São Paulo face 10 days to end crisis and chase Libertadores miracle | OneFootball

São Paulo has five games remaining in this Brasileirão season. To achieve their goal of securing a spot in the next Libertadores, three of these games are must-wins, one is a direct duel, and there's the classic match against Corinthians, which marks the return of the tournament after the last FIFA Date break of the year.

After a break this Sunday (9), the Tricolor will have exactly ten days before their next match against Corinthians at their arena, on Thursday (20). The rival is also coming off defeats in the last two rounds but still dreams of a spot in the 2026 Libertadores. If they win the classic, they will tie with São Paulo at 45 points.

During this break without games, you already know what the Tricolor's agenda will be: the poor management of Julio Casares, culminating in the biggest crisis in the club's nearly 100-year history. The president has completely abandoned the club, preferring to attend the Brazilian GP of Formula 1 rather than accompany the delegation at Vila Belmiro, where he has placed São Paulo since he filled Morumbi with concerts.

The crisis does influence the field, indeed!

And there's no denying that off-field issues are disruptive. The players are obviously not on the best terms with the management, which throughout the year, as publicly stated by the football director Carlos Belmonte, has delayed payments to its employees. The financial crisis affects everyone; no one is spared.

The incredible number of injuries was decisive this year, both for Zubeldía and Crespo. And all of this is also part of various mistakes. The decision to build a squad with predominantly players over 30 years old, and selling young talents in bulk, obviously increases the chances of injuries within the group.

The lack of guarantees of the management's continuity with Luis Zubeldía was also crucial. Even during this year's Paulistão, the former Tricolor coach felt pressured to make the 'magic square' with Lucas, Oscar, Luciano, and Calleri work, and he exhausted his main players, already veterans, fearing for his job.

If the trio Lucas, Oscar, and Calleri practically didn't play this year, it's on Zubeldía, who wore them out in the Paulistão. And he ended up being dismissed shortly after. Scenes of a completely lost administration that doesn't play fair with its coaches, much less with its fans.

All of this adds to the criticized and pressured medical department of the club, once considered one of the best in the country, but now faces questions about its methods and processes that accumulate players in the much-acclaimed Reffis.

The path is not the most difficult

Returning to the field, it's only the athletes themselves who seek to end the year with some last honor and achieve qualification for the Libertadores. Not that there's any condition to fight for the title next year, but it's what's left.

After the classic in Itaquera, a place we've only won once, São Paulo faces Juventude, again at Vila Belmiro, in a match where they can't even think about anything other than victory. Completing the trio of matches against their most recent former coaches (Dorival Jr., Thiago Carpini, and Luis Zubeldía), the most decisive duel of this final stretch is against Fluminense, at Maracanã, in the 36th round. They are currently in 7th place, one position above the Tricolor.

To conclude their participation in the Brasileirão, matches against two teams fighting against relegation. First, Internacional, a bit more relaxed but still at risk of falling, with the Tricolor hosting, most likely again at Vila Belmiro, even though the club still insists they might secure Morumbi for the game.

Ending the year, on December 7, São Paulo will go to Salvador to face Vitória, who should fight until the end to avoid relegation to Serie B. The path is not the most complicated. The teams directly competing for a spot also fluctuate a lot, and everything is still possible. But with so many problems and setbacks throughout the season, achieving qualification for the Libertadores can be considered somewhat of a miracle.

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