The 2010 season was the 96th season in Palmeiras's existence, and their 95th in Brazil's first division. Palmeiras also played the usual Campeonato Paulista, the Copa do Brasil and the Copa Sudamericana.
Palmeiras started the campaign under management of Muricy Ramalho, who was dismissed on 18 February 2010 after some bad results. Manager Antônio Carlos Zago took over Palmeiras at the same day.
On 18 May 2010, at exactly 3 months as the club's manager, Antônio Carlos Zago was dismissed after a discussion with Palmeiras's Direction office. After a small period without a permanent manager, Palmeiras squad was coached by interim Jorge Parraga.
On 13 June 2010, during the season's 1-month break for the World Cup in South Africa, Luiz Felipe Scolari agreed to manage the team, where he had previously worked between 1997 and 2000. The manager won important titles with the team, such as Copa do Brasil and Copa Mercosur in 1998, the Copa Libertadores in 1999 and the Torneio Rio – São Paulo in 2000.
Season
Friendlies
Palmeiras played a friendly match against Boca Juniors from Argentina, marking the club's last match in Palestra Itália. Palmeiras lost the match by 0–2.
DateOpponentH / AResultF – AScorersVenueAttendance9 July 2010Boca JuniorsH0 – 2Palestra Itália17,786
Campeonato Paulista Palmeiras started the campaign in the Campeonato Paulista 2010 under Manager Muricy Ramalho, who in the beginning of the tournament had some bad results with the team. Antônio Carlos Zago took over Palmeiras in February, and in his first match with the team, he defeated rival São Paulo by 2–0 in the Choque-Rei. Antônio Carlos managed Palmeiras with high-class wins against rivals, however Palmeiras didn't play well along the Championship and preferred to give more focus in the Copa do Brasil. After a bad campaign, on 7 April, Palmeiras finished the competition in 11th place with 25 points.
DateOpponentH / AResultF – AScorersAttendance16 January 2010Mogi MirimH5 – 1Diego Souza 34', 42', Léo 51', Robert 64', Cleiton Xavier 75'20,39221 January 2010Prudente (Barueri)A2 – 2Deyvid Sacconi 28', Diego Souza 79'35,52824 January 2010ItuanoH3 – 3Diego Souza 20', Robert 48', Deyvid Sacconi 62'18,07927 January 2010Monte AzulA1 – 0Cleiton Xavier 34' (pen.)14,69331 January 2010CorinthiansA0 – 140,2574 February 2010PortuguesaH1 – 1Danilo 69'23,8727 February 2010BragantinoA3 – 2Cleiton Xavier 16', Robert 37', Lenny 89'19,59813 February 2010Botafogo-SPA1 – 1Léo 71'28,11417 February 2010São CaetanoH1 – 4Diego Souza 64'15,21921 February 2010São PauloH2 – 0Robert 54', 70'13,59028 February 2010Rio ClaroA0 – 15,8923 March 2010Santo AndréH1 – 3Robert 43'3,8408 March 2010SertãozinhoH3 – 2Lenny 23', Cleiton Xavier 38', 48'3,22414 March 2010SantosA4 – 3Robert 41', 43', 88', Diego Souza 57'18,61920 March 2010Ponte PretaH0 – 217,25524 March 2010Rio BrancoA2 – 2Diego Souza 17', Ewerthon 34'6,47727 March 2010MirassolH1 – 1Robert 5' (pen.)3,7643 April 2010OesteH0 – 03,6037 April 2010PaulistaA1 – 3Lincoln 54' (pen.)5,792
Club1Santos1915226124+37472Santo André1911444527+18373Grêmio Prudente1911443428+6374São Paulo1911354119+22365Corinthians1910543218+1435-...........................10Ponte Preta197482530-52511Palmeiras196763132-12512Mogi Mirim197392235-1324 Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
Copa do Brasil In the beginning of the year, Palmeiras appointed the Copa do Brasil as the club's primary objective of the season. Palmeiras begun the campaign in the Copa do Brasil 2010 playing against Flamengo-PI, winning comfortably in the aggregated score. In the 2nd Round, Palmeiras faced Paysandu and won both matches easily, qualifying to play against Atlético Paranaense in the Round of 16. Palmeiras won the first match by 1–0 at Palestra Itália and in the second match, drew by 1-1, winning by 2–1 in the aggregated score. In the Quarter-Finals, Palmeiras faced champions from Goiás, Atlético Goianiense and won the first match in the final minutes, from Cleiton Xavier's 94-minute penalty. A week later, Palmeiras lost by 1–0 to Atletico Goianiense in Serra Dourada, sending the decision to penalties. Although the goalkeeper, Marcos, saved three penalty kicks, Palmeiras players missed four shots and was eliminated by Atletico Goianiense by 2–1 in the penalty kicks. The elimination was a serious disappointment to Palmeiras, that tried hard to win the title and qualify to Copa Libertadores in 2011.
DateRoundOpponentH / AResultF – AScorersVenueAttendance10 February 2010Round 1Flamengo-PIA1 – 0Diego Souza 69'Albertão36,63725 February 2010Round 1Flamengo-PIH4 – 0Robert 2' (pen.), 35', Léo 26', Edinho 74'Palestra Itália8,53217 March 2010Round 2PaysanduA2 – 1Lincoln 14', Ewerthon 49'Mangueirão28,00931 March 2010Round 2PaysanduH1 – 0Robert 60'Palestra Itália7,40615 April 2010Round of 16Atlético-PRH1 – 0Robert 14'Palestra Itália20,26921 April 2010Round of 16Atlético-PRA1 – 1Lincoln 89'Arena da Baixada25,83929 April 2010Quarter-FinalsAtlético-GOH1 – 0Cleiton Xavier 90+3' (pen.)Palestra Itália23,8925 May 2010Quarter-FinalsAtlético-GOA0 – 1(1-2 p.s.o.)Serra Dourada38,729
Campeonato Brasileiro Palmeiras started the campaign in the 2010 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A playing against Vitória at home, achieving a 1–0 victory at the final minutes. In the 2nd Round, Palmeiras faced Vasco da Gama away and got a single point by a draw, in a very bad fixture by both clubs. After the draw, Palmeiras manager Antônio Carlos Zago and striker Robert, discussed with each other and both of them were dismissed by the club's direction.
The following week, the fixture was against Grêmio for the 3rd Round of the competition. Palmeiras won it easily by the score of 4–2 in a very active match by both sides. After the win Palmeiras secured the 4th position in the League table, the match will be remembered by Palmeiras as the last match played in the old home, Palestra Itália, as the stadium will be demolished for construction of the new Arena Palestra Itália. On 26 May, rival São Paulo was the next opponent for the 4th Round, the final score was of 0–1 to the Morumbi team in a very disputed game, with Palmeiras's striker, Ewerthon, losing a penalty at the 87th minute. The next match was against Grêmio Prudente at the club's former stadium, the Arena Barueri, but this time the ground was used to serve as a home match for Palmeiras, although the game wasn't bad, the final score was 0-0.
On 2 June, Palmeiras faced Flamengo playing at home again and the venue was the São Paulo municipal stadium, the Pacaembu, due to the construction of the Arena. The match was dominated by Palmeiras, but unfortunately the team failed to score again, hitting the opponents crossbar three times and conceding a goal two minutes before the end of the match, the goal was scored by Vágner Love, the club's former player. The following round saw Palmeiras face Internacional away from home and Palmeiras managed to score with Lincoln in the beginning of the first half, after that Inter equalized and the game finished 1–1.
This was the last match of the Série A before the FIFA World Cup, stopping the league in the seventh round and Palmeiras in the mid-table position. During the pause for the World Cup, Jorge Parraga, the team's interim manager was replaced by Luiz Felipe Scolari, who previously managed Palmeiras from 1997 to 2000, winning the Copa do Brasil and the Libertadores. Scolari agreed to manage the team even with proposal from other four Brazilian clubs.
The league continued on 15 July and Palmeiras faced State rivals, Santos FC, in the eighth round with some new players in the squad, such as the forwards Tadeu and Kléber, a club's former player and idol, and the midfielder Tinga who scored the winner in the second half. The match finished 2–1 for Palmeiras. Avaí was the next opponent, the match saw Palmeiras equalize with the home team at 2–2 in the beginning of the second half with Kléber, but Avaí scored two late goals to win a pretty two-sided match. In the league's 10th round, Palmeiras played against Botafogo and was winning the match until the middle of the second half by 2–0, when Marcos Assunção committed a tough foul and was dismissed, after the dismissal the club from Rio de Janeiro reacted and equalized in the final minutes. The following week, Palmeiras faced Ceará the league's 2nd placed, away from home, the match was good but the ball didn't cross the line in any of the both halves, the final result wasn't bad for Palmeiras, that stopped in the 10th place of the Série A.
After the end of the round, Palmeiras signed former Chilean idol, Jorge Valdivia, for 5 years from the Arabian side Al Ain. The signing of Valdivia left the club and especially the fans really glad. In the beginning of the 12th round, Palmeiras faced old rivals Corinthians, in the so-called Paulista Derby, and drew at home by 1–1. Although the bad result, Palmeiras attacked Corinthians almost every time in the match. Jorge Henrique scored for Corinthians at the 11th minute and Edinho equalized for Palmeiras at the 33rd minute, after that, Palmeiras scored three times, with Ewerthon twice and with Lincoln, but the referee pointed off-side in all of them.
For the League's 13th Round, Palmeiras drew with Goiás away from home by the score of 1–1. Ewerthon opened the score after just 12 minutes from the beginning with a long range shot. Palmeiras played extremely well during the first half, but in the second half, the team didn't make a good appearance, trying to hold a 1–0 lead until the end, when a dubious foul was committed by Palmeiras defence, and after the kick, Goiás drew with a header from Amaral. The result was disappointing for the team who was almost certain to win 3 points in the league. Despite the bad result, the team continued 11th in the table awaiting the return of some important players to the squad. In the following round, Palmeiras won the match against Atlético-PR by 2–0 in a very good appearance from all the players.
On 22 August, the team faced Guarani in Campinas. The match was marked by the return of Palmeiras Chilean idol, Jorge Valdivia, who came as a substitute in the second half, in the end both teams played well and the score ended 0–0. In the 16th round of the Série A, Palmeiras lost by a surprising 3–0 against the league's last placed team at home. The match was a terrifying display from the home players who could not stop Atlético-GO. After the game, manager Scolari stated that Palmeiras still needed to fix the squad for the following matches. On 29 August, after some hard training determination from the players, Palmeiras took on Atlético Mineiro in Ipatinga instead of Belo Horizonte, because of the reconstruction of the Mineirão stadium for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and begun losing by 1–0 after an early second half goal by Neto Berola chipping the ball past goalkeeper Marcos, but equalised with Marcos Assunção minutes later. At the end Kléber turned the score for the away team, who deserved the 3 points after a well played match with many goal chances being created. Palmeiras reached the 9th position of the league table after the triumph.
After the victory over Atlético Mineiro, the clube saw colombian left wingback, Pablo Armero, leave to join Udinese from Italy.