Pre-Libertadores draw before São Paulo know if they’ll play | OneFootball

Conmebol announced this Wednesday (10) the date and time of the draw for the preliminary rounds of the Copa Libertadores of America, the famous pre-Libertadores.

São Paulo is still waiting to see if it will participate in the competition, since it finished 8th in the Brasileirão, falling outside the Libertadores qualification zone. However, if Cruzeiro or Fluminense wins the Copa do Brasil, a new spot will open up, benefiting Tricolor.

The draw for the 2026 pre-Libertadores will take place on December 18 (Thursday) at 12 p.m. (Brasília time), at Conmebol’s headquarters in Paraguay. Bahia and Botafogo are currently the Brazilian clubs guaranteed in this preliminary phase.

There are three rounds to determine who advances to the group stage, but the Brazilian teams only compete in the last two.

Tricolor will only know at the draw if its name will be in the running if Cruzeiro and Fluminense qualify for the Copa do Brasil final (understand here), which would mean the 8th place team qualifies even before the national final. Or, if both are eliminated, São Paulo will be confirmed in the Sudamericana. The semifinals end this Sunday (14).

If only one of them advances to the final, São Paulo will have to wait until the second leg, on December 21, to finally determine its 2026 season.

The pre-Libertadores begins on the base dates of February 4 and ends on March 11. Only four teams qualify for the group stage, whose draw will be held on March 18. The matches of the second phase of the preliminary stage, where São Paulo would enter, will be on February 18 and 25.

The third phase matches will be on March 4 and 11. And that’s where São Paulo would face major difficulties playing at home, since it has once again rented out its Morumbi stadium for three concerts by the rock band AC/DC.

The Australian group will perform at the São Paulo stadium, with tickets already sold out, on February 24 and 28 and March 4. In other words, these dates directly conflict with possible decisive Libertadores matches.

When consulted by AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR, the club insists that it would have veto power in case of scheduling conflicts between the concerts and the team’s matches, which could happen.

But what kind of veto could they impose at the end of the year, with three shows already sold out at their stadium for one of the biggest bands in the world? If the spot, even if undeserved, does come, São Paulo is likely to face new embarrassment with its fans and could be left without Morumbi at the start of next year as well.

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