[3][4] After starting his career with Coritiba, he moved to Spain in 2005, going on to spend several seasons in La Liga with Sevilla and Barcelona and win several major titles with both clubs, including the treble with the latter in 2015.

In January 2005, he joined Spanish side Sevilla on a four-and-a-half-year deal,[5] his La Liga debut arriving on the 29th in a 4–0 home loss against eventual champions Barcelona;[6] the Andalusians, however, did finish sixth and qualified for the UEFA Cup.

In the following seasons, Adriano continued to feature in several positions for Sevilla with equal success as they won back-to-back UEFA Cups, with the player contributing with 25 games and four goals in both editions combined.

In the final of the latter edition, he opened the score against Espanyol in an eventual penalty shootout win;[7] previously, in late September 2006, he had added a further five years to his link.

21 shirt vacated by Dmytro Chyhrynskyi,[11] and made his debut in a pre-season friendly against Vålerenga, coming on as a second-half substitute; on 14 August he first appeared officially, in the first leg of Supercopa de España, a 3–1 loss at former side Sevilla.

[27] Shortly after helping the Brazilian under-20s win the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship, Adriano made his full team debut also in that year.