Crespo upbeat on São Paulo’s hopes: “It won’t be easy for them” | OneFootball

Coach Hernán Crespo remained optimistic despite São Paulo's defeat to LDU, 2-0, this Thursday in Quito, Ecuador, in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores.

Tricolor will need to win the return match next Thursday at Morumbis by three goals to qualify for the semifinals in regular time, but the Argentine coach believes in a happy ending because of the performance in this first away match.

“São Paulo is alive. The score is important for them, but at the same time we’re alive because we played well and created chances, we just lacked finishing, the calm to finish. The way São Paulo played this game makes us believe. Playing at Morumbis is different, it won’t be easy for them, the fans will be there, we need the fans to push us, because we have to do something historic. Try to turn this negative situation into a positive one,” said Crespo.

The Argentine coach believes that Thursday’s score does not reflect what happened in the match. For much of the game, São Paulo dominated the opponent, especially in the second half, but was not as efficient as the home team, who managed to score in the few chances they had against goalkeeper Rafael.

“It’s clear that we didn’t deserve the result, the score was unfair. What I think doesn’t matter. We have to accept it. But at the same time, we’re calm because we created chances, had goal opportunities, we just couldn’t convert, but that’s part of the game. We believe, knowing that in a knockout stage it’s a 180-minute game. The next 90 we play at Morumbis, so we have to believe,” the coach continued.

“They had the merit of capitalizing on our mistakes. Hopefully not, but 2-0 is significant. I think they finished what we didn’t, we had two defensive errors and they took advantage. Unfortunately, we couldn’t finish what we created, that’s the difference. I hope we can turn it around, I think we have enough weapons to do it, it won’t be easy, but we have to believe, because I saw a lot of good responses, I saw the team play well. It’s not easy to play the way São Paulo played here. Their goalkeeper also had a great night, I hope he doesn’t have a night like that next week,” he concluded, without losing his good humor.

With the 2-0 defeat, São Paulo will have to beat LDU by three goals to qualify for the Libertadores semifinals in regular time. A win by two goals will take the decision to penalties. For the Ecuadorians, a draw or even a one-goal loss is enough to advance in the competition.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.