Paulo Machado


Paulo Ricardo Ribeiro de Jesus Machado is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Indian club Mumbai City FC.
Formed at Porto, he amassed Primeira Liga totals of 103 matches and eight goals over five seasons, in representation of as many clubs. He also competed professionally in France, Greece, Croatia and India, winning the national championship twice with Olympiacos and Dinamo Zagreb.
Machado won four caps for Portugal, making his first appearance in 2010.

Club career

Born in the Porto neighbourhood of Bairro do Cerco, where he was surrounded by deviant behaviours from an early age, Machado joined FC Porto's youth system at the age of 14, and made his first-team debut in the 2003–04 edition of the Portuguese Cup, under José Mourinho. In the summer of 2005 he signed an improved contract until 2010 along with teammate Bruno Vale, before both went on consecutive loans to C.F. Estrela da Amadora and U.D. Leiria.
In the following two years, Machado was loaned again, to Leixões S.C. and Ligue 1's AS Saint-Étienne respectively. Alongside teammates Diogo Valente and Vieirinha, also loaned by Porto, he was instrumental as the Matosinhos side retained their Primeira Liga status at the season's close.
On 10 July 2008, Machado was loaned to the French club as part of the deal that brought Colombian Fredy Guarín to Porto. He adapted well, becoming an integral part of Saint-Étienne's campaign, scoring twice in his first 16 games – 12 as a starter – and only missing three league matches as they narrowly avoided relegation.
On 2 July 2009, Toulouse FC signed Machado to a four-year deal. In August 2012, after three seasons in which he averaged 30 appearances and four goals, he joined Olympiacos F.C. in Greece for €2,700,000 penning a three-year contract. He scored his first goal for his new team on 3 November, also providing an assist to Kostas Mitroglou in a 2–0 home win against OFI Crete FC.
On 4 June 2014, Machado joined GNK Dinamo Zagreb on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee. On 28 July 2015, during a UEFA Champions League play-off round against Molde FK at Stadion Maksimir, club fans booed him as he walked off the pitch while being substituted after a poor performance. In return, he made several obscene gestures for which he received a straight red card, being subsequently suspended until further notice.
On 2 September 2017, free agent Machado signed with recently promoted C.D. Aves until the end of the season. On 31 August 2018, he joined Indian Super League franchise Mumbai City FC; after suffering an injury in the second half of the match against Jamshedpur FC on 19 December 2019, he was ruled out for the rest of the campaign.

International career

Machado was part of the Portugal under-21 team at the 2007 UEFA European Championship. Previously, he won the Under-17 European Championships in 2003.
On 30 September 2010, Machado was called up for the first time to the senior side by newly appointed coach Paulo Bento. He did not make his debut in either of the two UEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers that were scheduled, but later spoke of his smooth integration into the squad and his ambition to eventually earn a regular place in the national team. On 17 November he finally made his debut, coming on as a substitute for Nani in the dying minutes of a 4–0 friendly win over Spain, in Lisbon.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

Olympiacos
Dinamo Zagreb
Aves
Portugal