São Paulo out at home, LDU to face Palmeiras in Libertadores semi-final | OneFootball

The dream of a fourth Copa Libertadores title has come to an end for São Paulo. On Thursday, the Tricolor lost again to LDU, this time 1-0, in a packed Morumbis, bidding farewell to the competition in the quarterfinals. The only goal of the match was scored by Jeison Medina, capitalizing on a mistake by Bobadilla during a counterattack. The Ecuadorian team will face Palmeiras in the semifinals.

In front of more than 50,000 fans in the stands, who put on a beautiful show at Morumbis, São Paulo once again dominated LDU, created clear scoring chances, but, just like in the first leg in Quito, failed to convert them, most of them falling to Luciano.

LDU, on the other hand, was clinical and knew how to take advantage of the rare opportunities they had over the 90 minutes. The team led by Tiago Nunes needed just one counterattack to find the net and secure their place in the semifinals at the end of the first half.

Team Situation

Out of the Libertadores, São Paulo now turns its focus to the Brazilian Championship. Next Monday, the Tricolor hosts Ceará at Morumbis, aiming to break into the G6, the group that guarantees a spot in the next edition of the Libertadores.

LDU, meanwhile, will face Palmeiras in the semifinals. Last Wednesday, Verdão eliminated Argentina’s River Plate by coming from behind to win 3-1 at Allianz Parque, and will now seek to become the first Brazilian club to win four continental titles, surpassing rivals São Paulo and Santos, as well as Flamengo and Grêmio, in number of competition titles.

Match Summary

SÃO PAULO 0 X 1 LDU

Competition: Copa Libertadores  Venue: Morumbis, São Paulo  Date: September 25, 2025 (Thursday)  Time: 7:00 PM (Brasília time) Attendance: 54,609 fans Revenue: R$ 8,331,900.00

Yellow Cards: Cornejo, Quintero (LDU); Arboleda (São Paulo)  Red Cards: none

Refereeing

Goals LDU: Jeison Medina, 41’ 1st half

🔴⚪⚫SÃO PAULO

Rafael; Arboleda, Alan Franco (Mailton) and Sabino; Rigoni (Lucca), Pablo Maia, Bobadilla (Dinenno), Rodriguinho (Alisson) and Enzo Díaz; Ferreirinha (Lucas Moura) and Luciano. Coach: Hernán Crespo.

⚪🔵 LDU

Gustavo Valle; Ricardo Adé, Allala and Quiñonez; Gruezo, Cornejo (Minda), Villamil and Quintero; Bryan Ramírez (Richard Mina), Alzugaray (Pastrán) and Jeison Medina (Estrada). Coach: Tiago Nunes.

The Match

Luciano misses clear chances

The first half was marked by São Paulo’s absolute pressure, with over 70% possession. The Tricolor’s first big chance came at eight minutes, when Rodriguinho crossed, the goalkeeper spilled the ball at Luciano’s feet, but he shot straight at him. On the rebound, Rigoni hit the crossbar. Ferreirinha picked up the loose ball, cut inside and shot from the edge of the box, forcing a good save from the goalkeeper.

Later, at the 20-minute mark, Luciano squandered another great opportunity. Ferreirinha received from Rigoni on a quick corner, invaded the box and crossed low to the number 10, who missed an unbelievable chance practically on the goal line.

At 28 minutes, Alan Franco crossed perfectly for Luciano to head, but the São Paulo striker sent it straight into the goalkeeper’s hands.

Failing to convert their chances, São Paulo was punished at the end of the first half. At 41 minutes, Alzugaray launched the ball forward to Jeison Medina, who beat Bobadilla, went one-on-one with Rafael, and slotted it into the corner to open the scoring.

São Paulo has goals disallowed

São Paulo returned for the second half with changes. Juan Dinenno replaced Bobadilla, while Mailton came on for Alan Franco. More attacking, the Tricolor needed just three minutes to score. Enzo Díaz crossed, Dinenno controlled, and the ball fell to Luciano inside the box, who this time fired home, but the referee correctly disallowed the play for an offside by the number 10.

Later, at 16 minutes, another São Paulo goal was disallowed. After a ball was lofted into the area, Luciano and the LDU goalkeeper collided while contesting it. On the rebound, Pablo Maia shot from outside the box and found the net, but the play was disallowed because the Ecuadorian goalkeeper had been fouled and was on the ground.

Lucas Moura enters the field

At the 21-minute mark, Lucas Moura finally came on, replacing Ferreirinha, but not even the presence of the squad’s biggest star was enough to inspire São Paulo to turn the game around and stay alive in the fight for a semifinal spot in the Libertadores. Unable to seriously threaten LDU, the Tricolor was left to accept a bitter elimination from the continental tournament.

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