Santos visited Grêmio on Saturday night with the match set for 19:00 Brasília time at Arena do Grêmio in Porto Alegre, and the biggest absence was Neymar. The forward was ruled out of the 17th round Brazilian Série A match because of pain in his right calf, leaving Santos to reshuffle its attack before kickoff.
The game was scheduled with Premiere set to broadcast it, and Santos coach Cuca still had a probable lineup to work with despite the losses. The club’s likely XI included Gabriel Brazão, Igor Vinicius, Adonís Frías, Lucas Verissimo, Escobar, William Arão, Gustavo Henrique, Gabriel Bontempo, Miguelito, Rony and Gabigol, while Grêmio was listed with Weverton, Pavon, Luis Eduardo, Viery, Caio Paulista, Leo Pérez, Arthur or Noriega, Amuzu, Braithwaite or Riquelme, Enamorado and Carlos Vinicius under coach Luís Castro.
Neymar’s absence was only part of Santos’ problem. Barreal missed the trip after an automatic suspension for being sent off against Coritiba, and Rollheiser did not travel with the squad because of a muscle problem. The medical department also kept Vinícius Lira out with a left knee injury, Gabriel Menino and João Schmidt sidelined with injuries to the back muscle of the right thigh, and Thaciano unavailable with a muscle injury in his right thigh.
That combination turned a routine league visit into a test of depth for Santos at a time when the team was already being judged through the lens of Neymar’s fitness. The match itself carried the weight of a standard league round, but the selection sheet told the fuller story: a side arriving in Porto Alegre without its most recognisable player and with several others missing for medical and disciplinary reasons.
What happens next is already clear enough for Santos. With the Grêmio match set as a Saturday evening checkpoint in Série A, the club must manage the fallout from another game in which Neymar was unavailable and the bench was thinned by injuries, suspension and travel omission.
