São Paulo face 10 days to calm crisis and keep Libertadores dream alive | OneFootball

São Paulo has five games left in this final stretch of the Brasileirão. For their ambitions of securing a spot in the next Libertadores, three are must-win matches, one is a direct showdown, and there’s also the classic against Corinthians, which marks the return of the tournament after this last FIFA break of the year.

After a break this Sunday (9th), Tricolor will have exactly ten days before their next commitment against Corinthians at their arena, on Thursday (20th). The rival is also coming off two consecutive defeats, but still dreams of a spot in the 2026 Libertadores. If they win the classic, they’ll tie with São Paulo at 45 points.

During this break without games, you already know what the main topic among Tricolor fans will be: the terrible management by Julio Casares, which has led to the biggest crisis in the club’s nearly 100-year history. The president has completely abandoned the club, preferring to attend the Brazilian Grand Prix Formula 1 instead of accompanying the squad at Vila Belmiro, where he sent São Paulo since he filled Morumbi with concerts.

The crisis does influence on the field!

And there’s no way to say that off-field issues don’t interfere. The players are obviously not on the best terms with the board, which, as has already been publicly stated by football director Carlos Belmonte, has been delaying payments to its employees throughout the year. The financial crisis affects everyone; no one escapes.

The unbelievable number of injuries was decisive this year, both for Zubeldía and Crespo. And all of this is also part of various mistakes. The decision to build a squad mostly with players over 30, and to sell off young talents en masse, obviously increases the chances of injuries in the group.

The lack of guarantees from the board regarding Luis Zubeldía’s permanence was also crucial. Even during this year’s Paulistão, the former Tricolor coach felt pressured to make the ‘magic square’ with Lucas, Oscar, Luciano, and Calleri work, and wore out his main, already veteran, players for fear of losing his job.

If the trio Lucas, Oscar, and Calleri barely played this year, that’s on Zubeldía, who ran them into the ground during the Paulistão. He ended up being fired soon after. Scenes from a completely lost administration that doesn’t play fair with its coaches, let alone its fans.

All this, added to the much-criticized and pressured medical department of the club, once considered one of the best in the country, but now facing questions about its methods and processes that keep piling up players in the much-acclaimed Reffis.

The path is not the hardest

Back on the field, it’s really only the players who are trying to finish the year with some last bit of honor and secure qualification for the Libertadores. Not that there’s any real chance of fighting for the title next year, but that’s all that’s left.

After the classic in Itaquera, a place where we’ve only won once, São Paulo faces Juventude, again at Vila Belmiro, in a match where anything but victory is unthinkable. Completing the trio of matches against their most recent former coaches (Dorival Jr., Thiago Carpini, and Luis Zubeldía), the most decisive clash of this final stretch is against Fluminense, at Maracanã, in the 36th round. They are currently in 7th place, one spot above Tricolor.

To close out their participation in the Brasileirão, matches against two teams fighting against relegation. First, Internacional, a bit more comfortable but still at risk of dropping, with Tricolor as the home team, most likely again at Vila Belmiro, even though the club insists it might secure Morumbi for the game.

Wrapping up the year, on December 7th, São Paulo heads to Salvador to face Vitória, who should be fighting until the end to avoid relegation to Serie B. The path is not the most complicated. The teams directly competing for a spot are also inconsistent, and everything is still possible. But with so many problems and setbacks throughout the season, securing qualification for the Libertadores could be considered something of a miracle.

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