São Paulo defence falters, matches five-year low | OneFootball

A sector considered the highlight of the São Paulo team in recent years, the defense has become a real Achilles' heel for the Morumbi club this season and can largely explain the below-average performance.

São Paulo conceded goals in 42 out of the 63 matches they played this year, which corresponds to 66.7% of the total.

This is the highest percentage since 2020, when the team was breached in 68.5% of their matches.

This is because, since Hernán Crespo took over as coach, the tricolor team changed its tactical structure, using a back line with three players forming the defense.

Of the 27 matches managed by Crespo in this second stint at the club, in 26 the system with three defenders was chosen. Only in the 2-2 draw with Sport away from home, on August 16, did the coach, due to the absence of players, adopt a different tactic (in this case a 4-3-3).

Despite the high number for recent context, it is still far from the record, set in 1942, with 88.2% (30 out of 34 matches).

Of the 96 years of São Paulo’s history, no less than 51 seasons had a higher percentage than the current one, largely because goal averages were higher until around the 1960s.

For the current team, the number of goals conceded would be even higher if not for the performance of goalkeeper Rafael. He kept a clean sheet in 72 out of the 172 matches he played for São Paulo (42%). In 2025, he went unscathed in 20 out of 55 matches he played (36%).

Captain and standout of the team, the number 23 is the player who has played the most for Tricolor in this Brazilian Championship: he played his 31st match in 33 rounds. In 11 of those games, he did not concede a goal. Rafael only missed the matches against Sport (2×2) and Santos (0x1), games in which he was rested by the coaching staff.

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