# 2017 São Paulo FC season

The 2017 season was São Paulo's 88th year since the club's existence. At the beginning of this year São Paulo had as a featured the return of retired goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni, the owner of record numbers in Tricolor´s history such as 1,237 matches and 131 goals in 23 years. Ceni was hired as head coach just a year after retirement, and during his time off the former player spent his time studying technical fundamentals of football management in some clubs of Europe like Liverpool and Sevilla. In the first activity by São Paulo, the newly coach earned a preseason friendly tournament in Florida after two wins in penalty shootout, the final match was played against rivals Corinthians and game ended in 0-0 (4-3 in penalties). Although the victorious beginning the ex-goalkeeper remained only 6 months in charge reaching a 50% performance of points acquired by official competitive matches, Ceni take group to semi-finals being eliminated by Corinthians after two legs. In national cup, Copa do Brasil, São Paulo disputed until fourth round when was defeated by Cruzeiro in aggregated score 2-3 (0-2 home; 2-1 away). Third setback in a short period of one month came against newcomer Argentine club in international competitions, Defensa y Justicia, who stopped The Dearest doing a double equal results and scoring a single goal in Morumbi Stadium, fact that led them to next stage (0-0 away; 1-1 home). Lastly Ceni managed in first eleven rounds of Série A (national league) being fired due its positioning in table as 17th place, first round that Tricolor appeared in relegation zone. The charge was occupied by former goalkeeper until July 3 after 35 official matches and replaced by Dorival Júnior, previous head coach from one of biggest rivals Santos FC. Dorival had commanded the seashore club over 120 games with an expressive percentage of points approximately 64% got in two times. Although there has been a change, team kept an irregular performance in the course of league fighting against relegation in most of rounds and being 14 rounds between the last four positions. Around 10 matches before the end of season, The Dearest improved his campaign being one of the best clubs in the second half of championship. Never before São Paulo was relegated in whole history of Campeonato Brasileiro Era since 1971 but took a negative record of most rounds ended in relegation zone, more than 2013 when spent 11 rounds there.

## Players
### Current squad

    As of 23 August 2017
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | BRA | Denis |
| 2 | DF | BRA | Bruno |
| 3 | DF | BRA | Rodrigo Caio |
| 4 | DF | ECU | Robert Arboleda |
| 5 | DF | URU | Diego Lugano (captain) |
| 6 | MF | BRA | Petros |
| 7 | MF | BRA | Maicosuel |
| 9 | FW | ARG | Lucas Pratto (vice-captain) |
| 10 | MF | PER | Christian Cueva |
| 11 | MF | BRA | Lucas Fernandes |
| 12 | GK | BRA | Sidão |
| 13 | MF | BRA | Éder Militão |
| 15 | MF | BRA | Hernanes (on loan from Hebei China Fortune) |
| 16 | DF | BRA | Edimar (on loan from Cruzeiro) |
| 17 | FW | BRA | Gilberto |
| 18 | DF | ARG | Julio Buffarini |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 19 | MF | BRA | Thomaz |
| 20 | MF | BRA | Shaylon |
| 21 | FW | BRA | Wellington Nem (on loan from Shakhtar Donetsk) |
| 22 | DF | BRA | Júnior Tavares |
| 23 | MF | BRA | Marcos Guilherme (on loan from Atlético Paranaense) |
| 25 | MF | BRA | Jucilei (on loan from Shandong Luneng) |
| 28 | MF | BRA | Felipe Araruna |
| 30 | GK | BRA | Renan Ribeiro |
| 32 | DF | BRA | Aderlan (on loan from Valencia) |
| 33 | MF | ARG | Jonathan Gómez |
| 34 | DF | BRA | Bruno Alves |
| 35 | FW | BRA | Brenner |
| 38 | FW | BRA | Morato (on loan from Ituano) |
| 39 | FW | BRA | Marcinho (on loan from São Bernardo) |
| 40 | GK | BRA | Lucas Perri |
| 41 | FW | BRA | Denílson (on loan from Granada) |

### Transfers
#### In

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 21 | MF | BRA | Wellington Nem (on loan from Shakhtar Donetsk) |
| 12 | GK | BRA | Sidão (from Botafogo) |
| 7 | FW | BRA | Neílton (on loan from Cruzeiro) |
| 8 | MF | BRA | Cícero (from Fluminense) |
| 14 | FW | ARG | Lucas Pratto (from Atlético Mineiro) |
| 25 | MF | BRA | Jucilei (on loan from Shandong Luneng) |
| 16 | DF | BRA | Edimar (on loan from Cruzeiro) |
| 19 | MF | BRA | Thomaz (from Jorge Wilstermann) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 39 | FW | BRA | Marcinho (on loan from São Bernardo) |
| 38 | FW | BRA | Morato (on loan from Ituano) |
| 7 | MF | BRA | Maicosuel (from Atlético Mineiro) |
| 41 | FW | BRA | Denílson (on loan from Avaí) |
| 4 | DF | ECU | Robert Arboleda (from Universidad Católica del Ecuador) |
| 33 | MF | ARG | Jonathan Gómez (from Santa Fe) |
| 6 | MF | BRA | Petros (from Betis) |
| 15 | MF | BRA | Hernanes (on loan from Hebei China Fortune) |

#### Out

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | CHI | Eugenio Mena (return to Cruzeiro) |
| — | GK | BRA | Léo (on loan to Paraná) |
| — | MF | BRA | Hudson (on loan to Cruzeiro) |
| — | MF | BRA | Michel Bastos (rescission of contract) |
| — | MF | BRA | Kelvin (return to Porto) |
| — | FW | BRA | Ytalo (on loan to Audax) |
| — | MF | BRA | Jean Carlos (to Goiás) |
| — | DF | BRA | Reinaldo (on loan to Chapecoense) |
| — | DF | BRA | Matheus Reis (on loan to Bahia) |
| — | DF | BRA | Auro Jr. (on loan to América-MG) |
| — | DF | BRA | Carlinhos (to Internacional) |
| — | FW | BRA | David Neres (to Ajax) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | BRA | Artur (on loan to Columbus Crew SC) |
| — | MF | BRA | Daniel (on loan to Coritiba) |
| 13 | DF | BRA | Foguete (on loan to Vila Nova) |
| — | DF | BRA | Lucas Kal (on loan to Paraná Clube) |
| — | FW | BRA | Pedro Bortoluzo (on loan to Paraná Clube) |
| — | FW | BRA | Robson (return to Paraná Clube) |
| 19 | DF | BRA | Lyanco (to Torino) |
| 7 | FW | BRA | Neílton (to Vitória) |
| 31 | FW | BRA | Luiz Araújo (to Lille) |
| 27 | DF | BRA | Maicon (to Galatasaray) |
| 23 | MF | BRA | Thiago Mendes (to Lille) |
| 15 | MF | BRA | João Schmidt (to Atalanta) |

## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Campeonato Paulista | Campeonato Paulista | Copa do Brasil | Copa do Brasil | Copa Sudamericana | Copa Sudamericana | Campeonato Brasileiro | Campeonato Brasileiro |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | BRA | Denis | 7 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | BRA | Bruno | 21 | 0 | 6+2 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 6+3 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | BRA | Rodrigo Caio | 52 | 1 | 11+0 | 1 | 6+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 33+0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | ECU | Robert Arboleda | 23 | 3 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 23+0 | 3 |
| 5 | DF | URU | Diego Lugano | 11 | 0 | 4+1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 5+0 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | BRA | Petros | 27 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 27+0 | 1 |
| 7 | MF | BRA | Maicosuel | 8 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 3+5 | 1 |
| 8 | MF | BRA | Cícero | 30 | 4 | 11+3 | 1 | 6+0 | 3 | 0+0 | 0 | 8+2 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | ARG | Lucas Pratto | 47 | 14 | 7+0 | 5 | 4+0 | 2 | 2+0 | 0 | 34+0 | 7 |
| 10 | MF | PER | Christian Cueva | 42 | 10 | 9+0 | 5 | 5+0 | 2 | 1+0 | 0 | 24+3 | 3 |
| 12 | GK | BRA | Sidão | 25 | 0 | 6+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 18+0 | 0 |
| 13 | MF | BRA | Éder Militão | 22 | 2 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 21+1 | 2 |
| 15 | MF | BRA | Hernanes | 19 | 9 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 19+0 | 9 |
| 16 | DF | BRA | Edimar | 19 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 19+0 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | BRA | Gilberto | 33 | 13 | 8+3 | 9 | 2+2 | 2 | 0+1 | 0 | 2+15 | 2 |
| 18 | DF | ARG | Julio Buffarini | 21 | 0 | 9+1 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 6+1 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | BRA | Thomaz | 19 | 2 | 1+3 | 1 | 0+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 2+10 | 1 |
| 20 | MF | BRA | Shaylon | 16 | 2 | 2+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 4+6 | 2 |
| 21 | FW | BRA | Wellington Nem | 23 | 1 | 5+3 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 5+5 | 1 |
| 22 | DF | BRA | Júnior Tavares | 45 | 0 | 13+1 | 0 | 6+0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 19+4 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | BRA | Marcos Guilherme | 22 | 6 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 19+3 | 6 |
| 25 | MF | BRA | Jucilei | 49 | 1 | 7+3 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 31+4 | 1 |
| 26 | DF | BRA | Douglas | 6 | 0 | 5+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | BRA | Araruna | 23 | 0 | 6+5 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 7+1 | 0 |
| 29 | MF | BRA | Lucas Fernandes | 23 | 1 | 0+3 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 8+11 | 1 |
| 29 | FW | BRA | Guilherme Bissoli | 1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 30 | GK | BRA | Renan Ribeiro | 30 | 0 | 7+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 20+0 | 0 |
| 32 | DF | BRA | Aderlan Santos | 3 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 |
| 33 | MF | ARG | Jonathan Gómez | 12 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 7+5 | 0 |
| 34 | DF | BRA | Bruno Alves | 4 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 3+1 | 1 |
| 35 | FW | BRA | Brenner | 4 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+2 | 1 |
| 37 | FW | BRA | Léo Natel | 1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 38 | FW | BRA | Morato | 1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 39 | FW | BRA | Marcinho | 21 | 2 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 16+5 | 2 |
| 41 | FW | BRA | Denílson | 12 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+10 | 1 |
| 42 | MF | BRA | Gabriel Sara | 1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| Players who are on loan/left São Paulo this season: ||||||||||||||
| 4 | DF | BRA | Lucão | 11 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 6+0 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | BRA | Wellington | 4 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | BRA | Neílton | 9 | 0 | 2+4 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | ARG | Andrés Chávez | 10 | 2 | 2+5 | 2 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | BRA | Wesley | 6 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 |
| 13 | DF | BRA | Foguete | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | BRA | João Schmidt | 20 | 0 | 8+2 | 0 | 5+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 |
| 19 | DF | BRA | Lyanco | 1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | BRA | Thiago Mendes | 26 | 5 | 14+1 | 4 | 5+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 1 | 4+1 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | BRA | Maicon | 21 | 1 | 10+0 | 1 | 4+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 7+0 | 0 |
| 31 | FW | BRA | Luiz Araújo | 24 | 7 | 12+3 | 3 | 3+1 | 2 | 0+1 | 0 | 2+2 | 2 |
| 33 | DF | BRA | Breno | 5 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |

### Top scorers

| Rank | Nat | Pos | Player | Campeonato Paulista | Copa do Brasil | Copa Sudamericana | Campeonato Brasileiro | Total |
| 1 | | FW | Lucas Pratto | 5 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| 2 | | FW | Gilberto | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 13 |
| 3 | | MF | Christian Cueva | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| 4 | | MF | Hernanes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 9 |
| 5 | | FW | Luiz Araújo | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| 6 | | MF | Marcos Guilherme | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| 7 | | MF | Thiago Mendes | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 8 | | MF | Cícero | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 9 | | DF | Robert Arboleda | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 10 | | FW | Andrés Chávez | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| = | | MF | Éder Militão | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| = | | FW | Marcinho | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| = | | DF | Shaylon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| = | | MF | Thomaz | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 11 | | FW | Brenner | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| = | | DF | Bruno Alves | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| = | | FW | Denílson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| = | | MF | Jucilei | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| = | | MF | Lucas Fernandes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| = | | DF | Maicon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| = | | FW | Maicosuel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| = | | MF | Petros | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| = | | DF | Rodrigo Caio | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| = | | FW | Wellington Nem | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Own goals Diego Felipe (LIN) 1 Matheus Galdezani (COR) 1 | Own goals Diego Felipe (LIN) 1 Matheus Galdezani (COR) 1 | Own goals Diego Felipe (LIN) 1 Matheus Galdezani (COR) 1 | Own goals Diego Felipe (LIN) 1 Matheus Galdezani (COR) 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 33 | 11 | 1 | 48 | 93 |

### Managers performance

| Name | Nationality | From | To | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | % |
| Rogério Ceni | Brazil | 5 February | 2 July | 35 | 14 | 11 | 10 | 55 | 42 | 50% |
| Pintado (caretaker) | Brazil | 9 July | 9 July | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0% |
| Dorival Júnior | Brazil | 13 July | 3 December | 26 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 36 | 35 | 50% |

### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Série A | 14 May 2017 | 3 December 2017 | Matchday 1 | 13th | 38 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 48 | 49 | −1 | 034.21 |
| Copa do Brasil | 9 February 2017 | 19 April 2017 | First Round | Fourth Round | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 7 | +4 | 066.67 |
| Campeonato Paulista | 5 February 2017 | 23 April 2017 | Matchday 1 | Semi-Finals | 16 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 33 | 23 | +10 | 043.75 |
| Copa Sudamericana | 5 April 2017 | 11 May 2017 | Second Stage | Second Stage | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +0 | 000.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 62 | 24 | 20 | 18 | 93 | 80 | +13 | 038.71 |
Source: Competitions
| Games played | 62 (16 Campeonato Paulista, 6 Copa do Brasil, 2 Copa Sudamericana, 38 Campeonato Brasileiro) |
| Games won | 24 (7 Campeonato Paulista, 4 Copa do Brasil, 0 Copa Sudamericana, 13 Campeonato Brasileiro) |
| Games drawn | 20 (6 Campeonato Paulista, 1 Copa do Brasil, 2 Copa Sudamericana, 11 Campeonato Brasileiro) |
| Games lost | 18 (3 Campeonato Paulista, 1 Copa do Brasil, 0 Copa Sudamericana, 14 Campeonato Brasileiro) |
| Goals scored | 93 |
| Goals conceded | 80 |
| Goal difference | +13 |
| Best result | 5−0 (H) v Linense − Campeonato Paulista |
| Worst result | 0−3 (A) v Palmeiras − Campeonato Paulista |
| Top scorer | Lucas Pratto (14) |
Source: Competitions

## Official competitions
### Campeonato Paulista
### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | São Paulo | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 25 | 20 | +5 | 20 | knockout stage |
| 2 | Linense | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 16 | 25 | −9 | 17 | knockout stage |
| 3 | Red Bull Brasil | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 16 | −2 | 13 | |
| 4 | Ferroviária | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 15 | −5 | 13 | |

#### Semi-finals
### Copa do Brasil
#### Fourth round
### Copa Sudamericana
#### First stage
### Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H |
| Result | L | W | W | L | W | L | D | L | L | D | L | L | D | L | W | D | W | L | L | W | D | L | D | W | D | W | L | W | L | W | W | W | D | D | L | D | W | D |
| Position | 15 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 19 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 17 | 14 | 17 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 13 |