Enzo Díaz: Home crowd can help São Paulo turn it around | OneFootball

São Paulo faces a ‘life or death’ commitment next Thursday. The Tricolor from São Paulo will face LDU-EQU starting at 7 p.m. (Brasília time), at Morumbis, in the second leg of the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores.

Needing a result, the team will have the ‘home advantage’ on its side. Returning to São Paulo after recovering from an ankle sprain, left-back Enzo Díaz is expected to start. He bet on the team’s strength at Morumbis and assessed that the fans will be fundamental in the quest for a comeback.

The Torcida que Conduz (The Guiding Fans) have indeed been putting on great shows at Morumbis on so-called ‘Libertadores nights’. The celebration starts early around the stadium and intensifies with the arrival of the team bus. Once inside, the stands at Morumbis are usually almost 100% full, especially in Libertadores knockout matches.

“The fans will play a fundamental role for us, as they always do in every match at our home. They make themselves felt. We’re going to use this weapon as well to get that boost, that positive support, and may that help us turn things around,” said the Argentine in an interview with SPFC Play.

São Paulo was defeated 2-0 in the first leg, played at Estadio Rodrigo Paz Delgado, in Quito (Ecuador), and will have to make up for the loss in the São Paulo capital. Enzo Díaz understands that the team won’t have an easy time, but guaranteed that the Tricolor will do everything to secure the spot.

“It’s an important match, like all Libertadores games. For us, it’s special. We have to turn the situation around. We conceded two goals in Ecuador, but we played well. Now, we’re lucky to have this match at home, with our fans, on our field, where we’ve been very strong. We’re going to use all our tools to turn this situation around,” projected the defender.

São Paulo played well in Ecuador, says Enzo

São Paulo didn’t deserve to leave Ecuador with a 2-0 defeat—at least in Enzo Díaz’s view. According to the left-back, the team played a good match despite the difficulties imposed by the altitude, but missed golden opportunities.

“Analyzing the match, we played very well. The team had a lot of ball movement, we created clear chances, but couldn’t convert them. In two of our mistakes, they scored the goals. But I was satisfied with the game we played as visitors. Now, we have to turn things around at home,” analyzed the left-back.

In search of a comeback, São Paulo rested its main starters in last Sunday’s derby and is fully focused on Thursday’s decision. The Tricolor knows it won’t have an easy task, but will try to make home advantage count. This season, there have been 25 matches, with 14 wins, eight draws, and three losses.

The Tricolor needs a win by three goals to advance to the semifinals in regular time. If the aggregate score is tied, the spot will be decided by penalties.

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