Crunch time for Crespo: must bounce back against Ceará | OneFootball

After the frustrating elimination from the Copa Libertadores at Morumbi to LDU, São Paulo now has a single goal: to secure a spot in the next edition of the continent’s main club competition through the Brazilian Championship.

For that, the match against Ceará, on Monday night (29), at Morumbi, is a true watershed moment for the team and, especially, for coach Hernán Crespo.

After a blazing start, with an unbeaten streak, the Argentine coach is seeing the tide turn. Now, there have been three consecutive defeats, an unprecedented feat for him at the club, including his first spell at Morumbi in 2021.

Until then, Crespo had only ever suffered a maximum of two consecutive defeats. The first time was in 2021, when he lost to Fluminense and Fortaleza. In 2025, after his return, São Paulo lost to LDU in Quito and to Santos in the Brasileirão, before being beaten again by the Ecuadorians at home.

São Paulo hadn’t endured such a negative streak since the period between the end of May and July, when they lost to Bahia, Vasco, and Flamengo.

With this slump, Crespo now has six defeats in 18 matches since his return, along with eight wins and four draws, which represents a 51% success rate. This negative mark increases the pressure on the coach, who will have the mission of getting Tricolor back on track in the Brasileirão. Moreover, the team has scored only one goal in the last five matches, their worst offensive performance of the year.

It’s some consolation for Crespo that the team doesn’t need a result to maintain seventh place, as regardless of what happens, they will finish this round in that position. However, a victory would have two positive effects: not losing sight of the G6, which will be four or five points away in case of a slip, and providing a response to the fans after the Libertadores elimination, which was sealed last Thursday after their first home defeat in continental knockout matches since 2018. Expectations are for one of the lowest attendances of the year at Morumbi, which will also see a protest from the club’s main organized supporters group before the match.

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