Born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Mateus Sarará joined the youth Academy of local powerhouses Grêmio at the age of 9 in 2011.
[3] However, just one week later, the Ecuadorian side nicked a 2-1 win to reverse the result and advance to the tournament's quarter finals due to the away goals rule: this time, Sararà stayed on the bench for the whole game.
[4] On September 16, the player also made his debut in the Copa do Brasil, starting the second leg of the cup tie against Flamengo and playing for 61 minutes as a defensive midfielder before getting replaced by Lucas Silva due to an injury: Grêmio eventually lost the match for 2-0.
[5] Finally, just four days later, Sararà made his national league debut against the same side, again replacing Lucas Silva in the 83rd minute as Grêmio managed to gain a 0-1 away win.
[6] With the club struggling to fight against relegation, through the fall the player rapidly became a more frequent back-up choice in the team under Luiz Felipe Scolari and Vagner Mancini, rotating in the CDM role with Silva himself, as well as Thiago Santos and Darlan.