper Gabriel Brazão, before later snatching all three points when a glaringly unmarked Pablo Vegetti glanced his header into the far corner from a free-kick delivery. Santos, who were without superstar Neymar, were left to count the cost of their lead slipping.

“At the end of the first half, the opposing team was failing to make many passes, the opposing team and the crowd were upset, “ Santos boss Caixinha reflected. “It was with this emotional advantage that we went into the break. The first message we gave the players was that we had to make a very strong start to the game, particularly in the first 15 minutes, to take advantage of the momentum we had ended the first half with.

“It's true that one or two players felt some difficulty, I wouldn't say physically, but the feeling that they lacked energy.  There was no drop in (physical) performance. Let me analyse the GPS. But if we analyse the physical aspect only based on that, I would say it is a bit reductive.

“In any case, when the team doesn't have the ball, it suffers more and has to run more. That was what happened, in particular, at the start of the game and in the moments when we gave the opponent the opportunity to respond. The opponent took advantage and they did it well.”

Santos president unhappy

Perhaps more concerning for Caixinha was the angry analysis from Santos president Marcelo Teixeira, who harshly assessed his team’s defeat. With the capture of Neymar, it appears the Peixe leader expects the team to be a serious force in the championship this term, and is unimpressed by the start made, while even pointing to Caixinha’s substitutions.

“The team performed relatively well, but we lost three points,” said Teixeira. “It was unacceptable for Santos to start a campaign here, in which they want to be the protagonist and stay on the front page of the championship, to come here, with all due respect to Vasco, but it was a game for three points. A team that wants to reach the championship final among the top teams can't concede the goals we concede. Childish.

“We don't want to remain in secondary competitions that are different from our tradition. We have to come back and say that Santos is, once again, competing. It has a squad for this type of response, it has the ability to put in a good campaign and we need this reaction, we need to correct very serious mistakes.

“I don't see a drop in physical fitness. I see the natural changes that the coach made. The team was composed in a certain way, even without Neymar and Soteldo. Of course, they are important players. But the team was already making an important, positive impression in the first half. In the second half, I don't justify it by physical fitness. I think it was more due to the changes that were made, in which the team took a while to establish a rhythm again.”

Pepa makes positive start with Sport

The first match of the opening week saw Portuguese boss Pepa take his newly promoted Sport Recife to São Paulo on Saturday afternoon. The visitors were given an early let-off when São Paulo were awarded an almost instant penalty, which was blazed over the bar by Jonathan Calleri in the 3rd minute, after which the sides played out a 0-0 draw.

Sport recruited three Portuguese players during the close-season, including established names in the form of ex Porto duo Sérgio Oliveira and Gonçalo Paciência, as well as former Sporting defender João Silva. Paciência was missing but both Sérgio Oliveira and João Silva started for Sport, while veteran Euro 2016 winner Cédric Soares was an unused substitute for São Paulo.

Pepa received praise for his tactical acumen in the media, having shown versatility and pragmatism with his approach. Sport were renowned for their proactive style in the second tier last season, but opted to crowd the midfield against Sao Paulo to frustrate their opponents, gaining just 35% of possession but making the side “a strategist” according to O Globo.

“If we had not competed to this degree here, we would have lost,” Pepa said after the match. We have to highlight above all the defensive organisation, the rigour, the spirit of sacrifice. It's a debut, which is not easy, against a great team, in a stadium with tremendous support. We feel that we have room to grow. Now, what is non-negotiable is this spirit of dedication, spirit of sacrifice, organisation.

“A penalty in the first minute could have caused a lot of emotional problems, but it was the opposite. The team knew how to suffer and when they managed to have the ball they had no problems playing. We held on to the game with everything, without wasting time, and above all, giving our lives for every millimetre, every centimetre, for every ball. This has to be our image in Serie A.”