São Paulo edge Juventude in drizzle, keep Libertadores dream alive | OneFootball

As long as there is bamboo, there are arrows.

In unfavorable conditions, playing at Vila Belmiro under a persistent, annoying drizzle throughout the match and with an angry crowd—who, despite their small numbers, spent much of the time insulting president Julio Casares—São Paulo showed that it will keep fighting and dreaming of a spot in the next Copa Libertadores in the final rounds of the Brazilian Championship.

On Sunday afternoon (23rd), the club defeated the desperate Juventude 2-1 and got a little help from other results in the round to climb back to eighth place, keeping alive the goal of qualifying for the main continental competition.

The Tricolor temporarily holds the position with 48 points. In other words, if Fluminense or Cruzeiro win the Copa do Brasil, whose finals will be played next month, São Paulo would be in the Libertadores.

The result, which ended a three-match winless streak, started to be built early. After a small scare at the beginning, with Juventude’s forward missing a shot face-to-face with Rafael, Bobadilla opened the scoring. At the 6th minute, he dispossessed an opponent in midfield and started the counterattack, following the play and taking advantage of a rebound from Luciano’s poor finish to put the ball in the net.

It looked like it would be an easy day, but Tricolor showed weaknesses. Against a fragile opponent, the team was poorly compacted without the ball. And, spaced out, they allowed the movement of the team from Rio Grande do Sul, even if it didn’t pose much danger.

But what about the attack? Well, Hernán Crespo continues to suffer from not having a true playmaker. In the now customary 3-2-5 with the ball, the Tricolor pushed its defensive line higher than necessary, basically leaving the initial build-up to the wide center-backs. However, with Juventude mirroring their formation, the wingbacks, pushed up like wingers, ended up stuck.

Compared to the match against Corinthians, it’s clear that the inclusion of Maik, Bobadilla, and Tapia as starters, along with Ferreirinha’s confirmation as left wingback, gave the team much more intensity. They managed to reach the opponent’s box with speed, but got confused in organizing the final pass and struggled to create a more refined finishing play.

About the players mentioned, two points: Tapia is proving to be truly indispensable, acting as the necessary escape valve with a certain determination not to give up on plays and on the awkward balls cleared by the defense.

On the other hand, Ferreirinha is a concern. He left at halftime after going down in pain at the end of the first half and did not return to the field. He could be yet another name on São Paulo’s long list of absences, which has been tormenting Crespo.

In the second half, Juventude, with nothing left to lose, threw themselves into attack and made the game more dynamic. Still taking advantage of Tricolor’s spacing, they managed to appear frequently and with some danger.

In response, substitutes like Lucca and Marcos Antônio increased Tricolor’s intensity even more, making the match more open, but still lacking objectivity in finishing.

But there was still time for Lucca to prove to Crespo that he deserved this chance in the main team. At the 40th minute, the youngster suffered a criminal tackle from Formiga, initially punished with a yellow card, but which led to a sending off after VAR review. Even with a man advantage, Tricolor lost momentum and allowed pressure from the visitors, who kept possession and bombarded Rafael’s goal in the final minutes, complicating what could have been an easier finish. At 48 minutes, in the dying moments, Rigoni broke away on a counterattack and fired a beautiful shot from outside the box to score the second. But the peace was short-lived. Right after the restart, Ferraresi scored an inexplicable own goal, ensuring an unnecessary tension remained until the final whistle.

Back in the fight for eighth place, São Paulo returns to the field at 8:30 p.m. (Brasília time) on Thursday (27th), against Fluminense at Maracanã, in a crucial match for their ambitions and marking the reunion with coach Luis Zubeldía, who was dismissed in June.

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