Crespo’s gamble pays off, São Paulo boost Pré-Libertadores hopes | OneFootball

Marcelo Baseggio

São Paulo left the field with their spirits high after the 2-2 draw with Flamengo this Wednesday at Vila Belmiro, in Santos, for the 32nd round of the Brazilian Championship.

Even playing away from home due to a series of concerts scheduled at Morumbis this November, the depleted team led by Hernán Crespo was competitive against one of the best teams on the continent, if not the best, and at least secured a point in the Brasileirão standings.

After suffering through a streak of seven defeats in eight games, São Paulo is steadily making a comeback. The team is now three matches unbeaten, with two wins against Bahia and Vasco, in addition to the draw with Flamengo.

For a team that was completely written off and in crisis after being eliminated from the Libertadores by LDU, putting in good performances against teams at the top of the Brasileirão, especially against Flamengo, undoubtedly boosts the squad’s morale for the final rounds of the league competition.

Whether São Paulo will be able to maintain the level they showed against Palmeiras (despite the loss), Bahia, and Flamengo is hard to say. The big challenge for coach Hernán Crespo at the helm of Tricolor is to make what has been shown on some occasions become the team’s standard.

Today, São Paulo does not have a large and extremely qualified squad to always perform the same way, regardless of who is on the field. The team still relies heavily on certain players, and some of them remain sidelined due to physical problems, such as Calleri, for example.

But this is where the coach and his technical staff deserve credit. Solving problems is a requirement for anyone leading the team, and Crespo did exactly that this Wednesday.

Enzo Díaz, the starting left-back, missed the match due to an accumulation of yellow cards. His direct replacement, Wendell, is recovering from a partial tear of the plantar fascia. The third option, Patryck Lanza, did not convince Hernán Crespo, who preferred to improvise the forward Ferreirinha as a left wing-back.

The Argentine coach’s gamble paid off, although it was risky. Ferreirinha not only managed to help out defensively, with support from the midfielders and defenders, but also scored São Paulo’s equalizing goal late in the match after Flamengo had managed to turn the game around.

For São Paulo, this draw with Flamengo was worth much more than just a point in the Brazilian Championship. The result boosted the group’s self-esteem as they chase the much-desired qualification for the Pre-Libertadores. Without a doubt, the performance against their red-and-black rivals should serve as a reference for the challenges ahead.

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