Shortly after helping the Brazilian under-20s win the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship, Adriano made his full team debut also in that year. In 2004, he was part of the squad that won the Copa América in Peru.

Born in Curitiba, Paraná, Adriano started professionally for his hometown club Coritiba Foot Ball Club, making his first-team debuts at not yet 18. In January 2005 he joined Spain’s Sevilla FC in a four-and-a-half-year deal, his La Liga debut arriving on the 29th in a 0–4 home loss against eventual champions FC Barcelona; the Andalusians, however, did finish sixth and qualified for the UEFA Cup.

On 16 July 2010, Adriano signed a 4+1 contract with Barcelona, for €9.5 million plus a conditional fee of €4 million – it also included a buyout clause of €90 million. He was awarded the No. 21 shirt vacated by Dmytro Chygrynskiy, and made his debut in a pre-season friendly against Vålerenga Fotball, coming on as a second-half substitute; on 14 August he first appeared officially, in the first leg of Supercopa de España, a 1–3 loss at former side Sevilla.

Adriano spent the vast majority of his first season with Barça as a substitute. On 2 February 2011, in a rare start, he scored his first goal for the Catalans, netting in a 3–0 semi-final away win against UD Almería for the Copa del Rey (8–0 on aggregate); due to the illness of first-choice left-back Eric Abidal he became a regular starter from March onwards, although the Frenchman recovered in time to start in the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final.

In 2011–12, Adriano was again mostly a reserve for the Pep Guardiola-led side. On 15 December 2011, however, in the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup, he scored the first two goals in a 4–0 semi-final win over Sadd Sports Club, the first coming after a mistake by the Qatari team’s defense to open the score in the 25th minute.

Early into the 2012–13 season, Adriano played the role of hero and villain in a matter of days: in the Spanish Supercup second leg he was sent off midway through the first half of an eventual 1–2 away loss against Real Madrid (4–4 aggregate defeat on the away goals rule), for bringing down Cristiano Ronaldo as the last man; On 2 September 2012, he scored the game’s only goal at home against Valencia CF, through a spectacular right-foot curl.

On 28 May 2013, Adriano signed a new contract with Barcelona, keeping him at the club until 2017. During the 2014 pre-season, after being diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat, he was sidelined for several weeks, but eventually recovered fully.

Adriano scored his first goal of the 2015–16 campaign on 24 November 2015, hitting home following a missed penalty from Neymar and closing the score at 6–1 against A.S. Roma for the Champions League group stage. He had replaced Sergi Roberto for the last 26 minutes of the match.

On 29 July 2016, after having appeared in 189 competitive matches for Barcelona and scored 17 goals, Adriano signed for Beşiktaş J.K. in Turkey. He netted once from 31 appearances in his first season, helping the club win its 15th Süper Lig championship.

Adriano returned to Brazil on 23 July 2019, with the 34-year-old joining Club Athletico Paranaense on a one-and-a-half-year deal.

On August 2020, Adriano signed a new contract with the Belgian First Division A team Eupen on a free transfer.