Club Athletico Paranaense

Athletico Paranaense

Full name	Club Athletico Paranaense
Nickname(s)	Furacão (Hurricane) Rubro-Negro (Red and Black) El Paranaense (The Paranaense)
Founded	26 March 1924; 100 years ago (1924-03-26)
Ground	Arena da Baixada
Capacity	42,372
President	Mario Celso Petraglia
Manager	Lucho González
League	Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Campeonato Paranaense
2023 2023	Série A, 8th of 20 Paranaense, 1st of 12 (champions)
Website	https://www.athletico.com.br/
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Club Athletico Paranaense (commonly known as Athletico Paranaense and formerly known as Atlético Paranaense) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná, founded on 26 March 1924.

The team's most important titles have been winning the 2001 Série A, the Copa Sudamericana in 2018 and 2021, and the Copa do Brasil in 2019. In the Copa Libertadores, they have finished runner-up twice, in 2005 and 2022.

They are considered the strongest team in Brazil outside of the Big 12, at times even surpassing them.^[1][2]

The club was founded in 1924 through the merger of International Football Club and América Futebol Clube, two traditional clubs in Curitiba.^[3] The club's first match, a friendly one, was played on 6 April, when Athletico Paranaense beat Universal FC 4–2.^[4] The following year, Athletico Paranaense won its first title, the Campeonato Paranaense. In 1929 it won its second state title, before adding a third and the club's first back to back championship.

In the 1983 Serie A, Athletico had a great season, finishing fourth in the league. However, the club struggled in the 1986 and 1988 seasons, which eventually culminated in the club's relegation to the Serié B for the first time in history in 1989. In the 1990 season they made the second division finals, losing to Sport Recife due to Sport having a better season record, after a draw on aggregate. Despite the loss, they still earned promotion to the 1991 Série A, where they struggled but ultimately earned their permanence in the top flight for the following season.

The 1992 season was slightly better, with the club finishing fifteenth in the Serie A. However, the following season was worse, with the club suffering another relegation, their second in four years. In the 1994 Série B, the club was eliminated in the third stage and was not promoted. In the 1995 Série B, Athletico won their first major title in history, the second division title, and was promoted to the 1996 Serie A. Back in the top flight, Furacão had a good campaign, finishing fourth in the regular season and qualifying to the quarter finals.

In 1999, the club inaugurated their new stadium, Arena da Baixada, which was built on the same ground as their old stadium. Also that year, Athletico won a Pre-Libertadores tournament, which was only played in 1999, due to CONMEBOL expanding the tournament from 24 to 32 teams, so Brazil's fifth place had to be defined. Athletico beat powerhouses Internacional, Sao Paulo, and then Cruzeiro in the finals to earn their first Libertadores participation in history.

In the 2000 Copa Libertadores, the club began their campaign in excellent form, topping their group undefeated, with their only draw coming against Nacional; they also won their first match on 16 February 2000, a 3–0 victory in Peru against Alianza Lima. Expectations were high for the knockout rounds, with Athletico being the #2 seed in the competition behind Colombian champions América de Cali; however, Furacão was eliminated by fellow Brazilians Atletico Mineiro in the knockout stage, losing on penalties after a 2–2 draw on aggregate.

In 2001, Athletico won their first Série A title, beating São Caetano 5–2 on aggregate in the finals. As champions, they gained automatic qualification to the 2002 Copa Libertadores. Expectations were high for the club as champions, and the team was looking to build off of its Libertadores campaign in 2000 where it reached the knockout stages; however, things were worse in the 2002 edition, and the team finished last in their group with only one win, including a heavy 5–0 defeat to America de Cali.

In 2004, Athletico finished second in the Série A, battling it out with champions Santos until the last matchday. This position qualified the club for the 2005 Copa Libertadores. Their 2005 Libertadores campaign was very different from the first two; the club qualified for the knockout stages as second in its group, behind Colombian champions Independiente Medellín, who Athletico had lost to 4–0 in Curitiba.^[5] In the round of 16, Athletico disposed of Paraguayan club Cerro Porteño on away goals, qualifying to the last eight of the competition for the first time in club history. In the quarter-finals, they were faced with Serie A and 2003 Libertadores champions Santos. Athletico won the first leg at home 3–2, then won 2–0 in São Paulo to progress to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals they were faced with Mexican club Chivas Guadalajara, who had eliminated powerhouse Boca Juniors 4–0 on aggregate. Chivas was no match for Athletico, with the Brazilian club winning 3–0 at home, then tying 2–2 on Mexican soil to progress to the final with a 5–2 aggregate score. The finals were played against powerhouse São Paulo, who had numerous international trophies already. The first leg at Arena da Baixada ended in a 1-1 draw. However, the second leg was a completely different story, with Sao Paulo thrashing Athletico 4–0 and denying Athletico their first Copa Libertadores title.^[6]

In the 2005 Serie A, Athletico was able to maintain enough squad depth to have a good performance in the league, finishing sixth and qualifying for their first Copa Sudamericana. Their campaign began with a 4-1 aggregate victory against fellow Paranaense club Paraná. In the following round, they eliminated powerhouse River Plate 3-2 on aggregate,^[7] then eliminated Uruguayan club Nacional, 6-2 on aggregate, with a 4-1 victory in the second leg, to reach the semi-finals. The semi-finals, played against Mexican club Pachuca, began with a shock 1-0 victory by the Mexican club on Brazilian soil. The second leg began with Athletico up 1-0 at halftime with a goal by Colombian midfielder David Ferreira to tie the aggregate score; however, Pachuca scored four goals in the second half to win the game 4-1 and eliminate the Brazilians from their first Copa Sudamericana.

This elimination had a considerable effect on the club's near future; Athletico finished out of the top 10 spots in the league from 2006 to 2009, which included a 6-2 loss on aggregate to Vasco da Gama in the first round of the 2007 Copa Sudamericana, a first round elimination at the hands of Corinthians Alagoano in the 2008 Copa do Brasil, and elimination from the 2008 Copa Sudamericana by Guadalajara. In 2007, the team partnered with Major League Soccer club Dallas.

In 2010 the club had a good season and finished fifth, but the club suffered relegation in 2011 after a seventeenth placed finish in the league. The fifth placed finish in 2010 had qualified the club for the 2011 Copa Sudamericana, but they were eliminated in the first round by Flamengo. In 2012 the team gained immediate promotion back to the Serie A. In 2010 the club announced a partnership with Vitesse Arnhem in the Netherlands. ^{[citation needed]}

For 2013 the team was completely rebuilt and came back into the top flight as a powerful team; the club finished third in the Serie A, qualified for the 2014 Copa Libertadores, and finished runner up to Flamengo in the 2013 Copa do Brasil.

On 15 February 2015, the club signed Indian winger Romeo Fernandes on loan from Dempo and through this contract he became the first and only Indian footballer to play in a South American top-tier league.^[8][9][10] Zico, then FC Goa coach played a key role behind this contract.

In 2018, Athletico Paranaense won their first Copa Sudamericana title, defeating Colombian champions Junior in the finals after a penalty shootout.

On 22 May 2019, Athletico won the first leg of the 2019 Recopa Sudamericana against 2018 Libertadores champion River Plate with the only goal of the match being scored by Marco Ruben.^[11] In the second leg at Estadio Monumental, River was leading 1–0 until the 90th minute and it looked like the match was heading for a penalty shootout; however, River scored two goals in injury time to win 3–0 and lift the Recopa title 3–1 on aggregate.^[12] In September 2019, the club won its first Copa do Brasil title, beating Internacional twice in the final.

In 2021, they won their second Sudamericana title, beating fellow Brazilians Red Bull Bragantino 1–0 in the final.

In 2022, Athletico Paranaense reached the Copa Libertadores final for the second time in club history, where they were defeated by Flamengo.^[13]

A survey taken in 2005 by Paraná Pesquisas Institute showed that Athletico Paranaense has the largest number of supporters in Curitiba.^[14]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Club Athletico Paranaense kits.

Originally in 1924 Athletico used to play using a horizontally striped in red and black shirt, along with white shorts and red and black socks. ^{[citation needed]}

In 1989 Athletico's administrators wanted to differentiate the team's uniform from the other red and black teams in Brazil (mainly Flamengo, Sport Recife and Vitória), so they changed the home shirt to be vertically striped in red and black (the team kept playing with white socks and white shorts). In 1996 Athletico changed the color of the socks and the shorts from white to black. ^{[citation needed]}

In December 2018, Athletico's administrators changed the club's crest to be four alternating red and black diagonal stripes which decreased in size from top to bottom, resembling a hurricane, echoing the club's nickname. The club also changed their name from 'Clube Atlético Paranaense' to its original name in the Portuguese orthography when it was founded, 'Club Athletico Paranaense', which some^[who?] believe to be a move in order to further differentiate themselves from Atlético Mineiro, another prominent Brazilian club. The club also changed the kits: the home kit, which had been a red and black vertically striped shirt, black shorts and black socks for twenty-two years became a predominantly red shirt, with a black collar, and the four diagonal stripes from the crest enlarged and going across both the front and back of the lower third of the shirt in black. The shorts and socks remain black. The away strip released with this kit was a white shirt with a black collar. In place of the four diagonal stripes were eight thin diagonal lines in the place of the outline of the larger ones seen on the home shirt; these too were black. The shorts and socks were white.^[15]

The home stadium is the Estádio Joaquim Américo Guimarães, built in 1914 and renovated several times is traditionally known as Arena da Baixada. Besides hosting important club games, Arena da Baixada also hosted 4 World Cup games in 2014 and other events like the 2017 FIVB Volleyball World League, the UFC 198: Werdum vs. Miocic and many music concerts. Arena da Baixada is also the only stadium in South America with a retractable roof and was the first to use artificial turf (with FIFA approval). ^{[citation needed]}

• Orlando City SC (MLS) – The technical partnership connects City with a club with a training facility and one of Brazil's academies.^[16]
• All India Football Federation (AIFF) – On 13 November 2014, Paranaense signed a partnership with AIFF, the governing body of Indian football, on a contract lasting till the end of 2015.^[17] The idea was presented by Technical director Rob Baan. Its main motive would be to help India for "development of a strong Indian side in the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.^[18]
• Cerezo Osaka
• Bali United F.C.

As of 3 September 2024^[19]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 3 MF  BRA Gabriel (on loan from Internacional) 4 DF  BRA Kaique Rocha 5 MF  BRA Fernandinho 6 DF  BRA Fernando 7 FW  ARG Lucas Di Yorio 8 MF  BRA Bruno Praxedes (on loan from Red Bull Bragantino) 9 FW  URU Gonzalo Mastriani 10 MF  ITA Bruno Zapelli 11 MF  BRA Nikão (on loan from São Paulo) 14 FW  URU Agustín Canobbio 15 DF  PAR Mateo Gamarra 20 FW  BRA Julimar 22 DF  BRA Madson 23 MF  BRA Felipinho 24 GK  BRA Léo Linck 26 MF  BRA Erick

No. Pos. Nation Player 28 FW  ARG Tomás Cuello 29 DF  ARG Leonardo Godoy 30 MF  BRA Zé Vitor (on loan from São-Carlense) 37 DF  ARG Lucas Esquivel 41 GK  BRA Mycael 42 GK  BRA Matheus Soares 43 DF  BRA Marcos Victor (on loan from Bahia) 44 DF  BRA Thiago Heleno (captain) 45 DF  BRA Lucas Belezi 50 FW  BRA Renan Viana 57 MF  BRA João Cruz 63 MF  BRA Diogo Riquelme 88 MF  BRA Christian 90 FW  BRA Emersonn 92 FW  BRA Pablo — DF  BRA Luan Patrick

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 MF  BRA Andrey 21 FW  BRA Kayke Santos 36 DF  BRA Léo Derik 46 DF  BRA Marcos André 53 MF  BRA Dudu 54 MF  BRA Chiqueti

No. Pos. Nation Player 58 DF  BRA João Vitor 60 DF  BRA Ataíde 65 DF  BRA Arthur Dias 66 FW  BRA Walace 89 MF  BRA Murilo 97 DF  BRA Arthur Zanella

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  COL Felipe Aguilar (at Independiente until 30 March 2025) — DF  BRA Matheus Felipe (at Ceará until 30 November 2024) — MF  BRA Danielzinho (at Londrina until 30 November 2024) — MF  BRA Hugo Moura (at Vasco da Gama until 31 December 2024) — MF  BRA Juninho (at Aparecidense until 30 November 2024) — MF  BRA Kawan (at ABC until 30 November 2024) — FW  BRA Daniel Cruz (at Chapecoense until 30 November 2024)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  BRA Jáderson (at Remo until 30 November 2024) — FW  BRA Jajá (at Pafos until 31 May 2025) — FW  CHI Luciano Arriagada (at Audax Italiano until 31 December 2024) — FW  PAR Romeo Benítez (at Tigre until 30 June 2025) — FW  BRA Kleiton (at CRB until 30 November 2024) — FW  BRA Matheus Babi (at Peñarol until 31 December 2024) — FW  BRA Rômulo (at Göztepe until 30 June 2025)

Role	Name
Head coach	Martín Varini
Assistant manager	Alejandro Souto
Assistant manager	Juca Antonello
Fitness coach	Gustavo Porto
Goalkeeping coach	Felipe Faria

• Last updated: 26 July 2024
• Source: [1]

• Last updated: 26 July 2024
• Source: [2]

INTERNATIONAL
	Competitions	Titles	Seasons
	Levain Cup-Sudamericana	1	2019
CONTINENTAL
	Competitions	Titles	Seasons
	Copa Sudamericana	2	2018, 2021
NATIONAL
	Competitions	Titles	Seasons
	Campeonato Brasileiro Série A	1	2001
	Copa do Brasil	1	2019
	Campeonato Brasileiro Série B	1	1995
	Seletiva Libertadores[20]	1	1999
STATE
	Competitions	Titles	Seasons
	Campeonato Paranaense	28	1925, 1929, 1930, 1934, 1936, 1940, 1943, 1945, 1949, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002 (S), 2005, 2009, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2024
	Taça FPF	2	1998, 2003

• Torneio Início do Paraná (6): 1936, 1947, 1955, 1958, 1987, 1988

• Curitiba League (5): 1929, 1930, 1934, 1936, 1940

• Marbella Cup (1): 2013

• Copa Libertadores (2): 2005, 2022
• Recopa Sudamericana (2): 2019, 2022
• Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (1): 2004
• Copa do Brasil (2): 2013, 2021
• Supercopa do Brasil (1): 2020
• Campeonato Brasileiro Série B (1): 1990
• Primeira Liga (1): 2016
• Copa Sul-Minas (1): 2002
• Campeonato Paranaense (18): 1927, 1928, 1948, 1968, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1978, 1987, 1991, 1997, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017

^{[citation needed]}

(*): Did not participate

As of match played 27 September 2024

Season	Competition	Round	Opponents	Home	Away	Aggregate
2000	Copa Libertadores
		Group 1	Alianza Lima	2–1	3-0	1st
			Emelec	1-0	0-0
			Nacional	2-0	3-1
		R16	Atlético Mineiro	2–1	0-1	2–2 (3-5p)
2002	Copa Libertadores
		Group 4	América de Cali	0-0	0-5	4th
			Olmedo	2-1	0-2
			Bolivar	1-2	5-5
2005	Copa Libertadores
		Group 1	Independiente Medellín	0-4	2-2	2nd
			América de Cali	2-1	1-3
			Libertad	1-0	2-1
		R16	Cerro Porteño	2-1	1-2	2–2 (5-4p)
		QF	Santos	3-2	2-0	5-2
		SF	Chivas Guadalajara	3-0	2-2	5-2
		F	São Paulo	1-1	0-4	1-5
2006	Copa Sudamericana
		2R	Paraná	1-0	3-1	4-1
		R16	River Plate	2-2	1-0	3-2
		QF	Nacional	2-1	4-1	6-2
		SF	Pachuca	0-1	1-4	1-5
2007	Copa Sudamericana	2R	Vasco da Gama	2-4	0-2	2-6
2008	Copa Sudamericana
		1R	São Paulo	0-0	0-0	0-0 (4-3p)
		R16	Chivas Guadalajara	3-4	2-2	5-6
2009	Copa Sudamericana	1R	Botafogo	0-0	2-3	2-3
2011	Copa Sudamericana	2R	Flamengo	0-1	0-1	0-2
2014	Copa Libertadores
		1R	Sporting Cristal	2-1	1-2	3-3 (5-4p)
		Group 1	Vélez Sarsfield	1-3	0-2	3rd
			The Strongest	1-0	1-2
			Universitario	3-0	1-0
2015	Copa Sudamericana
		2R	Joinville	2-0	1-0	3-0
		R16	Brasília	1-0	0-0	1-0
		QF	Sportivo Luqueño	1-0	0-2	1-2
2017	Copa Libertadores
		2R	Millonarios	1-0	0-1	1-1 (4-2p)
		3R	Deportivo Capiatá	3-3	1-0	4-3
		Group 4	San Lorenzo	0-3	1-0	2nd
			Flamengo	2-1	1-2
			Universidad Católica	2-2	3-2
		R16	Santos	2-3	0-1	2-4
2018	Copa Sudamericana
		1R	Newell's Old Boys	3-0	1-2	4-2
		2R	Peñarol	2-0	4-1	6-1
		R16	Caracas	2-1	2-0	4-2
		QF	Bahia	0-1	1-0	1-1 (4-1p)
		SF	Fluminense	2-0	2-0	4-0
		F	Junior Barranquilla	1-1	1-1	2-2 (4-3p)
2019	Recopa Sudamericana	F	River Plate	1-0	0-3	1-3
	2019 Copa Libertadores	Group G	Boca Juniors	3-0	1-2	2nd
			Tolima	1-0	0-1
			Jorge Wilstermann	4-0	2-3
		R16	Boca Juniors	0-1	0-2	0-3
2020	Copa Libertadores
		Group C	Jorge Wilstermann	0-0	3-2	2nd
			Colo-Colo	2-0	0-1
			Peñarol	1-0	2-3
		R16	River Plate	1-1	0-1	1-2
2021	Copa Sudamericana
		Group D	Melgar	1-0	0-1	1st
			Aucas	4-0	1-0
			Metropolitanos	1-0	1-0
		R16	América de Cali	4-1	1-0	5-1
		QF	L.D.U. Quito	4-2	0-1	4-3
		SF	Peñarol	2-0	2-1	4-1
		F	Red Bull Bragantino	—	—	1-0
2022	Recopa Sudamericana	F	Palmeiras	2-2	0-2	2-4
	2022 Copa Libertadores	Group B	Libertad	2-0	0-1	2nd
			Caracas	5-1	0-0
			The Strongest	1-0	0-5
		R16	Libertad	2-1	1-1	3-2
		QF	Estudiantes de La Plata	0-0	1-0	1-0
		SF	Palmeiras	1-0	2-2	3-2
		F	Flamengo	—	—	0-1
2023	Copa Libertadores
		Group G	Libertad	1-0	2-1	1st
			Alianza Lima	3-0	0-0
			Atlético Mineiro	2-1	1-2
		R16	Bolivar	2-0	1-3	3-3 (4-5p)
2024	Copa Sudamericana
		Group E	Danubio	1-2	1-0	2nd
			Sportivo Ameliano	0-1	4-1
			Rayo Zuliano	6-0	5-1
		PO	Cerro Porteño	2-1	1-1	3-2
		R16	Belgrano	2-1	2-0	4-1
		QF	Racing	1-0	1-4	2-4

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Club Athletico Paranaense.

• Official website
• Unofficial website
• List of all matches played