Santos will host Atlético-MG on Wednesday at 19:00 Brasília time at Vila Belmiro in the first leg of the Copa Sul-Americana quarterfinals, and Rodinei is now available for the first time after being brought in last week. Santos wants to use him right away, but whether he starts or begins on the bench is still the open question as the teams prepare for a tie that can push one of them into the semifinals.
For Santos, the match has become the clearest path left to a title this year. The club also wants a return to the Conmebo Libertadores next year, which gives extra weight to a knockout game it cannot afford to treat like a routine league date. and Disney+ will broadcast the match, making Wednesday night a national checkpoint for a team that has been trying to turn its season after improving its position in the Brasileirão.
The immediate form line favors Santos entering the contest. It beat Internacional away from home last Sunday in the Brasileirão, and Cuca is expected to keep the base of that team even with Lucas Veríssimo out because of pain in his right ankle. Neymar remains out with a right thigh injury, Barreal is sidelined with a left thigh injury and Rony is suspended, which leaves Santos short on options even before the first whistle.
Atlético-MG arrives with its own absences, but also with some relief. Eduardo Domínguez has the returns of Lyanco, Maycon and Igor Gomes, all recovered and cleared by the medical department, while Cuello is suspended. Everson is out with a left foot fracture, Ruan Tressoldi has a left hamstring injury, Léo Duarte is out with a right hamstring injury, Tomás Pérez is sidelined by pubalgia and Thiago Borbas has a right hamstring injury.
The matchup also carries recent baggage for both sides. Santos had been eliminated from the Copa do Brasil, while Atlético-MG comes in after its first loss following more than 100 days unbeaten. The visitors have already moved through RB Bragantino in the round of 16 of the Sul-Americana and are now trying to take the next step, with the margin for error gone from the moment Alexis Herrera blows the opening whistle.
That is what makes Rodinei matter on Wednesday: not simply that he is available, but that Santos may need him immediately without knowing how far Cuca will trust him from the start. The answer will come only when the lineups are released, and by then the pressure of a quarterfinal first leg will already be sitting on the pitch.
