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

As long as there is bamboo, there are arrows.

In unfavorable weather, playing at Vila Belmiro with a persistent drizzle throughout the match and with an angry crowd, which despite being small in number spent much of the time insulting president Julio Casares, São Paulo showed that it will continue to breathe and dream of a spot in the next Copa Libertadores in the final rounds of the Brazilian Championship.

On the afternoon of this Sunday (23), the club defeated the desperate Juventude 2-1 and got a little help from the results of the round to return to the eighth position, 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, which will have its finals next month, they would be in the Libertadores.

The result that ended the three-match winless streak began to be built early. After a small scare at the start, with Juventude's forward missing a shot face-to-face with Rafael, Bobadilla opened the scoring. At 6 minutes, he dispossessed an opponent in midfield and started the counterattack, following the play and taking advantage of the goalkeeper's save from Luciano's errant shot to complete into the net.

It seemed like the day would be easy, but the Tricolor showed weaknesses. Against a fragile opponent, the Tricolor appeared poorly compact without the ball. And, spaced out, it allowed the movement of the Gaúchos, even if it didn't pose a threat.

But what about the attack? Well, Hernán Crespo continues to suffer from the lack of a playmaker. In the usual 3-2-5 formation with the ball, the Tricolor team advanced its defensive line more than necessary, basically placing the responsibility of the initial playmaking on the feet of the side defenders. However, with Juventude mirroring, the wingers, positioned as forwards, were trapped.

Compared to the match against Corinthians, it was evident that the inclusion of Maik, Bobadilla, and Tapia as starters, along with Ferreirinha's establishment as a left wing-back, gave the team much more intensity, allowing them to reach the opponent's area with speed, but they got confused in organizing the final pass and struggled to construct a more refined finishing play.

Regarding the mentioned players, two points: Tapia shows that he has truly become an indispensable player, being the necessary escape valve with a certain determination not to give up on plays and the awkward balls cleared by the defense.

On the other hand, Ferreirinha is a concern. The player left at halftime after feeling pain at the end of the first half and did not return to the field. He could be another name on the extensive list of São Paulo's absentees, which so torments Crespo.

In the second half, Juventude, with nothing to lose, launched into the attack and gave more movement to the game. Still taking advantage of the Tricolor's spacing, they managed to appear frequently and with some danger.

In response, players who came on, like Lucca and Marcos Antônio, further increased the Tricolor's intensity, making the match 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 for a while. At 40 minutes, the youngster suffered a criminal tackle from Formiga, initially punished with a yellow card, but which resulted in a red card after VAR review. Even with one less player, the Tricolor lost momentum and allowed pressure from the visitors, who maintained possession and bombarded Rafael's goal in the final minutes, complicating something that could have been easier. At 48, in the dying moments, Rigoni advanced on a counterattack and struck a beautiful shot from outside the area to score the second. But the peace was short-lived. Right after, from the kickoff, Ferraresi scored an inexplicable own goal, ensuring unnecessary tension until the final whistle.

Back in the fight for that eighth position, São Paulo returns to the field at 8:30 PM (Brasília time) on Thursday (27), against Fluminense, at Maracanã, in a crucial match for their aspirations and marking the reunion with coach Luis Zubeldía, dismissed in June.

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