Crespo yet to win by enough margin for Libertadores qualification | OneFootball

São Paulo lost to LDU 2-0 in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals this Thursday (18), and will now have to overturn a two-goal deficit just to take the match to penalties next week at Morumbi.

To qualify for the semifinals, however, Tricolor will need, above all, to overcome themselves. And break a taboo of their own coach.

Since returning to the helm of the Morumbi club, Hernán Crespo has managed 16 matches, with eight wins, four draws, and four losses, resulting in a 62% success rate.

However, none of the Argentine's eight wins have been by three goals, the margin São Paulo needs to qualify in regulation time next week.

Of those eight victories under the Tricolor coach, however, only three were by two goals, a scoreline that would take the decision to penalties: 2-0 over Corinthians and Atlético-MG, and a 3-1 over Fluminense.

If we consider the entire season, only once this season has Tricolor achieved a result that would qualify them directly for the Libertadores semifinals: it was way back on February 5th, when they thrashed Mirassol 4-1 in the Paulista Championship.

The last time São Paulo managed to qualify for the next stage of the Libertadores after losing the first leg by at least two goals was in 1993.

On that occasion, the Morumbi club lost the first leg of the round of 16 by the same 2-0 score to Newell’s Old Boys of Argentina, away from home. That opponent had been their rival in the previous year’s Libertadores final, when Tricolor lifted the trophy after a penalty shootout.

But they managed to overturn the score at home in the return leg, winning 4-0 and continuing on their way to secure their second continental title.

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